Senior Technical Proposal Writer — NSF SBIR/STTR & Deep Tech

Senior Technical Proposal Writer — NSF SBIR/STTR & Deep Tech
About the Role:
WebCraft is seeking an exceptionally strong technical proposal writer to support an upcoming NSF Seed Fund application and related federal R&D funding efforts for our next-stage engineering initiative, Solstice Enterprise Systems.
This role requires exceptional technical comprehension. We are looking for someone who can rapidly understand sophisticated engineering concepts, identify genuine technical novelty, ask incisive technical questions, and translate complex systems into clear, rigorous, persuasive language for expert scientific and technical reviewers.
The ideal candidate will be comfortable working with ambitious, early-stage technology where the architecture is still evolving and where accurately communicating technical risk, research challenges, feasibility, and innovation is essential.
Responsibilities:
The selected writer will work closely with the founder and technical contributors to:
• Develop and refine an NSF Seed Fund Project Pitch and, if invited, a Phase I proposal, with potential support for subsequent Phase II and other federal R&D funding applications.
• Interview engineers and technical stakeholders to understand system architecture, technical constraints, research challenges, and proposed innovations.
• Identify and clearly articulate what is technically novel, difficult, uncertain, and non-obvious about the proposed approach.
• Distinguish genuine technical innovation from implementation details, product features, integrations, or business-model differentiation.
• Translate complex cybersecurity, infrastructure, software architecture, and emerging-technology concepts into language that is precise, technically accurate, and accessible to expert reviewers.
• Help define technical risk, research questions, feasibility challenges, and proposed R&D objectives.
• Conduct targeted technical research to assess relevant prior art, competing approaches, and the current state of the art.
• Challenge unclear claims, unsupported assumptions, and weak technical reasoning.
• Maintain consistency across the technical innovation, research plan, commercialization narrative, and broader proposal strategy.
• Collaborate iteratively as the underlying engineering concept develops.
Required Qualifications:
Strong candidates should demonstrate several of the following:
• Advanced technical writing experience in engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, scientific research, or R&D.
• Experience writing or contributing to highly technical federal proposals, research proposals, scientific publications, or deep-tech commercialization materials.
• Ability to rapidly learn unfamiliar technical domains.
• Ability to interview engineers and ask progressively deeper technical questions.
• Strong understanding of how to identify and communicate technical novelty.
• Exceptional analytical, research, synthesis, and writing skills.
• Comfort working with incomplete, evolving, or experimental technical concepts.
• Ability to distinguish technical risk from business or commercialization risk.
• Ability to explain complex architectures without oversimplifying them.
• Strong intellectual curiosity and willingness to identify gaps in understanding before drafting.
Preferred Experience:
Experience in one or more of the following is especially valuable:
• NSF SBIR/STTR Project Pitches
• NSF Phase I or Phase II proposals
• Federal R&D proposal development
• Cybersecurity or security architecture
• Software architecture or distributed systems
• Cloud infrastructure or networking
• AI/ML or computational systems
• Systems engineering
• Computer science research
• Scientific or engineering communication
• Deep-tech startups or commercialization
• Work with senior engineers, researchers, architects, or technical founders
Experience with other technically rigorous federal programs, including work involving agencies such as DoD, DARPA, DOE, NIH, NASA, or DHS, is also highly relevant.
A PhD is not required, but the successful candidate should be comfortable working with highly advanced technical material.
What We Value:
We are looking for someone with strong intellectual honesty, precision, curiosity, technical judgment, and the confidence to say:
“I don’t understand that yet. Walk me through it again.”
The right person will continue asking increasingly sophisticated questions until they genuinely understand the underlying system well enough to communicate it accurately.
Application Instructions:
Please apply through LinkedIn and also email the following materials to:
steph@webcraft.inc
Subject line: Senior Technical Proposal Writer — NSF
Please include:
A brief description of the most technically sophisticated subject you have written about.
Your experience with NSF SBIR/STTR or other competitive federal R&D programs.
At least one writing sample involving engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, scientific research, or another technically sophisticated subject.
Your availability and preferred engagement structure.
A brief response to the following question: When interviewing an engineer about a technology you have never encountered before, how do you determine whether you understand the innovation well enough to write about it accurately?
6. The technical domains in which you are strongest, as well as any areas where you would require additional subject-matter support.
We are looking for someone who can meet sophisticated engineering at its actual level of complexity and communicate it with clarity, rigor, and accuracy.

Work arrangement
Yes