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Bid Manager (Defence & Security)

Job description

Bid Manager (Defence & Security) 
Great Chesterford, Essex | Full-time | Hybrid (min. 3 days in office)
£65,000 - £75,000 (dependant on experience)

I’m currently partnered with a business in Great Chesterford who are looking to hire an experienced Bid Manager to join their team, with a focus on Defence & Security. This is a customer-facing role, working closely with sales, engineering, and client teams to manage and coordinate the full bid lifecycle process.
The Role
  • Reporting into the Head of Defence Sales
  • Based at the Great Chesterford office, with a hybrid model (minimum 3 days per week in the office)
  • Full-time position
Responsibilities
  • Manage and coordinate the full lifecycle of bids, from opportunity qualification through to proposal submission, contract negotiation, and acceptance (Must have experience of writing own bids)
  • Own the bid management process and drive its ongoing development within the business
  • Lead regular bid review meetings, assigning tasks, setting timescales, and defining deliverables
  • Work with stakeholders across sales, engineering, the CTO office, legal, and others to gather input
  • Prepare and deliver compelling bid documentation, ensuring alignment with customer requirements (including contributions to project plans)
  • Lead responses to supplier onboarding questionnaires
  • Manage government frameworks, including regular reviews to identify new opportunities
  • Take ownership of the CRM system (HubSpot), including monthly reporting against sales targets
  • Liaise with legal on bid information to support review of terms and conditions
  • Support subcontractor management on collaborative bids
  • Oversee successful handovers from proposal acceptance through to project execution, working closely with project managers
  • Coordinate with engineering and project management teams to forecast weekly resource requirements
About You
  • Strong background in government procurement as well as B2B bidding
  • Several years of experience managing bids in a technical services environment, ideally within Defence
  • Degree in electronics, physics, or a related technical discipline
  • Experienced in preparing both commercial and technical bid/proposal documents
  • Comfortable dealing directly with clients in a professional setting
  • High energy, proactive, and a self-starter
  • Able to operate confidently when facing challenge or uncertainty