What Does a Capture Manager Do? A Deep Dive Into the Role
High-value RFPs come with exciting revenue opportunities, but they also bring tough competition, long sales cycles, and high stakes. To win these complex deals, your team needs more than just a compelling proposal. You need a strategy that positions you for success long before the RFP is released.
🤝 Meet the capture manager: part opportunity hunter, part relationship-builder, and part win strategist.
Keep reading to discover what a capture manager does and why the job is so vital in the proposal process. This role might be the missing piece to help your team win bigger deals (or the high-impact career you’re looking for).
What is the Role of a Capture Manager? Unpacking Their Job Description
A capture manager is responsible for helping a company win more business by transforming early insights into a strategic advantage. Their work kicks off long before an RFP is even announced, bridging the gap between business development and proposal teams to guide the pursuit strategy.
They’re especially crucial for businesses chasing complex, high-stakes bids–think government contracts or enterprise deals–where long sales cycles, intricate requirements, and intense competition demand a dedicated specialist to lead the capture process in the business development lifecycle.
The core responsibilities of a capture manager include:
- Scouting potential deals on the horizon: A capture manager proactively tracks potential bid opportunities by monitoring procurement portals, government databases, and industry networks. They collaborate with business development teams to identify upcoming contracts, assess market trends, and stay ahead of competitor movements.
- Qualifying opportunities up front: Before committing resources to a pursuit, a capture manager evaluates whether it’s worth chasing using a go/no-go process to assess factors like customer fit, competitive positioning, and return on investment (ROI). If a bid isn’t winnable or strategic, they help redirect efforts toward more viable prospects—saving time, money, and resources.
- Launching a strategic pursuit: When a promising lead is identified, the capture manager initiates the capture planning phase, gathering business intelligence and analyzing critical factors like the opportunity details, competitors, team capacity, response costs, and win probability.
- Becoming the client expert: Capture managers become the go-to experts on a qualified lead. They build strong relationships with key contacts, gain a deep understanding of the prospect’s needs, and stay informed about their bid process and timelines.
- Knowing their company inside-out: Equally important, capture managers possess a deep knowledge of their own company’s offerings, strengths, weaknesses, and strategic goals. By combining internal and external insights, they drive decisions on whether to pursue an opportunity, how to allocate resources, how to shape the proposal strategy, and how to price to win.
- Ensuring a coordinated effort: A capture manager ensures alignment across all business areas. Whether presenting to senior leadership, mobilizing the pursuit team, or negotiating contracts, they’re the mastermind behind securing high-value deals.
Ultimately, a capture manager navigates the unique challenge of serving both clients and colleagues while balancing strategy and execution. This dynamic role sets them apart from others involved in the RFP response process, such as the proposal manager.
Capture Manager vs. Proposal Manager: What Are the Biggest Differences?
Within a typical bid team structure, the capture manager plays a distinct role from the more common but just as important proposal manager. Here are some key differences between the two roles:
| Capture Manager | Proposal Manager |
|---|---|
| Manages the win strategy | Manages the RFP response |
| Has ongoing engagement with customers to position the company for successful bids | Has minimal engagement with customers beyond engaging with their procurement processes |
| Takes a proactive approach; seeks out and prepares for opportunities before an RFP is released | Takes a reactive approach; often gets involved after an RFP is released |
| Guides the overarching RFP strategy based on knowledge of the prospect, the competition, and the company | Oversees the production of high-quality responses by aligning the proposal narrative with the win strategy |
| Part of the pre-sales team, they engage closely with business development, sales, and proposal teams | Mainly engages with proposal writers, graphic designers, and subject matter experts involved in the response process |
| Deals with high-value, complex proposals, usually one at a time | Deals with all types of proposals, often juggling multiple at a time |
| An essential role for bigger companies that pursue complex RFPs | An essential role for companies of all sizes |
| Tracks metrics such as win probability, opportunity pipeline, cost of pursuit, and RFP win rate | Tracks metrics such as quality and volume of proposals, response time, cost per bid, and RFP win rate |
Together, these roles create a powerful one-two punch: capture managers focus on shaping opportunities, while proposal managers ensure a strong response. If your team doesn’t have a capture manager, adding one could be the missing ingredient to winning bigger deals.
Does Your RFP Team Need a Capture Manager? Check Out These Crucial Benefits
Every RFP team strives to win, and capture managers provide the tactical advantage to boost win rates. By focusing on big-picture strategy and relationship management, they allow proposal and business development teams to stay laser-focused on their core responsibilities.
Between lead qualification and proposal submission, a capture manager expertly navigates this complex process, ensuring no opportunity falls through the cracks. This frees up business development to generate new leads and enables the proposal team to craft compelling, competitive responses. With a capture manager in place, the entire team works in sync–driving a healthier sales pipeline and a higher win rate.
