Proposal Coordinator

JOB PROFILE 

Brightworks Sustainability is seeking a Proposal Coordinator. This position will work closely with the Sales and Marketing team and will collaborate with and support the work of our Consulting teams as they contribute to the sales process.  

This position supports and streamlines the efforts of our Senior Proposal Manager and consulting staff as they engage with prospective clients, respond to requests for proposal (RFPs) and requests for qualifications (RFQs), and sales-related pitches and interviews. This position contributes to high-quality and timely responses to sales-related requests by preparing templated written content for consulting staff to customize for unique project needs, preparing relevant qualifications based on our project portfolio, supporting the tracking of sales-related data, prompting participants in the sales process with timelines and reminders, and producing visual presentation content for client presentations according to our brand identity and template guidelines.   

Desired Qualities: 

• Intellectually curious / ready and eager to learn: must have a passion for learning about sustainability and Brightworks’ varied service offerings -- Calling all savvy, non-technical professionals with a passion for sustainability and contributing to making the world a better place! 
• Self-starter / self-motivated: you’re always looking for what needs to be done and how you can help the team. 
• Accountable team-player: you keep your eye on the end-goal, are happy to lend a helping hand to your colleagues when they need it -- and you also wouldn’t dream of leaving a mess for others to clean up. 
• Extremely sharp eye for detail: nothing gets past you – You notice e v e r y t h i n g and are accountable for continuously improving quality of your and the team’s output. 
• Proactive and direct communicator: Simply put, you’re an expert with words. Not only do you see potential issues coming from a mile away, you want to talk about and collaboratively work through them with your team. You’re adept at expressing your own thought process and working through sometimes stressful situations with a healthy balance of realism, honesty, pragmatism, and tact.   

A successful candidate for this position will enjoy and excel at: 

• Working with a distributed team of professionals in a fast-paced environment, communicating clearly with staff of a variety of seniority levels and professional backgrounds via email, chat and video calls. 
• Providing an eye for detail within a document or presentation to produce clear, cohesive, compelling, and error-free sales materials. 
• Learning about new topic areas within sustainability and the built environment on the fly, from technical systems for energy analysis to projects promoting occupant health and wellness strategies to corporate sustainability reporting and analysis (ESG).   

Required qualifications: 

• 1-3 years’ experience in a similar role, supporting proposal development and the sales/marketing process 
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, journalism, or similar (equivalent relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree). 
• Experience producing or supporting high-quality documents and presentations with Microsoft Office products, such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel. 
• Experience with swift and clear communications in writing, live interactions, and using virtual technology platforms, such as email and Microsoft Teams chat. 
• Experience creating written and visual content in collaboration with subject matter experts using and upholding brand guidelines and quality standards. 
• Strong business writing and copy-editing capabilities; knowledge of grammar conventions and spelling. 
• Strong reading comprehension, including basic comprehension of contractual documents and language. 
• Intermediate+ knowledge of Microsoft word functionality (such as: applying and editing text styles, table styling and formatting, quick tables, page and section break formatting, header/footer functionality. Knowledge of form fields and quick parts functions a plus) 
• Exceptional time management and organizational skills. 
• A basic understanding of green building-related certification frameworks (LEED, WELL, Fitwel, etc) and/or other technical sustainability-related content, such as energy performance.   

Ideal qualifications: 

• 3-5 years’ experience in a similar role (pre-sales, proposals) 
• Experience in A/E/C (Architecture, Engineering, or Construction) or for other professional services, such as consulting or marketing 
• Experience using CRM software, especially Salesforce (more advanced capabilities a plus) 
• Experience using Adobe InDesign   

Job Details: 

Location Our Portland, OR headquarters office location is strongly preferred, but we will consider qualified candidates in our other office locations of Berkeley, Los Angeles, and New York. Brightworks offers hybrid work schedules. 

Classification Full-time, non-exempt  

Direct Reports None  

Compensation The hourly rate range for this position in Portland, OR is $27.34 - $38.28. Starting pay offered varies depending on geographic region, external market value, internal pay equity, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. Starting salary offers will typically be made in the bottom half of the listed range. In compliance with Equal Pay for Equal Work Acts, a potential new employee’s salary history will not be used in compensation decisions. 

About Brightworks Sustainability   

One of the first sustainability consulting firms in the United States, Brightworks Sustainability has enjoyed a position of leadership and innovation in sustainability since its founding in 2001. We help our clients establish and implement operational sustainability programs that reduce their environmental footprints, advance their sustainability journeys, and increase their operational performance.   

Brightworks’ creative and multi-disciplinary staff offer expertise in the following areas:    

• Sustainable and Healthy Buildings 
• Sustainable and Healthy Materials  
• Energy Analysis and Optimization  
• Building Performance, Operations, and Maintenance 
• Corporate Sustainability and ESG Programs    

Leaders in their industries, our major clients include Bank of America, Brookfield, Facebook, The Green Cities Company (Formerly Gerding Edlen), GUCCI, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Nike, Salesforce, Uber, and UCLA, among others.    

Your Experience As A Member of Brightworks’ Team    

Our team members routinely cite the following aspects of their experience at Brightworks as most valuable to them:    

• Making a difference 
• High degree of flexibility 
• Learning and growth  
• Amazing colleagues  
• Great clients and projects  
• Recognition for performance 
• Competitive compensation    

You will be treated as an important strategic contributor, and you will be expected to make important contributions to the business while growing professionally, intellectually, personally, socially, and financially.  

A certified B Corp since 2010, Brightworks Sustainability is committed to benefiting society while serving its customers. From 2012-2017, Brightworks received B Corp’s “Best for the Environment” honor. From 2018 to the present, Brightworks has received B Corp’s “Best for Workers” honor.    

Compensation / Total Rewards    

Our salaries are competitive and commensurate with experience. Additionally, we  provide generous employee benefits that include:  

• Flexible schedules  
• Medical  
• Dental  
• Vision  
• Life and short-term & long-term disability insurance  
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)  
• Paid time off  
• Paid holidays  
• A funded professional development budget  
• 401(k) plan with many sustainable & socially equitable fund options  
• Company 401(k) match  
• Sustainable commuting subsidy 
• Employee Fitness Benefit   

Equal Employment    

We are committed to an inclusive workforce that fully represents many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints. This is demonstrated by the representation of women in leadership roles, as well as a workforce that is strengthened by the significant contributions of our many employees from a variety of backgrounds, including our Latinx, LGBTQI+ and AAPI communities. We remain dedicated to enhancing our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Belonging (IDEB) strategy that fosters connections and creates a welcoming environment for all.  

We invite and encourage ALL diverse candidates to apply to join our team.