Project Partners
Senior Bid Manager Location : Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire Type: Permanent, Full-Time, Mon-Fri, Hybrid (3 onsite, 2 WFH) Hours: 8am 5pm, 40hrs, 1hr lunch break Salary: £70k - £90k depending on candidate experience (+ car allowance) Role Purpose: The Senior Bid Manager will take full ownership of a varied portfolio of opportunities from qualification through submission, clarification and post tender review. The role will establish the bid plan, define responsibilities, manage dependencies and coordinate operational, technical, commercial and senior stakeholders against clear deadlines. Working within the companies lean pre-construction structure, the post holder will apply proportionate governance across major framework procurements and a high volume of smaller in-framework opportunities, maintain momentum across concurrent bids, resolve gaps and ensure every input, review and final output is complete, coherent, compliant and submission-ready. Role Responsibilities: Strategy/Planning: Take ownership from qualification onwards, agreeing the proportionate bid strategy, governance route and submission plan with the Head of Bid Management and opportunity leaders. Establish clear programmes, deliverables matrices, responsibilities, dependencies, review stages and decision points for each opportunity. Facilitate mobilisation, win-strategy and answer-planning workshops where appropriate, converting evaluation criteria and client requirements into practical response plans, evidence needs and stakeholder actions. Maintain senior oversight through disciplined progress reporting, early escalation of risks and clear recording of actions and decisions. Bid Management Writing: Lead and manage concurrent bids from qualification through submission, clarification and post tender review, remaining accountable for quality and timely delivery. Apply proportionate governance to a mixed portfolio, from major strategic framework procurements to fast-moving small and medium-sized in-framework opportunities. Set expectations, assign responsibilities, follow through on actions and challenge missed commitments so that inputs and decisions are secured to programme. Write, shape and edit high-quality responses from first principles, turning complex technical and commercial input into clear, persuasive, evaluator-focused narrative. For major frameworks, develop strategic, benefit-led qualitative responses that articulate the companies positioning, capability, governance and long-term value. For smaller in-framework opportunities, work at pace with operational and commercial teams to shape the proposed methodology, programme, resources, risk position and commercial strategy. Coordinate appropriate review stages and ensure all comments, gaps, contradictions and unsubstantiated commitments are resolved before submission. Edit contributions from bid writers and subject matter experts for consistency, accuracy, evidence, compliance and a single voice. Ensure every final submission is complete, coherent, compelling, professionally presented and delivered on time. Commercial and Technical Pre-Construction: Work as an integrated member of the pre-construction team, bridging bid, operational, technical and commercial inputs rather than acting only as a submission coordinator. Support operational teams to develop clear, credible and deliverable methodologies, using informed questioning to test sequencing, resources, logistics, interfaces, constraints and risk controls. Work with commercial colleagues to understand the pricing strategy, contractual requirements, assumptions, exclusions, risk allowances and value opportunities that shape the offer. Ensure the technical narrative, programme, resourcing, commercial position and client commitments remain consistent throughout the submission. Identify gaps, contradictions or unsubstantiated commitments and bring the right operational, technical or commercial specialists together to resolve them. Contribute to solution-development discussions and challenge proposals constructively, while recognising when specialist commercial or technical judgement is required from the subject matter experts (SMEs) Stakeholder Engagement: - Build productive relationships across operational, technical, commercial, engineering, planning, design, SHEQ, ESG, finance and support functions, including direct engagement with Directors and senior decisionmakers. - Use focused interviews and workshops to draw out credible methodologies, evidence and differentiators from subject matter experts. - Secure timely inputs, challenge missed commitments, resolve dependencies and escalate risks early while keeping stakeholders aligned to immovable deadlines. - Coordinate partners, suppliers and external specialists where required and coach contributors to improve the quality and timeliness of their input. Systems, content and continuous improvement - Support the development and upkeep of the company s bid library and knowledge hub. - Capture reusable content, case studies, CVs, project evidence and lessons learned following each submission. - Improve templates, controls and reporting tools and support appropriate digital and AI-enabled working practices. - Contribute to performance reviews, lessons learned and initiatives that improve bid efficiency and win rates. Candidate Knowledge & Skills required: - Experienced, hands-on bid professional with the judgement and resilience to manage several opportunities at different stages. - Excellent written and verbal communicator with strong bid-writing, editing and proofreading judgement. - Highly organised and comfortable taking personal ownership of submission quality, actions and deadlines. - Confident influencing senior and multidisciplinary stakeholders, challenging missed commitments and escalating risks early. - Commercially aware and technically curious, able to test assumptions and understand how programme, pricing, contractual obligations, risk and delivery methodology influence the bid. - Comfortable creating order from complex inputs and operating across functional boundaries in a lean pre-construction environment. - Able to recognise when specialist judgement is required and bring the right people together to resolve an issue. - Collaborative, persuasive and willing to coach writers and contributors to improve their output. - Calm under pressure and flexible around working hours during critical submission periods when necessary. Candidate Experience Required: - Proven experience managing and delivering bids for a main contractor. Direct UK water-sector bidding experience is a significant advantage; otherwise, relevant experience should come from civil engineering, infrastructure