Make theshortlist.
aec-soq.com builds statements of qualifications and SF330s for architecture, engineering, and construction firms. Team qualifications, project experience, resumes, and narratives, produced to how public agencies actually shortlist under qualifications-based selection. It is built to win the shortlist, not just to fill in the form.
A BD-AEC service · Proposal development inside a business development practice
Where AEC pursuits go wrong
A qualifications-based selection is not scored on how good your work is. It is scored on how well your package proves it, against the agency’s criteria. Most SOQs leave points on the table. These are the gaps we close.
A recycled SOQ
Last pursuit’s package goes back out with the name changed, and it ignores what this agency actually scores.
Resumes that bury the work
The relevant registration and project experience is in there, but not where an evaluator scoring the criteria will find it.
SF330 section errors
Part I blocks get filled in thin or wrong, and points are lost before the interview even happens.
Weak project sheets
Past projects are listed, but never tied to the size, scope, and setting the agency is procuring.
Org charts that confuse
The chart shows boxes and lines, but not who does the work or who is accountable for it.
No agency intelligence
The package is written in a vacuum, with no read on how this specific owner shortlists.
Generic to everyone
It reads like it could go to any agency, so it stands out to none of them.
A proposal is never free
A professional AEC proposal commonly consumes 50 to 100 hours across leadership, technical, marketing, design, and administrative resources. That time bills to overhead instead of a client, and it comes out of exactly the people you most need on projects.
Per pursuit, produced in house
A proposal is never free when it is produced internally.
| Resource | Hours | Burdened rate | Illustrative cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal / seller-doer | 8 to 15 | $225 to $350 | $1,800 to $5,250 |
| Project manager / technical lead | 10 to 20 | $125 to $175 | $1,250 to $3,500 |
| Marketing / proposal coordinator | 20 to 35 | $75 to $110 | $1,500 to $3,850 |
| Graphic design and production | 6 to 15 | $80 to $125 | $480 to $1,875 |
| Executive review and admin support | 6 to 13 | $50 to $400 | $700 to $2,560 |
| Total | 50 to 98 | — | $5,730 to $17,035 |
Illustrative fully burdened cost, including compensation, benefits, payroll expense, overhead, software, and indirect resources. Actual hours vary by pursuit.
A shortlist is won on qualifications, presented for how the agency actually scores them. Every resume, project sheet, and SF330 block either earns a point or wastes a page. We make each one count.
What a winning submission actually needs
A compliance matrix maps every requirement to a response. This is the one that decides most selections: the gap between how a firm usually submits and how a pursuit should be run.
Resumes mapped to the criteria
SF330 built to the scoring
Project sheets tied to the scope
Selection-criteria matrix
Agency-specific tuning
Independent qualifications review
On-time, compliant package
The full scope, one shop
Everything a qualifications-based selection asks for, produced to how public owners shortlist. Engage us for the full SOQ or SF330, or for the resumes and project sheets your team cannot reach.
Statements of Qualifications
A complete SOQ built to how public owners shortlist, from the cover letter to the appendices, tuned to the selection criteria.
SF330 Support
The federal standard form done right: Part I and Part II, with project examples written to the blocks that get scored.
Team Qualifications
Your firm and your subs presented as one credible team, with the roles and relevant experience an evaluator is looking for.
Project Experience
Relevant-project write-ups that connect past work to the exact scope, size, and setting the agency is procuring.
Staff Resumes
Resumes rebuilt around the selection criteria, so the right registrations, roles, and projects are impossible to miss.
Organizational Charts
Clear org charts that show the agency who does the work, who is accountable, and how the team is actually structured.
Technical Narratives
Approach and understanding narratives that prove you get this project, written for the evaluator, not the engineer.
Agency-Specific SOQs
Packages tuned to the format and priorities of the specific owner, from a state DOT to a university to a water district.
Not on the list?
If it touches a pursuit, it's in scope. Tell us what the solicitation needs.
One strategic standard. Two levels of finish.
Every engagement is built around responsiveness, persuasive content, and a submission-ready final document. What changes between the two is how far the production goes.
Professional
Word-based production
- Best fit
- Straightforward SOQs, on-call selections, qualifications packages, and time-sensitive pursuits.
- Production
- A polished Microsoft Word layout, delivered as a submission-ready PDF.
- Compliance matrix and pursuit strategy
- Writing, editing, and QA/QC
- Resumes and project descriptions
- Photographs, tables, and basic graphics
Timing
Available at every schedule tier, subject to capacity.
Reviews
Two review cycles
Signature
Creative production
- Best fit
- High-value, highly competitive, brand-defining, or shortlist-critical pursuits.
- Production
- Custom Adobe InDesign production by our creative team.
- Everything in Professional
- Custom visual concept and information design
- Infographics, diagrams, and image treatment
- Agency-level production quality
Timing
Best with 30 or more days. Generally available at 15 or more days.
