Proposal & Solutions Consultant

This posting is for SirsiDynix, Harris company. It is a full-time fully remote position in the US or Canada.

The Proposal & Solutions Consultant is a hybrid role that combines strategic proposal writing with hands-on pre-sales technical support. This individual develops compelling, compliant, and strategic proposals for integrated library systems (ILS), library services platforms (LSP), discovery tools, and related technology and services, and also serves as a technical resource to the pre-sales team.

Beyond proposal development, this role is the designated point of contact for pre-sales technical review of proposal content, is a key contributor to keeping our Loopio knowledge base accurate and current, leveraging AI agents to enhance processes, and delivering product demonstrations and webinars to library audiences. Based in the Pacific time zone, this individual plays a key role in supporting demonstrations for customers and prospects in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

This individual partners closely with Sales, Pre-Sales, Research & Development, Professional Services, Support, Security, and other teams to produce high-quality responses to RFPs, RFIs, and RFQs from academic, public, and special libraries, and to help prospective customers see how our solutions meet their needs.

Key Responsibilities

1. Proposal Leadership & Execution

• Lead end-to-end proposal development for library system procurements (ILS/LSP, discovery, digital resource management, analytics).
• Build and refine AI agents to increase efficiencies and expand the proposal pipeline.
• Develop proposal strategies aligned to procurement criteria such as functionality, interoperability, accessibility, and total cost of ownership.
• Manage timelines, schedules, and deliverables across cross-functional teams.

2. Pre-Sales Technical Review

• Serve as the designated pre-sales technical reviewer for proposals, validating that functional and technical responses are accurate, complete, and defensible.
• Own the response to follow-up questions and clarification requests from prospects after proposal submission, drafting technically sound answers and coordinating with SMEs as needed.
• Identify gaps, risks, and over-commitments in proposal responses and escalate to Sales, Product, or Engineering for resolution.
• Support the pre-sales team with technical questionnaires, security reviews, and requirements clarification during active opportunities.
• Collaborate with Marketing to ensure messaging alignment.

3. Loopio Knowledge Base Contribution

• Serve as a key contributor to the Loopio knowledge base (KB), working under the direction of the team manager, who owns the KB.
• Keep answers current and technically accurate as products evolve, including updates tied to new releases, retired features, and changes in hosting, security, and compliance posture.
• Participate in regular content review cycles with product managers and SMEs, completing assigned reviews on schedule.
• Follow KB structure, tagging, and governance standards so content is easy to find and reuse, and flag outdated or duplicate entries for retirement.
• Help maintain and enhance reusable library-technology content, including:
  • Standard responses for ILS/LSP functionality
  • Case studies and library success stories
  • Implementation methodologies and training approaches
• Help develop templates for common library procurement formats.

4. Product Demonstrations & Webinars

• Deliver product demonstrations for customers and prospects in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, taking advantage of Pacific time zone overlap with APAC business hours.
• Present occasional product webinars for customers, prospects, and partners.
• Support the pre-sales team with additional demonstrations as needed, including scripted demos tied to RFP requirements and oral presentations.
• Prepare and maintain demo environments, scripts, and data sets in coordination with the pre-sales team.
• Capture questions and feedback from demos and feed insights back into proposal content and the Loopio KB.

5. Library & Technical Content Development

• Write clear and persuasive responses describing:
  • Circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, and ERM functionality
  • Discovery layers and user experience
  • Interoperability (e.g., MARC, BIBFRAME, APIs, SIP2, NCIP, Z39.50)
  • Cloud architecture, hosting, security, and data privacy
• Translate technical platform capabilities into outcomes for librarians, faculty, and patrons.
• Collaborate with product managers, solution consultants, and library SMEs.

6. Strategic Messaging & Value Positioning

• Develop winning themes focused on:
  • Improved patron access and engagement
  • Operational efficiency for library staff
  • Support for digital transformation and open access
  • Integration with campus or municipal systems
• Tailor messaging by segment (academic, public, consortia, K–12).
• Craft compelling executive summaries and value narratives.

7. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with:
  • Sales and Account Teams to align on opportunity strategy
  • Pre-Sales Consultants to align proposal content with demo messaging and technical positioning
  • Product and Engineering to validate technical accuracy
  • Implementation and Support teams to describe service delivery
• Lead proposal review cycles (e.g., content reviews, compliance checks).
• Coordinate inputs from distributed stakeholders, including international teams when applicable.