or electrical/MEICA contracting. - Strong experience controlling concurrent bids through clear programmes, deliverables matrices, action tracking, review schedules and disciplined progress reporting. - Experience working as part of a pre-construction team and helping operational, technical and commercial specialists develop credible methodologies covering sequencing, resources, logistics, interfaces, constraints and risk controls. - Demonstrable stakeholder-management and influencing experience, including securing inputs, challenging commitments, resolving dependencies and escalating risks under tight deadlines. Commercial awareness and a working understanding of how pricing strategy, programme, contractual obligations, assumptions, exclusions, risk and opportunity influence the proposed solution and written submission. - Strong experience writing responses from scratch, editing contributions and translating evaluation criteria and client requirements into compliant response strategies. - Experience leading both complex strategic or framework procurements and smaller, faster-paced project or in-framework opportunities. Candidate Qualifications: - High standard of written English, including persuasive writing, editing and proofreading. - Strong planning, organisation, stakeholder management and influencing skills. - Ability to interpret and connect commercial, technical and operational information without needing to be a qualified Quantity Surveyor or engineer. - Competence across Microsoft 365, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and SharePoint. Ability to work effectively under pressure and meet immovable tender deadlines. - APMP accreditation or another relevant bid or project management qualification (desirable)
Senior Bid Manager Location : Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire Type: Permanent, Full-Time, Mon-Fri, Hybrid (3 onsite, 2 WFH) Hours: 8am 5pm, 40hrs, 1hr lunch break Salary: £70k - £90k depending on candidate experience (+ car allowance) Role Purpose: The Senior Bid Manager will take full ownership of a varied portfolio of opportunities from qualification through submission, clarification and post tender review. The role will establish the bid plan, define responsibilities, manage dependencies and coordinate operational, technical, commercial and senior stakeholders against clear deadlines. Working within the companies lean pre-construction structure, the post holder will apply proportionate governance across major framework procurements and a high volume of smaller in-framework opportunities, maintain momentum across concurrent bids, resolve gaps and ensure every input, review and final output is complete, coherent, compliant and submission-ready. Role Responsibilities: Strategy/Planning: Take ownership from qualification onwards, agreeing the proportionate bid strategy, governance route and submission plan with the Head of Bid Management and opportunity leaders. Establish clear programmes, deliverables matrices, responsibilities, dependencies, review stages and decision points for each opportunity. Facilitate mobilisation, win-strategy and answer-planning workshops where appropriate, converting evaluation criteria and client requirements into practical response plans, evidence needs and stakeholder actions. Maintain senior oversight through disciplined progress reporting, early escalation of risks and clear recording of actions and decisions. Bid Management Writing: Lead and manage concurrent bids from qualification through submission, clarification and post tender review, remaining accountable for quality and timely delivery. Apply proportionate governance to a mixed portfolio, from major strategic framework procurements to fast-moving small and medium-sized in-framework opportunities. Set expectations, assign responsibilities, follow through on actions and challenge missed commitments so that inputs and decisions are secured to programme. Write, shape and edit high-quality responses from first principles, turning complex technical and commercial input into clear, persuasive, evaluator-focused narrative. For major frameworks, develop strategic, benefit-led qualitative responses that articulate the companies positioning, capability, governance and long-term value. For smaller in-framework opportunities, work at pace with operational and commercial teams to shape the proposed methodology, programme, resources, risk position and commercial strategy. Coordinate appropriate review stages and ensure all comments, gaps, contradictions and unsubstantiated commitments are resolved before submission. Edit contributions from bid writers and subject matter experts for consistency, accuracy, evidence, compliance and a single voice. Ensure every final submission is complete, coherent, compelling, professionally presented and delivered on time. Commercial and Technical Pre-Construction: Work as an integrated member of the pre-construction team, bridging bid, operational, technical and commercial inputs rather than acting only as a submission coordinator. Support operational teams to develop clear, credible and deliverable methodologies, using informed questioning to test sequencing, resources, logistics, interfaces, constraints and risk controls. Work with commercial colleagues to understand the pricing strategy, contractual requirements, assumptions, exclusions, risk allowances and value opportunities that shape the offer. Ensure the technical narrative, programme, resourcing, commercial position and client commitments remain consistent throughout the submission. Identify gaps, contradictions or unsubstantiated commitments and bring the right operational, technical or commercial specialists together to resolve them. Contribute to solution-development discussions and challenge proposals constructively, while recognising when specialist commercial or technical judgement is required from the subject matter experts (SMEs) Stakeholder Engagement: - Build productive relationships across operational, technical, commercial, engineering, planning, design, SHEQ, ESG, finance and support functions, including direct engagement with Directors and senior decisionmakers. - Use focused interviews and workshops to draw out credible methodologies, evidence and differentiators from subject matter experts. - Secure timely inputs, challenge missed commitments, resolve dependencies and escalate risks early while keeping stakeholders aligned to immovable deadlines. - Coordinate partners, suppliers and external specialists where required and coach contributors to improve the quality and timeliness of their input. Systems, content and continuous improvement - Support the development and upkeep of the company s bid