Manager, Commercial Deal Desk and Proposals

Aptia Group • Full-time • Orlando, FL, US • 3d ago

Aptia is a trusted provider of employee benefits and pension administration services, with offices in the U.S. and U.K. supported by shared services in India and Portugal. We manage programs covering over six million people and serving more than 1,100 clients, catering to both B2B purchasers of the administration platform and B2C employees.

With our extensive experience in the industry, we will deliver efficient and reliable solutions that ensure the smooth management of employee benefits programs. Our dedicated team of experts will combine in-depth knowledge with leading technology to simplify the administration process for clients.

The Deal Desk & RFP Manager serves as the central point of accountability for complex commercial deals, overseeing proposal execution, pricing governance, and legal/commercial risk management. This role partners closely with Sales, Legal, Finance, Product, and Operations to ensure deals are structured, approved, and executed in a way that balances revenue growth, speed, and risk. This individual owns the end-to-end lifecycle of RFPs, RFIs, and non-standard deals-from intake and strategy through proposal submission, contracting alignment, and approval-ensuring commercial rigor and consistency across the sales organization.

What you will be doing:

Deal Desk Ownership & Commercial Governance

Act as the primary Deal Desk lead for complex, non-standard, and high-value commercial opportunities.
Review deal structures, pricing models, and commercial terms to ensure alignment with company policy and financial objectives.
Drive deal approval workflows, including coordination of Legal, Finance, Product, Security, and Executive sign-off.
Identify, document, and escalate commercial and contractual risks with clear recommendations.

RFP & Proposal Leadership

Own the end-to-end RFP, RFI, and proposal response process, including intake, resourcing, timelines, and final submission.
Develop deal-specific response strategies, win themes, and executive summaries aligned to sales objectives.
Ensure proposal responses accurately reflect approved pricing, solution scope, service models, and contractual positions.
Maintain proposal-to-contract continuity to reduce rework and negotiation friction.

Legal & Contractual Alignment

Partner closely with Legal to manage non-standard contractual terms, redlines, and risk positions.
Ensure all proposals comply with internal policies, regulatory standards, and legal requirements.
Track deviations from standard terms and support post-submission negotiations through contract execution.

Process, Tools & Enablement

Establish and continuously improve Deal Desk and RFP processes, templates, and governance models.
Maintain a centralized content and legal response library to improve speed and consistency.
Leverage CRM, CPQ, and CLM tools to ensure deal accuracy, auditability, and reporting.
Provide guidance and enablement to Sales on deal structuring, pricing approaches, and proposal best practices.

Executive & Stakeholder Communication

Serve as the single source of truth for deal status, risks, and approval readiness.
Prepare executive summaries for leadership review on high-impact deals.
Deliver insights on deal trends, approval bottlenecks, and win/loss drivers to inform commercial strategy.

What we are looking for

5+ years of experience in Deal Desk, RFP/Proposal Management, Commercial Operations, or Sales Operations.
Strong understanding of pricing models, commercial contracts, and enterprise deal structures.
Proven ability to manage cross-functional stakeholders and competing deadlines.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail.
Comfort operating in fast-paced, high-accountability commercial environments.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in SaaS, benefits administration, HR technology, or regulated industries.
Hands-on experience with RFP Tools (Loopio) and CPQ, CRM (e.g., Dynamics), and CLM tools.
Prior exposure to enterprise or mid-market sales cycles.
Experience supporting executive-level deal reviews and approvals.

Key Success Metrics