RFP Procurement Project Manager

## Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced **Senior IT Project Manager** to lead the development, procurement, evaluation, and vendor-selection process for a large-scale, mission-critical technology platform.

The selected Project Manager will manage the full lifecycle of a complex Request for Proposal (RFP), including requirements gathering, RFP preparation, procurement coordination, vendor evaluation, Service Level Agreement development, contract negotiations, and final contract award.

This position requires a highly experienced project manager who can work independently with business stakeholders, technical teams, procurement personnel, legal counsel, and executive leadership. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience managing large technology initiatives involving **SaaS platforms, software development, transactional systems, customer support operations, fulfillment services, and vendor-managed solutions**.

## Key Responsibilities

### Project Management

* Lead the overall project management effort for development and execution of a comprehensive technology RFP.
* Develop, maintain, and monitor the project management plan, schedule, milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, and action items.
* Apply established project management methodologies and governance practices.
* Coordinate activities across business, technical, legal, procurement, and executive stakeholder groups.
* Facilitate meetings with subject matter experts and key stakeholders.
* Prepare meeting agendas, meeting minutes, action-item logs, status reports, and project documentation.
* Identify project risks and develop mitigation strategies.
* Maintain accountability for project deliverables throughout the procurement lifecycle.

### RFP Development

* Lead preparation of a comprehensive RFP for replacement or modernization of a large technology platform.
* Gather, analyze, document, and validate business and technical requirements.
* Translate stakeholder requirements into clear, measurable procurement specifications.
* Develop functional and nonfunctional requirements for software, services, integrations, security, customer support, fulfillment, and operational processes.
* Ensure RFP documentation complies with applicable procurement policies, procedures, standards, and technology requirements.
* Coordinate RFP reviews and approvals with business leadership, procurement teams, technology teams, and legal counsel.
* Prepare final procurement documentation for formal solicitation.

### Requirements Gathering & Business Analysis

* Conduct workshops and interviews with business users, technical teams, subject matter experts, and executives.
* Document current-state business processes and future-state requirements.
* Identify functional gaps and opportunities for system enhancements.
* Develop detailed business and technical requirements.
* Ensure requirements are clearly traceable through procurement, vendor evaluation, and implementation planning.
* Research comparable technology solutions and industry best practices.

### Service Level Agreement Development

* Develop detailed **Service Level Agreements (SLAs)** for inclusion in procurement documents and contracts.

* Define measurable expectations for:

  * System availability and uptime
  * Application performance
  * Transaction processing
  * Incident response
  * Technical support
  * Customer service
  * Security
  * Disaster recovery
  * Fulfillment operations
  * Reporting
  * Issue resolution
  * Vendor performance

* Work closely with legal counsel and procurement stakeholders to establish enforceable service requirements and performance standards.

* Assist with development of contractual performance measures, remedies, and vendor responsibilities.

### Vendor Evaluation & Selection

* Develop proposal evaluation criteria, scoring methodologies, and evaluation tools.
* Ensure vendor proposals are evaluated consistently against mandatory and scored requirements.
* Support evaluation committees during proposal review.
* Assist with vendor questions and formal procurement responses.
* Coordinate vendor presentations and demonstrations.
* Provide guidance regarding vendor scoring and proposal comparisons.
* Identify vendor strengths, weaknesses, risks, and compliance issues.
* Assist stakeholders during finalist selection.

### Contract Negotiation & Award

* Support contract negotiations with the selected technology provider.
* Assist in evaluating proposed pricing, services, SLAs, technical commitments, implementation requirements, and contractual terms.
* Coordinate with procurement personnel, legal counsel, technical stakeholders, and executive leadership.
* Support final contract development and award activities.

### Technical & Security Requirements

* Document technology and system security requirements.
* Ensure proposed requirements align with applicable cybersecurity policies, industry standards, and best practices.
* Address requirements involving:

  * Data protection
  * System access
  * Authentication
  * Business continuity
  * Disaster recovery
  * Application security
  * Infrastructure security
  * Data retention
  * Vendor security responsibilities

## Required Qualifications

* **10+ years of Project Management experience**
* **5+ years of Requirements Gathering experience**
* **5+ years of experience drafting Service Level Agreements**
* **3+ years of RFP preparation and procurement experience**
* Experience managing large, complex technology projects.
* Demonstrated experience working through formal vendor procurement and selection processes.
* Experience coordinating multiple stakeholder groups including business, IT, procurement, legal, and executive leadership.
* Strong project planning, scheduling, documentation, risk-management, and communication skills.
* Ability to independently manage complex deliverables and deadlines.
* Strong experience developing structured business and technical requirements.

## Highly Preferred Qualifications

* **PMP Certification**
* At least **1 year of technical writing experience**
* Previous public-sector or government procurement experience.
* Experience developing RFPs for large SaaS or enterprise technology solutions.
* Experience with high-volume transactional or point-of-sale systems.
* Experience with order fulfillment and customer-support operations.
* Experience negotiating large technology contracts.
* Experience researching and implementing technology-industry best practices.
* Familiarity with natural resource management, conservation, hunting, fishing, licensing, or outdoor recreation programs is a plus.

## Ideal Candidate Profile

The strongest candidate will be a senior project manager who has personally led **large IT RFPs from requirements gathering through vendor award**, rather than someone whose experience is primarily software implementation.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate direct experience with:

* Enterprise technology procurement
* RFP writing
* SLA development
* Requirements gathering
* Vendor scoring and evaluation
* Contract negotiations
* SaaS or hosted technology platforms
* Complex stakeholder management
* Formal project governance and documentation

A PMP-certified project manager with significant government procurement experience would be particularly well suited for this opportunity.