Senior Federal Pursuits Lead

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

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Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world. 

Are you driven by complex pursuits, strategic positioning, and winning work in the federal marketplace? HDR is seeking a Senior Federal Pursuits Lead to play a central role in supporting our federal growth strategy across Canada.

This senior role is responsible for leading high-value, multi-disciplinary federal pursuits from early strategy through submission, working closely with various business group leaders, market sector leads, and technical leadership across Canada. The successful candidate brings deep experience in federal procurement environments, a strong command of pursuit strategy, and the ability to drive disciplined, high-quality proposal execution under compressed timelines.

Success in this role requires strategic thinking, leadership, and a focus on win probability, supported by exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple concurrent pursuits. Key responsibilities are outlined below.

• Lead pursuit teams in creating and implementing effective win strategies, including capture planning

• Lead the coordination of the planning, development, and production of proposals and submittals in accordance with submission requirements, with experience supporting public-sector and federal procurements

• Plan and facilitate pursuit meetings, establish proposal schedules, assignment matrices, compliance matrices, and proposal templates

• Lead proposal kick-off meetings, ensuring alignment on requirements, roles, and deadlines

• Coordinate the development of narrative, graphics, fees, and other necessary materials from internal staff and sub-consultants, as applicable

• Actively manage pursuit execution by communicating with proposal participants, tracking tasks, and addressing schedule or content risks

• Monitor progress of the proposal process, with timely follow-up, to ensure internal deadlines and quality standards are met

• Contribute to the development and implementation of client and pursuit plans, including longer-term positioning strategies, as assigned

• Research project background, client priorities, and anticipated procurement timelines

• Outline, write, format, and edit proposal content to ensure clarity, compliance, and a unified voice

• Support the development and application of proposal best practices and industry standards, identifying opportunities for process improvement

• Lead end-to-end proposal development for smaller-scale pursuits, including oversight of document layout and submission production

• Support the development of benefit statements, project profiles, and standard materials for use in proposals and qualification submittals

• Maintain proposal content libraries using enterprise systems while adhering to information lifecycle governance requirements

• Facilitate pursuit debriefs to identify improvement opportunities and assess overall competitiveness

• Recognize and celebrate pursuit successes and milestones

• Assist in the development and preparation of interview materials, including slide decks, leave-behinds, Q&A preparation, rehearsals, and supporting technology

• Lead proposal quality efforts, review proposals and presentations, and participate in formal reviews as required

• Maintain a strong understanding of market trends and drivers impacting client pursuits

• Support select pursuits across other business sectors, applying consistent pursuit discipline and best practices

• Lead or collaborate on transportation-related pursuits, particularly where public-sector or federal experience adds value

• Partner with the marketing communications team to prepare company-wide qualifications and marketing collateral in compliance with branding and writing standards and aligned with strategic objectives

• Demonstrated experience supporting federal or national public-sector procurements

• Advanced proficiency in managing complex compliance-driven submissions

• Experience coordinating multi-disciplinary, multi-office pursuit teams

• Strong command of structured win strategy and capture planning techniques

• Experience supporting proposal processes involving heightened governance or review requirements

• A minimum of 10 years relevant industry experience
• Demonstrated "self-starter" with a history of completing projects with limited oversight 
• Deep knowledge of the A/E/C industry's standard approach to procurement of professional services
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and inspire others
• Maintain a professional or engineering registration or certificate or have related technical experience
• Experience in sales and developing effective win strategies
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Ability and desire to travel and engage with others in-person
• Demonstrated experience in writing compelling content based on information from technical staff

What We Believe
HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment
As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.