Position: Projects & Proposals Manager

Reporting to: CEO & CFO

Employment term: Permanent, Full-Time

Start date: Immediate

Location: Mississauga, ON — Hybrid (onsite with remote flexibility)

Job Summary

The Projects & Proposals Manager owns the pathway from opportunity qualification to signed, resourced and well-run project. Working across Business Development, the scientific functions, Finance and Project Leadership, this individual is responsible for producing high-quality client proposals and budgetary quotes, drafting and managing the associated agreements through to signature, coordinating the handover of newly awarded work, and then holding portfolio-wide oversight of the active project portfolio through to delivery. The role spans three distinct but closely connected functions: project management, business development and proposals, and contracts and agreements across the full CDA → proposal → SOW lifecycle, with accountability for the successful delivery of scientific deliverables from initiation through execution, including client communication, milestone tracking, risk escalation, final delivery and internal reporting.

This is a highly cross-functional role suited to someone who is equally comfortable translating a scientific work plan into a costed, client-ready proposal and holding the internal process discipline that keeps the pipeline, contract database and project records accurate. It equally calls for someone who can carry that work forward as the day-to-day owner of client relationships, project status and resource forecasting across a portfolio of many concurrent programs.

Duties & Responsibilities

1. Project Management & Delivery Oversight

• Own portfolio-wide oversight of all active client projects, consolidating the status picture and reporting it to leadership weekly.

• Act as the primary day-to-day client contact on active projects, responding to correspondence and queries daily and owning the cadence and scheduling of recurring client meetings.

• Coordinate the handover of newly signed work from Business Development to Project Leadership, R&D; and Finance.

•Track projects against agreed scope, milestones, timelines and budget, promptly escalating variances, change-of-scope triggers, risks, roadblocks and budget exposure to leadership and aligning financially sensitive matters with Finance.

• Direct assigned project team members on timelines, priorities and shifting objectives.

• Prepare and issue client-facing project updates, reports and documentation with Project Leaders.

• Coordinate sample and material shipments, handling the related correspondence and tracking consignments through to delivery.

• Manage subcontracting and outsourcing activities, selecting and coordinating partner organizations and holding them to agreed scope, timelines and quality.

• Own the Staffing & Resource Plan, maintaining forecast FTE and resource demand per project and reviewing it monthly with Finance and operational leadership to flag over- and under-capacity across the active and forecast portfolio.

• Provide input to the monthly invoice close, working with Finance so milestones and deliverables are accurately recorded for invoicing and revenue recognition.





• Act as standing liaison between Finance, R&D;, Project Management and Business Development, keeping the commercial, scientific and financial view of each project aligned.

• Drive improvements to proposal-to-project workflows, documentation standards and handover practices, applying AI-assisted workflow creation and optimization to streamline recurring processes.

2. Business Development, Proposals & Pipeline

• Own and nurture incoming BD opportunities from initial engagement through contract signature, assessing opportunity fit, coordinating client and internal discussions, driving follow-up and proposal development, and maintaining momentum toward conversion.

• Lead end-to-end preparation of client proposals, budgetary quotes and pitch materials, working with scientific leads to scope deliverables, timelines and resourcing and to determine the appropriate client output for each opportunity.

• Translate scientific work plans into transparent, commercially sound proposals that reflect Dalriada’s Turn-Key™ model and value proposition.

• Manage the internal proposal process and stage gates, securing required reviews and pricing approval from the designated commercial and finance approvers before documents are issued.

• Maintain and improve the proposal, quote and pitch template library so materials remain current, consistent and on-brand.

• Track issued proposals through to decision, capturing outcomes and win/loss rationale to inform future pricing and positioning.

• Maintain the Salesforce CRM and pipeline visibility tools and support lead qualification and prospect research.

• Prepare regular pipeline and sales activity reports, plus quarterly and annual business development reports, so management can track progress against objectives and targets.

• Represent Dalriada’s service offering credibly at client meetings and industry events as required.

• Monitor industry trends, competitor activity and market developments, feeding insights to leadership to guide strategic planning.

3. Contracts & Agreements

• Draft, review and manage CDAs/NDAs, MSAs, statements of work, work orders, amendments and project-specific agreements, including through platforms such as Scientist.com, ensuring alignment with client requirements and Dalriada’s objectives.

• Work with internal stakeholders and external counsel to produce customized pricing agreements and contract terms.

• Manage contracts from drafting through signature and execution, ensuring all agreements are precise, legally sound and supportive of business goals.

• Maintain the agreement database and contract records, including renewals, amendments, expiries and obligations requiring follow-up.

• Complete client vendor-registration and supplier-onboarding requirements, including procurement platforms such as Ariba, Science Exchange and Scientist.com,



coordinating required documentation with Finance.

Education & Certification

• A degree in a life sciences discipline; MSc or PhD strongly preferred.

• 5+ years’ experience in proposals, contracts, project management or business development operations, preferably within a contract research organization (CRO), biotech or pharmaceutical environment.

• Demonstrated experience drafting client-facing proposals, quotes and commercial agreements.

• Demonstrated experience managing or overseeing multiple concurrent client projects, including direct client communication, status reporting and budget tracking.

• Project management certification (PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent) is strongly preferred.

Requirements

• Strong external client communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly, professionally and confidently; manage expectations; navigate difficult conversations; and represent Dalriada effectively in client interactions.

• Working understanding of the small molecule drug discovery industry, including target validation, Hit Identification and Hit-to-Lead across discovery chemistry and in vitro biology, with experience communicating directly with external clients and sufficient technical understanding to scope, cost and discuss programs of work in partnership with scientific leads.

• Strong skills in technical and commercial writing, agreement drafting and document control.

• Confident coordinating across scientific, commercial and finance stakeholders, and comfortable holding others to deadlines.

• Exceptional organizational and time management skills, with the ability to run multiple proposals and projects in parallel and prioritize effectively.

• Strong attention to detail and accuracy, particularly in contractual and budgetary documentation.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, and in SharePoint document management; experience with Salesforce (or a comparable CRM) and DocuSign is preferred.

• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills.

• Ability to complete tasks with minimal supervision and adapt to changing priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

• Working knowledge of AI tools, including their use to create and optimize workflows.

• Experience with resource or capacity planning (FTE demand forecasting) and with managing subcontractors or outsourced partners.

• Collaborative mindset and enthusiasm for learning new concepts.

How to Apply

If you are interested in this opportunity, please submit your resume to [email protected] referencing Projects & Proposals Manager in the subject line, or apply directly to the LinkedIn job posting.

This position is open to applicants legally authorized to work in Canada.

Dalriada Drug Discovery Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to achieving accessibility by providing accommodation for people with disabilities during our hiring process. Accommodation is available on request for qualified candidates during the recruitment process.

All employment is conditional upon completing and obtaining a satisfactory background check which may include education, employment, reference, and criminal records checks.

📌 Projects & Proposals Manager (Mississauga)
🏢 Dalriada Drug Discovery
📍 Mississauga