What Does A Capture Manager Do?

A Capture Manager is a term that’s been tossed around on career job sites lately. If you do a search you’ll be surprised to see lots of openings for Capture Managers. But what exactly does a Capture Manager do to earn them a hundred thousand plus salary?

At first it seems that a Capture Manger is a new name for Proposal Manager in the Federal market place but after investigation, the duties of a Capture Manager are similar but involve a lot more responsibility. For example, a Capture Manager must have experience managing deals from $10 – $100M. They use their big nets to target and capture large federal contracts. They sell products to large agencies or bid on proposals to get work for their company. In the proposal writing area, tasks include coordination of timelines, writing assignments, value proposition creation and ensuring that the sales message is articulated throughout the proposal. Normally, the proposal must demonstrate that the companies solution is superior to other bids. As well having great organizational skills, a Capture Manager must have a strong background in business practices and knowledge of Federal Acquisition (FAR) regulations and a record of winning bids.

Some Capture Managers have a direct sales background or work with a Sales Manager. They may have held positions as Sales Managers selling products to other companies and have worked as business developers finding new customers for products. They develop sales and bidding strategies to win proposals to gain work for the company. In addition, they sell the idea of bidding on a proposal to higher ups in the company as well as managing small proposal teams. In most instances, they write the less technical sections of an RFP and work with technical staff members to answer technical proposal questions. They also review, write and revise proposal content to achieve target messages.

How to write a resume for a Capture Management job.

Every resume should have a summary that describes sales and business development experience. You should mention a figure that shows how you’ve driven revenue growth within competitive markets in sales. Since you will be capturing federal contracts in the market place list the highest awards you’ve won. Your proposal management experience and skills should focus on the types of documents you have written as well as the number of people that you have supervised. Mention your sales and organizational skills, knowledge of business practices and ability to work with a variety of people as well as your ability to handle stress.

List your accomplishments—the number of proposal wins, how you increased the bottom line or saved money for the company.

Next create a section on your resume for computer and software skills.

Under Career Highlights, list your experience chronologically as it relates to your capture management experience, sales management and business development. Mention your writing skills and how you used them to write, evaluate, and revise proposals. Discuss employment during the last ten years; this is as far back as employers want you to go.

Create an Education section listing your degrees and training that pertains to the job you are applying for

Develop an awards or affiliation section and list your recent awards within the past 10 years

Leave references off your resume.