We are currently working with a market leading Personal Protective Equipment Supplier who are looking for an experienced Lead Bids & Tenders Manager!
The role will be office based Mon- Friday at their offices in Poole, Dorset.
Function:
Working with the sales team, take responsibility for coordinating bid and tender activity before, during and after submission. Focus on quality submissions, ensuring information from across all relevant business areas is accurate and meets requirements for the proposal.
Duties:
-Manage the end-to-end process – coordinating, writing content, and designing response documents aligned with our brand.
-Lead the preparation and submission of compelling bids for relevant divisions – Power & Utilities, National Accounts and Cruise.
-Responsible for the complete bid lifecycle, from opportunity assessment to final submission and contract award.
-Collaborate closely with internal teams (sales, procurement, finance, operations, marketing) to ensure cohesive and accurate responses.
-Review tender documentation to interpret requirements and develop win strategies.
-Understand sales pipelines for forthcoming opportunities (horizon scanning for future opportunities).
-Ensure submissions meet all client specifications, industry standards and legal obligations.
-Contribute to the development of cost models and pricing strategies in partnership with sales and finance teams.
-Support bid/no-bid discussions and decision-making with the sales team.
-Own the response document – including coordinating inputs from others, drawing on boilerplate content and writing fresh content where needed.
-Align responses to brand tone and voice, agreed messaging/win themes, format and proofreading.
-Create and manage the project plan for each intended submission - resource planning and bid schedules to meet deadlines.
-Maintain a knowledge base and contribute to process improvements.
-Conduct post-bid analysis to capture lessons learned and refine future strategies.
-Engage with customers during clarification stages, presentations, and negotiations as required.
-Maintain and develop bid libraries and supporting documentation.
-Monitor public sector and other relevant portals for opportunities.
-Adopt a ‘right first time’ approach to all actions and interactions.
Skills:
-Proven experience in bid management, gained within distribution or FMCG industries preferable.
-Strong written and verbal communication skills, with a keen eye for detail.
-Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines.
-A natural communicator and relationship-builder who thrives in a collaborative environment.
-Ability to build strong relationships with colleagues and customers.
-Proficiency in Excel and MS tools.
-Confident working with database systems (CRMs, ERPs).
-Experienced with good understanding of working with sales teams and sales processes.
-Experienced in problem solving and issue resolution.
Personal Attributes:
-Must be a self-starter and able to work unsupervised.
-Exceptional organisation skills, able to plan and prioritise effectively.
-Articulate and able to communicate effectively at all levels, written and verbal, internally and externally.
-Great eye for detail and working with accuracy. Takes pride in own work.
-Natural at working collaboratively with own and wider team members.
-Proactive approach. Seeks out areas to add value to team and company.
-Calm under pressure; able to assess and respond with a measured approach