| JOB SUMMARY: |
Join the Office of Business Development at NORC to help grow the impact of one of the nation's most respected research institutions. The Manager, Business Development Capture, Quality, and Analytics will work directly with NORC's client-facing research departments on large opportunities across the federal, state, non-profit, and commercial sectors.
The successful candidate will have two core responsibilities-1) strengthening NORC's internal business development capacity by improving institutional systems, practices, and analytics, and 2) providing handson capture and proposal support for priority opportunities that align with our mission. This is a highly collaborative position that requires the ability to build rapport and relationships across every NORC department.
Preferably applicants will be based in either our Chicago, IL or Washington, DC offices with a hybrid office/work from home schedule. We are also open to applicants working remotely.
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| DEPARTMENT: Office of Business Development (OBD) |
The Office of Business Development (OBD) leads NORC's business development strategy by identifying and disseminating market and client intelligence, shaping capture and proposal strategy, and building organizational capacity through best practices, training, and tools. OBD staff support proposal preparation, maintains and analyzes CRM and financial data, and applies analytics to improve proposal quality, inform BD strategy, and produce insights that support decisionmaking and process improvement.
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| RESPONSIBILITIES: |
Institutional Business Development Strengthening & Capacity Building
- Develop, share, and implement best practices in business development, pulling from personal experience and what has been successful within NORC.
- Support development of AI tools to improve efficiency and quality.
- Statistically analyze business development data from CRM and financial systems to identify performance trends, opportunity pipelines, and strategic gaps that inform enterprise BD strategy.
- Develop and deliver executiveready reports, dashboards, and presentations that translate complex data into clear insights to support leadership decisionmaking and strategic prioritization.
- Build NORC's business development capacity by designing and delivering BD workshops, trainings, and practical guidance that strengthen capture and proposal practices.
- Lead or contribute to other company initiatives that relate to business development and related innovation.
- Represent NORC at industry events and translating marketplace signals into actionable capture moves and relationship strategies.
OpportunitySpecific Capture & Proposal Support
- Collaborate with research departments across the organization to surface and bid on large cross-cutting opportunities that significantly expand NORC's mission and portfolio.
- Provide guidance and support to proposal teams on pre-proposal activities, including competitor analysis, partnership strategies, pricing strategy, and storyboarding.
- Work with business units to develop every aspect of proposals, including technical components and pricing.
- Serve as a trusted problemsolving partner to proposal teams operating under tight deadlines, guiding teams through BD processes, addressing challenges in real time, and helping remove barriers to timely, highquality submissions.
- Provide expert review of capture plans, proposals, and grant applications.
- Maintain an up-to-date record of our capture and proposal activities in our enterprise CRM tool.
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| REQUIRED SKILLS: |
- Bachelor's degree in relevant field required, Master's degree preferred.
- At least 8 years of directly applicable work experience, both in managing projects and procuring work.
- Quantifiable, proven business development acumen and a record of procuring work from federal agencies; work with state/local agencies, foundations, and commercial entities.
- Expertise and experience with federal contract management and procurement processes (e.g., GovWin, RFPs, BPAs, IDIQs, GSA Schedules) that are used by federal agencies in awarding contracts and grants.
- Handson experience reviewing and improving capture and proposal materials; able to spot gaps quickly and drive corrective action.
- Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, etc) - ability to create, analyze, and communicate analytical data.
- Practical fluency applying AI tools using sound judgment for validation and quality control.
- Ability to lead with or without authority
- Ability to apply advanced problem-solving techniques to complex and unique situations that require strategic and tactical thinking
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
Preferred Experience
- Strong working knowledge of customer relationship management tools (e.g., Salesforce).
- Background in social science research, particularly with experience aligned to one or more of NORC's core research areas (health, education, economics, research science, public affairs, society and culture, global).
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| SALARY AND BENEFITS: |
The pay range for this position is $92,000-$130,000.
Hybrid work model in the heart of Chicago.
This position is classified as regular. Regular staff are eligible for NORC's comprehensive benefits program. Benefits include, but are not limited to:
Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment
Dental and vision insurance
A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program
Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
NORC's Approach to Equity and Transparency
Pay and benefits transparency helps to reduce wage gaps. As part of our commitment to pay equity and salary transparency, NORC includes a salary range for each job opening along with information about eligible benefit offerings. At NORC, we take a comprehensive approach to setting salary ranges and reviewing raises and promotions, which is overseen by a formal Salary Review Committee (SRC).
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| WHAT WE DO: |
NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, our teams have conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with us to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.
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| WHO WE ARE: |
For over 80 years, NORC has evolved in many ways, moving the needle with research methods, technical applications and groundbreaking research findings. But our tradition of excellence, passion for innovation, and commitment to collegiality have remained constant components of who we are as a brand, and who each of us is as a member of the NORC team. With world-class benefits, a business casual environment, and an emphasis on continuous learning, NORC is a place where people join for the stellar research and analysis work for which we're known, and stay for the relationships they form with their colleagues who take pride in the impact their work is making on a global scale.
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| EEO STATEMENT: |
NORC is an equal opportunity employer. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, sexual orientation, and other legally protected characteristics. #LI- MS1
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National Opinion Research Center - NORC
life insurance, vision insurance, parental leave, paid time off, tuition assistance, 403(b), remote work
Feb 11, 2026