About the Role
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As Principal Bid Lead, you will be responsible for the full end-to-end bidding lifecycle, from pre-procurement strategy and early market engagement, through tender development and dialogue stages, all the way to contract signing and mobilisation handover.
Working with internal experts, senior leadership, external partners and clients, you’ll ensure our proposals are innovative, competitive, commercially aligned and reflective of customer need. You’ll set the tone, define the strategy, coordinate delivery and exercise the governance required to succeed on large-scale, multi-million-pound opportunities.
1. Lead pre-tender planning, market intelligence, SWOT analysis and competitor insight to maximise win probability
2. Develop compelling bid strategies that balance client requirements, commercial drivers and operational capability
3. Be the voice of the customer throughout the bid process to ensure a sustainable and winning solution is submitted
4. Build strong internal coalitions, motivating virtual teams (commercial, operational, finance, mobilisation, legal, marketing and others) to deliver high-quality proposals to strict timelines
5. Own the quality submission and solution development, challenging thinking and driving innovation
6. Lead dialogue/negotiation sessions with clients to refine proposals and influence outcomes
7. Manage bid governance, internal sign-off and risk, working closely with legal and commercial specialists
8. Maintain proactive engagement with clients, third-party partners and sector stakeholders
9. Manage bid budgets, resourcing and return on investment
10. Oversee contract close-out and ensure a smooth handover to mobilisation
11. Analyse bid performance and lessons learned to continually raise standards
12. Contribute to broader sector strategy and Group Development priorities
Key Criteria:
13. A proven track record of winning complex >£10m per annum public sector contracts (ideally within central government or similar environments)
14. Led bids from pre-procurement through to contract award and mobilisation
15. Confident, energetic and self-driven, with the ability to lead under pressure and to tight deadlines
16. Exceptional influencing and communication skills, capable of engaging and presenting at senior levels
17. Excels at problem-solving, challenging assumptions and shaping innovative solutions
18. Understands commercial drivers and can align pricing, quality and operational models
19. Possesses high levels of organisation, attention to detail and analytical capability
20. Excels in collaboration — inspiring teams, partners and stakeholders to deliver
All our roles require candidates to have the entitlement to work within the UK, Mears does not currently offer visa sponsorship.
To drive a Mears vehicle, you must be aged over 21 have held your licence over 3 months and have less than 9 points.
Candidates should be aware that all our roles are subject to relevant Background, Identity & Security checks before commencement of employment.