Strategic Proposals Lead
Designer Fund is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage tech companies using design to improve health, sustainability, or prosperity for people. It backs founding teams, particularly those with design backgrounds, across sectors like fintech, healthcare, climate tech, and developer tools.
About Designer Fund
Designer Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in tech companies leveraging design to drive positive outcomes in health, sustainability, and financial prosperity. Its portfolio spans a wide range of sectors including financial infrastructure (Stripe), preventative health (Omada), collaborative tools (Notion), developer tools (Netlify), product management (Linear), payroll and benefits (Gusto), design tools (Framer), and healthcare infrastructure (Commure), among dozens of other companies across fintech, climate tech, healthcare, EdTech, and AI. The firm also runs 'Designer Founders,' a community and platform highlighting designers who have gone on to found and lead companies, reflecting its focus on backing design-driven founders and design-centric startups from early stages through growth and acquisition.
Skills
About the Role
You will work to improve mobility by forging new partnerships with public transit providers through thoughtful, exceptionally-written proposals. Working with Via's executive leadership team, you will lead the proposal creation process from initial strategy setting through content creation, proposal submission, and project award. Throughout, you will deploy your deep knowledge of Via's technical and operational strengths as well as your strategic insight and commercial judgment to ensure that each proposal successfully communicates Via's ability to achieve potential partners' transportation goals. You will play a leading role in realizing Via's growth with prospects and partners around the world.
Requirements
- Minimum of 5 years of experience deploying editorial and management skills to generate successful proposals, publications, or other long-form writing venues
- Exceptional writing and communication skills with the ability to adapt writing style for different audiences and genres
- Strong commercial judgment and ability to relate details to the big picture
- Ability to quickly coordinate with teams across the company and team members from associate-level to C-suite
- Academic high-achiever, preferably in the humanities, social sciences, or another field requiring regular long-form writing and argumentation
- Passion for urbanism and accessibility
Responsibilities
- Act as the lead writer for the most critical and complex commercial proposals, collaborating directly with senior leadership to generate deal strategies and high-quality narratives for potential partners
- Partner with Partnerships, Expansion, Operations, and Finance teams to develop strategies for winning high-stakes, competitive procurements
- Manage multiple competitive procurements in parallel, leveraging exceptional project management and prioritization skills
- Review and provide feedback on the team's proposals, deploying familiarity with Via's technology and operational capabilities, transit norms, and the latest industry innovations
- Conduct regular data-driven reviews of procurement performance and competitive dynamics with senior leaders across Via's Executive, Partnerships, and Finance teams
- Prepare executive team members ahead of city and transit agency interviews
- Support the team's workflows and processes, including content library and knowledge management efforts, while identifying opportunities to continuously improve the proposal process through automation and generative AI
Benefits
- 401K matching
- Catered lunch on Wednesdays