layiq

/la·yiq/adjective

worthy; deserving; fitting; suitable.

A role, opportunity, or path that merits attention, time, and pursuit.

Government Programs & Proposal Lead at Terranova | LAYIQ

Exceptional technical writing, strategic judgment, and attention to detail.
Experience leading federal government proposals, non-dilutive funding applications, or complex technical submissions from start to finish.
Ability to understand complex engineering quickly and turn it into a clear, persuasive argument for technical and nontechnical evaluators.
Strong project-management skills and the ability to drive multiple contributors toward a hard submission deadline.
Experience developing project scopes, work plans, milestones, budgets, and deliverables in collaboration with technical teams.
Comfort working directly with founders, engineers, field operators, government customers, contracting officers, and external partners.
Ability to distinguish a technically interesting idea from a fundable government program with a defined mission need, execution plan, and measurable outcome.
Willingness to work on-site in Berkeley, CA.
U.S. work authorization. We cannot sponsor H-1B visas at this time.
Preferred Skills & Experience
Experience with CSOs, BAAs, OTAs, SBIR/STTR programs, DARPA solicitations, USACE programs, or other nontraditional federal acquisition pathways.
Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS requirements, federal contracting processes, and proposal compliance.
Experience in defense, civil works, infrastructure, robotics, aerospace, climate resilience, geotechnical engineering, construction technology, or complex hardware.
Experience securing government contracts, grants, demonstrations, or research partnerships for an early-stage technology company.
Familiarity with firm-fixed-price contracts, cost proposals, ROM pricing, subcontractor coordination, and government statement-of-work development.
Existing relationships across DoD, USACE, DARPA, DOE, FEMA, national laboratories, or other relevant federal agencies.
Experience building a proposal or government business-development function from scratch.
Ideal Archetype
A technically fluent proposal leader who can spend the morning interrogating engineers, the afternoon writing a three-page solution brief, and the evening rebuilding the argument because the first version was not sharp enough.
Someone who understands that winning government work requires more than good writing. It requires choosing the right opportunity, defining the right program, anticipating evaluator concerns, and making the submission impossible to misunderstand.
Has been trusted with high-stakes government submissions where missing a requirement, misunderstanding the customer, or delivering late was not an option.
Can take scattered technical information, field results, diagrams, budgets, and founder ideas and turn them into one coherent case for action.
Has enough technical depth to challenge engineers, enough commercial judgment to shape a fundable program, and enough operational force to get the submission across the finish line.
Comes from a serious defense, aerospace, robotics, infrastructure, government contracting, or deep-tech organization. We are optimizing for aptitude, ownership, intensity, and demonstrated wins over title.

Government Programs & Proposal Lead

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