OverviewThe Lead Pricer is a seasoned, hands-on pricing professional who leads assigned federal proposal pricing efforts from solicitation review through final submission and post-submission support. The role develops compliant, competitive, and well-supported cost and price solutions for professional services and product opportunities. Opportunities include large GWAC or IDIQ product pricing, Systems Engineering & Technical Advisory (SETA) support, and enterprise IT technical engineering support services, task orders, recompetes, and contract modifications.
The Lead Pricer works closely with Capture, Proposals, Business Units, Accounting and Finance, Contracts, Procurement, Human Resources, teammates, suppliers, and executive leadership. The position provides day-to-day leadership for assigned pursuits, performs and coordinates independent quality reviews, and helps build a scalable pricing function by improving tools, sharing workload, and developing other pricing professionals.
Role Design and Development Path
This position is structured as a seasoned individual-contributor familiar with the GovCon space and working-lead role of company pricing activity. Work will be assigned and balanced across available pricing resources based on complexity, schedule, and risk. The Lead Pricer is expected to identify capacity constraints early, recommend staffing or schedule adjustments, and maintain continuity through documented models, assumptions, and peer review.
The role is intended to develop broader pricing leadership capability. Demonstrated success in managing a portfolio of concurrent pursuits, improving governance, forecasting workload, and advising executives may support future consideration for a Director of Pricing role based on performance and organizational requirements.
Responsibilities
Proposal Pricing Leadership
- Lead the pricing workstream for assigned proposals, task orders, change proposals, and contract modifications from kickoff through executive approval and submission.
- Review RFPs, RFQs, statements of work, pricing instructions, evaluation criteria, wage determinations, contract clauses, and amendments; translate requirements into a pricing plan, schedule, data call, compliance checklist, and review cadence.
- Coordinate assumptions and inputs with capture managers, proposal managers, technical leads, program personnel, Accounting and Finance, Contracts, Procurement, Human Resources, teammates, and senior leaders.
- Present pricing strategies, cost drivers, sensitivities, risks, and recommended positions during pricing reviews and executive decision meetings.
Cost and Price Model Development
- Build, validate, and maintain auditable pricing models for FFP, FFP level-of-effort, T&M or labor-hour, CPFF, and other authorized contract structures.
- Develop staffing models incorporating labor categories, skill levels, work locations, productive hours, shifts, overtime, escalation, indirect rates, fringe benefits, fee, travel, materials, other direct costs, and subcontractor inputs.
- Develop IDIQ, GWAC, Schedule, and product-pricing models involving OEM or distributor costs, discounts, rebates, freight, warranties, services, financing or leasing assumptions, and customer-specific price structures.
- Assist with scenario analysis, price-to-win support, competitive benchmarking, affordability analysis, and sensitivity testing to inform management decisions while protecting company margin and risk posture.
- Reconcile final model outputs to pricing tables, schedules, representations, supporting data, and narrative volumes before submission.
- Proficiency researching and analyzing labor-market data using ERI and comparable compensation, government, and industry sources to establish competitive, defensible labor-rate assumptions.
Compliance and Proposal Documentation
- Prepare clear, persuasive price and cost narratives, bases of estimate, assumptions, disclosures, and supporting calculations that explain the proposed approach and demonstrate price reasonableness or cost realism, as applicable.
- Apply applicable FAR, DFARS, agency, GSA Schedule, solicitation, and company requirements, including similar compensation evaluations under FAR 52.222-46 and cost or pricing data requirements when applicable.
- Maintain complete, traceable pricing files containing solicitation requirements, assumptions, approvals, teammate and supplier inputs, version history, review comments, and final submitted artifacts.
- Protect proprietary pricing information and ensure that internal and external pricing data are shared only with authorized recipients.
Teammate Supplier and Product Pricing
- Issue and manage pricing data calls to subcontractors, consultants, OEMs, distributors, and suppliers; assess completeness, consistency, competitiveness, and compliance of received inputs.
- Support subcontract price analysis, cost analysis, negotiation planning, and documentation of price reasonableness in coordination with Procurement and Contracts.
- Identify pricing gaps, inconsistent assumptions, unsupported rates, schedule risks, and exceptions early enough for corrective action.
Team Leadership and Capacity Development
- Provide technical direction, coaching, and peer review to pricers and other contributors without assuming sole responsibility for every pricing action.
- Delegate defined model components and data analyses, verify completed work, and provide timely feedback that builds independent capability.
- Help forecast pipeline workload and recommend assignment priorities, surge support, cross-training, and additional staffing based on proposal complexity and deadlines.
Tools Reporting and Continuous Improvement
- Develop, maintain, and standardize pricing templates, labor-rate tools, product-pricing models, review checklists, data-call formats, and reporting dashboards.
- Partner with Accounting and Finance to maintain current indirect rates, standard labor cost profiles, escalation assumptions, and other approved estimating inputs.
- Capture lessons learned and implement practical improvements that reduce rework, strengthen compliance, and improve pricing speed, accuracy, and consistency.
- Prepare recurring and ad hoc pricing analyses and management reports for executive and Business Unit leadership.
Qualifications
- Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex federal cost and price proposals with multiple workstreams, partners, locations, and labor categories.
- Strong knowledge of federal proposal pricing principles, solicitation compliance, cost and price analysis, price reasonableness, cost realism, and compensation-plan support.
- Working knowledge of applicable FAR and DFARS requirements and the roles of DCAA and DCMA in government-contract pricing and estimating.
- Advanced Excel capability, including complex formulas, linked workbooks, pivot tables, data validation, scenario analysis, error checking, and model documentation; ability to review macros or automated tools is preferred.
- Strong organization, judgment, written communication, and attention to detail under concurrent deadlines.
- Ability to lead through influence, provide constructive peer review, mentor developing staff, and escalate workload or risk concerns early.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint and the ability to learn company proposal, accounting, and reporting systems.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
- Six or more years of progressive experience developing price and cost proposals for Department of Defense and federal civilian customers.
- Experience with both complex services pricing and IDIQ, GWAC, Schedule, product, or solutions pricing is strongly preferred.
- Experience leading pricing reviews, coordinating teammate inputs, and mentoring or reviewing the work of other pricing professionals is preferred.
Performance Expectations
- Assigned pricing submissions are complete, compliant, accurate, traceable, and delivered on schedule.
- Models and narratives clearly align with the technical and staffing approaches and withstand independent review.
- Pricing risks, capacity constraints, and missing inputs are identified and escalated early with practical recommendations.
- Reviews are organized and decision-oriented, with clear assumptions, options, sensitivities, and approval records.
- Tools, documentation, cross-training, and delegation steadily increase team capacity and reduce dependence on any single individual.
Compensation Range: $135K - $145K
