Capture Manager

Zignal Labs

$135K — $150K *
Washington, DC 20011Remote in Washington, DC
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years in federal capture management, proposal management, or strategic pursuit leadership in Defense Tech or adjacent fields.
  • Proven success leading complex federal captures from qualification to award.
  • Experience with pricing strategies and proposal development for federal projects.
  • Strong understanding of U.S. Federal procurement processes and regulations such as FAR/DFARS.
  • Familiarity with federal contract vehicles like GSA MAS and SEWP, among others.
  • Ability to manage multiple pursuits in fast-paced environments.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

  • Build and manage a federal pipeline using industry tools for opportunity identification and qualification.
  • Shape customer requirements early in the acquisition lifecycle to enhance competitive positioning.
  • Develop capture plans with win themes, competitive analysis, and price-to-win assessments.
  • Construct pricing volumes and estimates across various federal contract types.
  • Collaborate with teams to align customer needs with Zignal Labs' solutions.
  • Oversee proof-of-concept and technical evaluation activities in coordination with product teams.
  • Lead end-to-end responses to RFIs, Sources Sought, and RFPs, ensuring compliance and quality.

Benefits

  • Fully remote work environment.
  • Opportunity to work with cutting-edge AI-driven media intelligence technologies.
  • Engagement with diverse federal and defense sectors.
  • Collaboration with executive leadership and cross-functional teams.
  • Participation in industry events and significant market interactions.
Full Job Description
The Role

As a Capture Manager at Zignal Labs, you will lead strategic opportunity development and capture efforts across federal, defense, intelligence, and regulated enterprise markets. You are not simply supporting software sales; you are shaping mission-focused pursuits that help organizations understand, monitor, and respond to rapidly evolving information environments using AI-driven media intelligence and narrative analytics.

You will serve as a strategic partner to Business Development, Sales, Solutions Engineering, Product, and Executive Leadership teams throughout the opportunity lifecycle - from early-stage opportunity identification and qualification through capture execution, proposal development, and contract award.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience navigating federal procurement environments, managing competitive captures, and shaping opportunities well upstream of solicitation release. This individual should possess strong operational knowledge of government contracting processes, pricing structures, teaming strategies, and proposal execution within complex federal and defense pursuits.

Key Responsibilities
  • Build, qualify, and manage a strategic federal pipeline using tools such as SAM.gov, GovWin, agency forecasts, and customer engagement activities.
  • Identify opportunities early in the acquisition lifecycle and shape customer requirements pre-RFP to improve competitive positioning and probability of win.
  • Develop and execute comprehensive capture plans including win themes, competitive analysis, stakeholder mapping, gate reviews, teaming strategies, and price-to-win assessments.
  • Construct pricing volumes and rough order magnitude (ROM) estimates across FFP, T&M, and CPFF contract structures, including labor category alignment, CLIN development, and option year escalation modeling.
  • Apply working knowledge of FAR/DFARS regulations, federal acquisition processes, and contract vehicles including GSA MAS, SEWP, OASIS, and GWAC environments.
  • Partner closely with Business Development, Sales, and Solutions Engineering teams to align customer mission requirements with Zignal Labs platform capabilities.
  • Coordinate proof-of-concept activities and technical evaluations in partnership with Solutions Engineering and Product teams.
  • Co-manage strategic teaming relationships with federal systems integrators, prime contractors, and strategic partners.
  • Support negotiation and execution of teaming agreements, subcontractor coordination, and partner engagement activities.
  • Lead RFI, Sources Sought, and RFP response efforts end-to-end, including coordinating internal contributors, managing reviews, and ensuring compliant and differentiated submissions.
  • Coordinate cross-functional resources across product, engineering, marketing, legal, customer success, and executive leadership throughout active pursuits.
  • Deliver executive-level briefings, customer presentations, and operational discussions to technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Maintain awareness of procurement trends, competitor positioning, acquisition strategies, and evolving mission requirements across defense, intelligence, and regulated industry markets.
  • Represent Zignal Labs at industry events, customer meetings, and partner engagements.

Required Skills & Experience
  • 5+ years of experience in federal capture management, proposal management, federal business development, or strategic pursuit leadership within Defense Tech, GovTech, Enterprise SaaS, AI/Analytics, Cybersecurity, or adjacent federal technology environments.
  • Demonstrated success leading and shaping complex federal or defense captures from qualification through award.
  • Direct experience supporting pricing strategy and proposal development for federal pursuits, including pricing volumes, labor category structures, and contract vehicle alignment.
  • Strong understanding of U.S. Federal procurement processes, acquisition lifecycles, FAR/DFARS regulations, and government contracting environments.
  • Experience supporting pursuits across DoD, IC, DHS, civilian federal agencies, or regulated industry environments.
  • Familiarity with major federal contract vehicles including GSA MAS, SEWP, OASIS, and GWAC structures.
  • Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent pursuits in fast-paced, high-growth environments.
  • Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional coordination skills.
  • Experience leading RFIs, Sources Sought, RFP responses, proposal reviews, and compliance coordination activities.
  • Familiarity with media intelligence, OSINT, narrative analysis, AI-driven analytics, or situational awareness platforms preferred.
  • Experience working with or alongside federal systems integrators and prime contractors such as Booz Allen, Leidos, Parsons, Peraton, or similar organizations preferred.
  • Government contracting officer experience is desired but not required.
  • Shipley, APMP, or equivalent capture/proposal certifications are a plus.
  • Active TS/SCI strongly preferred, or ability to obtain


Department Sales Locations DC Remote status Fully Remote Yearly salary 135,000 - 150,000 Employment type Full-time

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Zignal Labs

  • Capture Manager
    $135K — $150K *
    Washington, DC 20011 (District Of Columbia County)
    Aerospace & Defense
    Remote in Washington, DC

More Aerospace & Defense Jobs

Find similar Capture Manager jobs: