Senior Proposals Manager
Designer Fund is a venture fund and design partner that invests in early-stage technology companies where design is central to value creation. It supports founders with product and brand design, hiring, fundraising, and access to a design-focused community.
About Designer Fund
Designer Fund invests in early-stage startups from pre-seed through Series A that use design to improve health, sustainability, and prosperity. The fund provides capital, design strategy, product and brand guidance, design hiring support, fundraising assistance, investor introductions, and access to the Designer Fund Collective of founders, advisors, and design leaders. Its portfolio includes technology companies serving sectors such as financial infrastructure, healthcare, developer tools, collaboration, climate technology, and productivity.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will forge and shape new partnerships with public transit providers across the DACH region through thoughtful, exceptionally-written proposals. You will operate with significant autonomy alongside senior leadership, bringing your own strategic perspective to competitive procurements, mentoring junior team members, and setting the standard for proposal quality across the organization. This role suits someone with a keen interest in technology and a genuine passion for writing. It is hybrid and Berlin based.
Requirements
- At least 7 years of relevant experience
- Exceptionally strong writer and communicator
- Highly strategic mindset
- Self-starter who drives process improvements and operates with minimal oversight
- Steady, thoughtful, organized, and solution-oriented
- Fully fluent in German and English, native or bilingual level in German is a must
Responsibilities
- Lead competitive procurements end-to-end with full ownership: evaluation, strategy, creation of exceptional proposal content, review, and submission
- Drive winning strategies for high-stakes procurements in close partnership with Partnerships, Expansion, and Finance teams
- Lead the optimization and AI-driven automation of the proposal response process
- Translate complex product specifications into clear, compelling prose that moves decision-makers
- Generate original, persuasive content by reading what a potential partner really needs
- Manage communications with potential partners and support senior team members in interviews with cities and transit agencies
- Mentor junior members of the proposals team and contribute to hiring and team-building
Benefits
- Weekly team lunch and breakfast
- Urban Sports Club membership
- Company pension scheme (bAV) with a 20% employer contribution
- 30 vacation days a year