Proposal Manager Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 1,144 US job postings by 621 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for proposal managers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 1,144 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for proposal managers in US job postings is $118,000 a year (340 postings from 194 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $93,000 to $146,000.
- The skills that most set proposal manager postings apart are editing, proposal management, writing.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 5 years of experience.
Proposal Manager job postings in the US, October 2026
- $118,000
- Median advertised pay (340 postings)
- $93,000–$146,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 1,144
- US job postings from 621 employers
- 5 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a proposal manager make?
The median advertised pay is $118,000 a year, from 340 US job postings by 194 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $191,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 340 US proposal manager job postings: median $118,000 a year, middle half $93,000 to $146,000.
- Median: $118,000
- 25th percentile: $93,000
- 75th percentile: $146,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 0.3% |
| $40K–$50K | 0.9% |
| $50K–$60K | 2.4% |
| $60K–$70K | 6.4% |
| $70K–$80K | 6.4% |
| $80K–$90K | 5.2% |
| $90K–$100K | 10.1% |
| $100K–$110K | 12.2% |
| $110K–$120K | 9.8% |
| $120K–$130K | 9.2% |
| $130K–$140K | 7.9% |
| $140K–$150K | 5.2% |
| $150K–$160K | 4.3% |
| $160K–$170K | 2.1% |
| $170K–$180K | 2.7% |
| $180K–$190K | 4.0% |
| $190K–$200K | 2.4% |
| $200K–$210K | 1.5% |
| $210K–$220K | 3.0% |
| $220K–$230K | 1.5% |
| $230K–$240K | 1.8% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $120,000 | $98K–$152K | 305 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $118,000 | $93K–$146K | 340 |
What is the starting salary for a proposal manager?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying proposal manager jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proposal Manager (general) | $108,000 | 250 | 141 |
Skills employers ask for in proposal manager job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 48% |
| Microsoft Office | 36% |
| Excel | 33% |
| Organizational skills | 32% |
| Attention to detail | 31% |
| Powerpoint | 28% |
| Word | 23% |
| Writing | 18% |
| Interpersonal skills | 16% |
| Editing | 16% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set proposal managers apart
- Editing102.7× as often as in all postings · 16%
- Proposal management815.9× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Writing26.1× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Powerpoint7.4× as often as in all postings · 28%
- Microsoft Office4.2× as often as in all postings · 36%
- SharePoint24.3× as often as in all postings · 15%
- Indesign70.4× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Excel3.2× as often as in all postings · 33%
- Proofreading99.1× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Proposal development153.1× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Adobe indesign269.6× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Word4× as often as in all postings · 23%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a proposal manager job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a proposal manager do?
Employers post these jobs as Capture Manager, Proposal Writer, Proposal Coordinator, Proposal Specialist, Senior Proposal Manager and other titles. The largest specializations are Capture Manager (19%), Bid Manager (6%), RFP Specialist (1%).
How much experience do you need to be a proposal manager?
Among 721 postings that state a minimum, the median is 5 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 8% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 721 US proposal manager job postings: median 5 years, and 8% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 8% |
| 2 yrs | 12% |
| 3-4 yrs | 25% |
| 5-7 yrs | 37% |
| 8-9 yrs | 7% |
| 10+ yrs | 12% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a proposal manager: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Proposal Manager | 152 (24.5%) |
| Capture Manager | 76 (12.2%) |
| Proposal Writer | 62 (10.0%) |
| Proposal Coordinator | 60 (9.7%) |
| Proposal Specialist | 48 (7.7%) |
| Senior Proposal Manager | 25 (4.0%) |
| Proposal Engineer | 22 (3.5%) |
| Proposal Analyst | 18 (2.9%) |
| Senior Capture Manager | 16 (2.6%) |
| Bid Manager | 14 (2.2%) |
| Business Development & Capture Manager | 13 (2.1%) |
| Proposals Manager | 10 (1.6%) |
| Technical Proposal Writer | 10 (1.6%) |
| Bid Coordinator | 9 (1.5%) |
| Proposal Lead | 9 (1.5%) |
| Capture Director | 9 (1.5%) |
| Senior Proposal Writer | 8 (1.3%) |
| Marketing Proposal Specialist | 8 (1.3%) |
| Proposals Specialist | 8 (1.3%) |
| Senior Proposal Coordinator | 8 (1.3%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Proposal Manager compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposal Manager | $118K | 5 years | 1,144 | – |
| Communications Manager | $110K | 5 years | 2,372 | 18 |
| Writer | $92K | 3 years | 1,279 | 13 |
| Technical Writer | $100K | 3 years | 1,551 | 17 |
| Instructional Designer | – | 3 years | 805 | 19 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Communications Manager | 18 | $110K |
| Writer | 13 | $92K |
| Technical Writer | 17 | $100K |
| Instructional Designer | 19 | – |
| Video Editor | 10 | $76K |
| Fundraiser | 17 | $90K |
Applying for proposal manager jobs?
- Proposal manager resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find proposal manager jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a proposal manager make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 19 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.