SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.
PROPOSAL SPECIALIST
From release of a customer’s requirements through award of a contract, SpaceX proposal specialists manage the preparation and submittal of SpaceX’s bids for competitive business opportunities, including launch and Starlink services. In this role, you’ll prepare proposals that describe the features and benefits of SpaceX’s constantly evolving technology and services. You’ll manage authors from across our technical and business teams as they prepare text addressing specific customer needs. You’ll edit, rewrite, and write technical and nontechnical text as necessary to prepare the most compelling possible proposals. You’ll also be responsible for the creation of clear, visually persuasive graphics and for the timely delivery of a clean, error-free final product.
The position requires the energy, initiative, flexibility, and dependability to produce documents that reflect SpaceX’s commitment to the rapid and reliable advancement of human spaceflight.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Read, understand, and communicate the highly complex requirements of new customer opportunities.
- Develop and manage proposal schedules.
- Draft proposal outlines.
- Manage section authors from across the company, setting and enforcing deadlines and expectations.
- Work with technical staff to gather and draft technical information for commercial and government proposals.
- Help develop creative arguments and talking points into compelling executive summaries and proposal text tailored for each opportunity.
- Work with technical and business staff to resolve open issues and questions about proposal text, figures, and tables.
- Help identify and develop supporting graphics.
- Edit and rewrite as necessary for clarity, logic, and readability.
- Fact-check information and flag technical errors.
- Edit for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
- Ensure documents conform to company format and editorial style.
- Ensure proposals comply with customer instructions.
- Guide documents through review and approval processes.
- Prepare documents for print. Produce required copies and arrange delivery.
- Help develop and improve deliverable templates.
- Help improve and streamline the proposal development process.
- Help maintain repository of frequently used proposal information.
- Support Mission Management, Sales, and other SpaceX organizations with editing, writing, publication, and communication.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree.
- 5+ years of experience publishing documents and/or editing the work of others.
- 5+ years of experience editing at the organizational, structural, sentence, fact-checking, and proofreading levels.
- 2+ years of experience in the professional-level preparation of documents for publication in Microsoft Office (2007 or more recent), or 5+ years of experience with a non-Office word-processing program and desktop-publishing software.
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Degree in journalism, English, technical writing, or professional writing
- Experience with proposal or grant writing.
- Ability, or potential, to help implement proposal strategy.
- Knowledge of government or commercial proposals.
- Experience writing captions or headlines.
- Experience following an editorial style guide.
- Ability to turn strings of buzz words or jargon into coherent writing.
- Strong grasp of language, including nuance and tone.
- Proven ability to work under the pressure of long- and short-term deadlines.
- Demonstrated record of successfully planning and completing both short- and long-term projects.
- Demonstrated leadership, influence, and collaboration skills.
- Demonstrated organizational skills.
- Demonstrated attention to detail.
- Basic knowledge of SpaceX’s mission, business model, and competition.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be open to extended hours and/or weekends to meet critical deadlines and business need.
- This role is based out in Hawthorne, CA and requires you to be onsite. No hybrid or remote work will be considered.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
Pay range:
Proposal Specialist/Level I: $75,000.00 - $95,000.00/per year
Proposal Specialist/Level II: $90,000.00 - $115,000.00/per year
Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.
Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at SpaceX. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, as well as potential discretionary bonuses and the ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year. Exempt employees are eligible for 5 days of sick leave per year.
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should notify the Human Resources Department at (310) 363-6000.
What We Do
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary.
SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and returned safely to Earth — a technically challenging feat previously accomplished only by governments. Since then Dragon has delivered cargo to and from the space station multiple times, providing regular cargo resupply missions for NASA.
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