Reviews
Content and design reviews
The production level changes. The strategic discipline does not.
Engage early
The best time to prepare for a proposal is before the opportunity is released.
Options and cost both reflect the time available to do the work responsibly. Engaging early preserves every production format, a full review cycle, and the most flexible footing. It is also why a reusable foundation, a case study library, current resumes, and a project image library built before the RFP posts, pays for itself across every pursuit that follows.
What a foundation builds
- Case study library
- Resume development
- Personnel and project image library
- Reusable marketing materials
How a pursuit runs
A repeatable process for qualifications-based work, run to the shortlist criteria. Every element earns its place against how the agency scores.
- 1
Opportunity Evaluation
A go/no-go on the selection: your fit, the incumbents, and whether your experience matches what the agency requires.
- 2
Capture Strategy
The discriminators that set you apart on qualifications, decided before the package is built.
- 3
Proposal Planning
A selection-criteria matrix and an outline mapped to the SOQ or SF330 form, so every requirement has an owner and a page.
- 4
Technical Content
Resumes, project sheets, and narratives written and mapped to the criteria, drawn from your team and your past work.
- 5
Graphics & Design
Org charts, project sheets, and a clean, scannable package an evaluator can score quickly.
- 6
Quality Review
A criteria check and an independent read against how the agency shortlists, before the package goes out.
- 7
Submission Support
Formatting, production, and on-time delivery, to the letter of the SOQ or SF330 instructions.
Owners we write for
Qualifications-based selection is public-owner territory, and we know how these agencies shortlist. The disciplines below link through to BD-AEC’s market pages.
More than a proposal writer
A writer formats your SOQ. BD-AEC builds it to win the shortlist. Qualifications work here sits inside a business development practice, so the package is built the way agencies actually select.
Business Development
We think about the shortlist and the interview, not just the document.
Proposal Strategy
Discriminators set the direction before the first resume is written.
Technical Writing
Engineering qualifications written from your team, clear enough for a non-technical evaluator.
Industry Experience
AEC only. We know how public agencies shortlist design and construction firms under qualifications-based selection.
Capture Planning
The positioning done before the RFQ posts, so your qualifications land with an owner who already knows you.
Relationship Development
A strong SOQ opens the door. The relationship is what BD-AEC builds behind it.
Most of the score is qualitative. We build the proposal to win the parts that are not price.
Straight answers
What is a Statement of Qualifications?
It is the package a firm submits to get shortlisted for professional services, before a full proposal or interview. It presents your team, experience, and approach against an agency’s selection criteria. Under qualifications-based selection, price is not scored at this stage.
How much does an SOQ cost?
A standalone SOQ is typically a fixed fee that depends on the length and the form. An SF330 with a full slate of project examples is more involved. We scope it in writing before you commit.
Can you help with an SF330?
Yes. The SF330 is a core service: Part I and Part II, with project examples and resumes chosen and written for the blocks that actually get scored.
How does qualifications-based selection work?
Public agencies shortlist on qualifications first, interview the top firms, and negotiate price with the top-ranked team. That is why the SOQ has to win on experience and approach, not on cost.
Do you write resumes and project sheets?
Yes, and it is often the highest-return work. We rebuild resumes and project sheets around the selection criteria so the relevant experience is impossible to miss. For a dedicated writing engagement, soqwriters.com goes deeper.
Can you tune the SOQ to a specific agency?
Yes. We tune the format and emphasis to the specific owner, from a state DOT to a university to a water district, based on how they shortlist.
Can you review an SOQ we already have?
Yes. We review existing SOQs against the selection criteria and give you a marked-up copy with a punch list to fix before it goes out.
Tools we bring to every pursuit
The tools and field notes we bring to every qualifications package. Ask for any of these on a discovery call and we will walk you through it against a live pursuit.
SF330 Section Checklist
What a shortlist-grade SF330 includes, block by block.
Selection-Criteria Matrix
Map every scored criterion to the resume, project, or narrative that answers it.
Project Sheet Template
Relevant-project write-ups tied to scope, size, and setting.
Resume Criteria Map
Line each resume up against the experience the agency is scoring.
Org Chart Standards
Charts that show who does the work and who is accountable.
Agency Format Tracker
How the owners you pursue want their qualifications packaged.
Ask for any of these on a discovery call. Request one →
§ Contact
Have a pursuit on the clock?
Send us the solicitation and your deadline. Scott Mann responds within one business day with a straight read on the pursuit, a go/no-go take, and what a winning submission needs.
Discovery call
A straight read on the pursuit and whether we should chase it.
Proposal assessment
A compliance and win-strategy review of a draft you already have.
Opportunity review
A go/no-go on a specific solicitation, scored before you commit.
Request a proposal assessment
AEC firms only. We'll never share your details.
One shop, seven front doors
aec-soq.com is the qualifications and SF330 front door of the BD-AEC proposal network. Each site below goes deep on a different kind of pursuit. It all runs through the same shop.