8. Compliance & Quality Assurance

• Ensure full compliance with library procurement requirements, including mandatory forms, technical matrices, and pricing structures.
• Maintain consistency in terminology (library standards, metadata formats, accessibility requirements such as WCAG).
• Edit and proofread for clarity, accuracy, and professionalism.
• Continuously improve proposal processes and efficiency.

9. Competitive Positioning & Insights

• Integrate knowledge of competing library platforms (e.g., Alma, WorldShare, Sierra, Polaris, Koha).
• Highlight differentiators such as:
  • Open architecture and APIs
  • User experience innovation
  • Analytics and reporting capabilities
• Support win/loss reviews specific to library procurements.

Core Duties

• Utilize our current proposal response software, Loopio, along with our suite of AI tools to write and edit detailed RFP responses for libraries and consortia.
• Develop compliance matrices addressing hundreds to thousands of functional requirements.
• Lead proposal kickoff meetings and define content strategy.
• Perform pre-sales technical review of proposals and handle post-submission follow-up questions.
• Contribute to the Loopio knowledge base to keep content current and technically accurate.
• Deliver product demonstrations for APAC customers and prospects, occasional product webinars, and other demos as needed.
• Align messaging with library priorities such as accessibility, equity, and digital access.
• Customize proposals for each institution or consortium.
• Collaborate with other writers on library-specific content and standards.
• Track proposal success metrics within the library market segment.

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in Library and Information Science (MLIS) or related field.
• Aptitude in technical writing, preferably in:
  • Library technology
  • EdTech
  • SaaS platforms serving public sector or education
• Strong understanding of:
  • Library operations and workflows
  • Metadata standards and interoperability
  • Cloud-based enterprise software solutions
• Demonstrated experience responding to formal RFPs for public or academic institutions.
• Strong technical aptitude and the ability to learn and demonstrate complex software.
• Confident presentation skills, with experience leading live product demos or webinars for customer audiences.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and project management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Detailed knowledge of Symphony ILS, BLUEcloud apps, and CloudSource.
• Pre-sales, solutions consulting, or sales engineering experience.
• Experience maintaining content in Loopio or a similar proposal content library (e.g., Responsive/RFPIO, Qvidian).
• Experience presenting to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Experience working directly with libraries (academic, public, or consortia).
• Familiarity with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) and public procurement requirements.
• Knowledge of trends such as open access, digital collections, and linked data.

Work Schedule & Location

• Based in the Pacific time zone (preferred).
• Flexibility to deliver APAC demos, which may occasionally fall in the late afternoon or evening Pacific time.
• Occasional travel may be required, e.g., trade shows and onsite demos if scheduling conflicts with the other team members arise.

Key Competencies

• Ability to communicate complex library technologies in clear, customer-focused language, both in writing and in live presentations
• Strong understanding of librarian personas and institutional decision-making processes
• Strategic thinking with a focus on winning competitive procurements
• High attention to detail and compliance rigor
• Ability to manage multiple large-scale proposals simultaneously while supporting demo requests
• Commitment to content quality and accuracy

Typical Tools & Technologies

• Proposal tools: Loopio, Responsive/RFPIO, Qvidian
• Collaboration: Microsoft Teams, SharePoint
• Demo & webinar platforms: Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or equivalent
• Authoring: Microsoft Word, Excel (for compliance matrices), PowerPoint
• CRM: Salesforce or equivalent
• Knowledge of library systems and standards documentation
• AI tools for searching, creating, editing of content

Key Success Factors

• Delivering high-quality, compliant proposals that resonate with library stakeholders
• Technically accurate proposal and follow-up responses that hold up through evaluation and implementation
• Meaningful contributions to a current, trusted Loopio knowledge base that the proposal and pre-sales teams rely on
• Effective demos and webinars, including dependable coverage for APAC opportunities
• Effectively translating technical capabilities into library-specific outcomes
• Increasing win rates in competitive library procurements
• Establishing credibility with internal teams and external library audiences

Salary range: $60,000 - $70,000 USD per year.

Originally posted on Himalayas