Plus, when you have a capture manager on your RFP team, they can:
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Turn Relationships Into Influence
By proactively engaging with key decision-makers, capture managers gain valuable insights into a prospect’s pain points and budget cycles. These early conversations not only help shape RFP requirements in the company’s favor but also ensure the team is well-prepared to respond quickly and strategically when the RFP drops.
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Turn Inside Knowledge Into Strategic Decisions
Not every opportunity is worth the effort. Capture managers are closely connected to all teams, giving them the ability to evaluate factors like project timelines, scope of work, customer fit, technical feasibility, profitability, and strategic alignment. By looking holistically, they can guide the team toward opportunities with the highest potential for success.
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Turn Data Into Advantageous Positioning
A bid is more likely to succeed when it aligns with the client’s needs and differentiates itself from the competition. Capture managers glean insights from multiple sources to strategically position a bid’s messaging, showcase a solution’s technical strengths, and communicate its return on investment.
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Turn Individual Players Into a Cohesive Team
Capture managers make sure every team member is clear about their roles, responsibilities, and deadlines. Whether it’s a solution architect defining technical specifications or a CFO approving pricing, the capture manager keeps everyone aligned until the finish line.
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Turn Experience Into Long-Term Success
By engaging in every stage of the RFP process, capture managers can identify opportunities to improve collaboration, refine strategies, and optimize execution. These enhanced processes not only strengthen current bids but also set the course for future wins.
With a capture manager on board, your team gains clarity, organization, and a higher chance of securing the deals that matter most.
The Essential Skills Every Successful Capture Manager Must Have
Thinking about hiring a capture manager? Or becoming one yourself? These qualities define success in the role:
- Analytical and intuitive decision-maker: A capture must know how to balance gut instinct with data analysis to evaluate whether pursuing an RFP is the right move. They calculate PWin (probability of win) while trusting their experience to make informed, strategic decisions that position the company for success.
- Proactive relationship builder: A successful capture manager excels at building trust with both internal and external stakeholders. They proactively initiate connections, foster strong partnerships, and have a knack for uncovering valuable insights through deep conversations.
- Strategic action-taker: A plan is only as good as its execution. A strong capture manager knows who to engage, what to say, and which strategic dials to turn to keep the entire team aligned and moving toward bid milestones.
- Industry-savvy communicator: Deep industry knowledge is essential. A skilled capture manager understands bid processes, tracks relevant trends, and speaks the client’s language with confidence. They also effectively communicate industry insights to support internal decision-making and proposal development.
- Pressure-proof leader: High-stakes RFPs require a capture manager who thrives under pressure. When multi-million-dollar deals are on the line, they assess risks with a clear head, negotiate confidently, and take decisive action to improve your chances of winning.
Being a capture manager is both challenging and rewarding. The best capture managers bring their A-game every day, maintaining focus and momentum even when sales cycles stretch for months or years. Their leadership earns the respect of peers and clients alike–and their expertise plays a critical role in securing big wins.
How to Become a Capture Manager (And Excel At It)
There’s no single path to becoming a capture manager, as the role benefits from a diverse skill set developed through various professional and educational experiences. However, most professionals in this field have:
✓ A business-related degree (or equivalent experience in sales, proposals, or business development)
✓ Strong knowledge of the capture management process, competitive analysis, and win strategy development
✓ Familiarity with proposal methodologies like the Shipley Process
✓ Leadership, project management, and negotiation skills
✓ Experience working with government or corporate contracting regulations
New capture managers typically start by managing smaller RFPs and take on larger, more complex bids as they gain experience. Professional development plays a big role, too. Certifications, courses, and industry networking help capture managers sharpen their skills and stay ahead of evolving best practices.
5 Ways to Grow in Your Career as a Capture Manager 🌱
- Deepen your industry knowledge: Stay on top of trends, regulations, and best practices in capture management to remain competitive.
- Get certified: Earning credentials in capture planning or proposal management (such as Shipley certifications) can boost your credibility.
- Seek mentorship and networking opportunities: Connect with seasoned professionals who can provide guidance and open doors to new opportunities (hint: associations like World Commerce & Contracting or Association of Proposal Management Professionals are great places to make these connections).
- Gain hands-on experience: Take on stretch assignments, lead small pursuits, or shadow senior capture managers to build real-world expertise.
- Always be learning: Read industry blogs, attend webinars, and participate in training programs to refine your skills. The best capture managers stay curious, adaptable, and eager to improve—because the more you know, the more you win.
By combining specialized training, hands-on experience, and active engagement with the professional community, you can develop the expertise needed to secure high-value business opportunities.
Ultimately, a Capture Manager is the Key to Winning Big
A capture manager is the driving force behind successful RFP pursuits. From aligning strategy to managing client relationships, this multi-faceted role is indispensable for taking on bigger, more complex bids. Whether you’re a professional looking for a rewarding career or a business leader aiming to improve your win rates, this role is key for securing high-value deals–not just chasing every opportunity.