library and knowledge hub. - Capture reusable content, case studies, CVs, project evidence and lessons learned following each submission. - Improve templates, controls and reporting tools and support appropriate digital and AI-enabled working practices. - Contribute to performance reviews, lessons learned and initiatives that improve bid efficiency and win rates. Candidate Knowledge & Skills required: - Experienced, hands-on bid professional with the judgement and resilience to manage several opportunities at different stages. - Excellent written and verbal communicator with strong bid-writing, editing and proofreading judgement. - Highly organised and comfortable taking personal ownership of submission quality, actions and deadlines. - Confident influencing senior and multidisciplinary stakeholders, challenging missed commitments and escalating risks early. - Commercially aware and technically curious, able to test assumptions and understand how programme, pricing, contractual obligations, risk and delivery methodology influence the bid. - Comfortable creating order from complex inputs and operating across functional boundaries in a lean pre-construction environment. - Able to recognise when specialist judgement is required and bring the right people together to resolve an issue. - Collaborative, persuasive and willing to coach writers and contributors to improve their output. - Calm under pressure and flexible around working hours during critical submission periods when necessary. Candidate Experience Required: - Proven experience managing and delivering bids for a main contractor. Direct UK water-sector bidding experience is a significant advantage; otherwise, relevant experience should come from civil engineering, infrastructure or electrical/MEICA contracting. - Strong experience controlling concurrent bids through clear programmes, deliverables matrices, action tracking, review schedules and disciplined progress reporting. - Experience working as part of a pre-construction team and helping operational, technical and commercial specialists develop credible methodologies covering sequencing, resources, logistics, interfaces, constraints and risk controls. - Demonstrable stakeholder-management and influencing experience, including securing inputs, challenging commitments, resolving dependencies and escalating risks under tight deadlines. Commercial awareness and a working understanding of how pricing strategy, programme, contractual obligations, assumptions, exclusions, risk and opportunity influence the proposed solution and written submission. - Strong experience writing responses from scratch, editing contributions and translating evaluation criteria and client requirements into compliant response strategies. - Experience leading both complex strategic or framework procurements and smaller, faster-paced project or in-framework opportunities. Candidate Qualifications: - High standard of written English, including persuasive writing, editing and proofreading. - Strong planning, organisation, stakeholder management and influencing skills. - Ability to interpret and connect commercial, technical and operational information without needing to be a qualified Quantity Surveyor or engineer. - Competence across Microsoft 365, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and SharePoint. Ability to work effectively under pressure and meet immovable tender deadlines. - APMP accreditation or another relevant bid or project management qualification (desirable)
Nicholas Associates
Corby, Northamptonshire
As a successful and established reinforced concrete frame and civil engineering contractor, my client has built a reputation for delivering complex, high-quality projects across the UK. With a strong track record in structural frames, groundworks and civil engineering, they are entering an exciting phase of growth and diversification. We are seeking an experienced and highly organised Proposals Manager to join our Bid team to support our strategic expansion. They are increasing our presence within the Infrastructure, Power, Data Centre and Defence sectors, creating new opportunities to work on some of the UK's most significant and technically challenging projects. The Proposals Manager will play a pivotal role in coordinating, managing and delivering high-quality bid submissions that support the company's growth ambitions. Working closely with Bid Leads, operational teams and subject matter experts, you will ensure that every submission is compelling, compliant and aligned with our strategic objectives. You will be responsible for managing the end-to-end proposal process, from initial opportunity assessment through to final submission, helping to secure work across our expanding portfolio of sectors. Key Responsibilities Work with Bid Leads to coordinate the bid process and submission programme, ensuring compliance with all client requirements and deadlines. Track bid activities, milestones and deliverables to ensure the timely production of high-quality proposal documents for electronic submission or print. Coordinate the development of executive summaries, presentations and supporting submission materials. Collaborate with subject matter experts to develop, write and edit compelling, well-structured responses that address client requirements, demonstrate value and articulate clear win themes. Ensure all narrative content is completed and reviewed in accordance with internal governance procedures and external submission deadlines. Work closely with writers, designers and technical contributors to ensure documents are visually engaging, professionally presented and aligned with company branding. Coordinate with graphic designers to implement design templates and develop impactful graphics that strengthen proposal responses. Manage all bid-related documentation throughout the tender lifecycle, including organising meetings, workshops and review sessions. Administer client portals and procurement systems, including uploading tender queries, managing clarifications and distributing amendments and responses. Collate and prepare PQQ, SQ and tender submission information, including case studies, CVs, project profiles and supporting evidence. Conduct research across a range of internal and external sources to support proposal development and continuously improve submission quality. Maintain and develop the company's bid and business development reference library. Manage formatting, collation and submission of tender documents, including electronic uploads and printed submissions where required. Liaise with external suppliers, including photographers, animators, designers and print agencies. Capture lessons learned and best practice from completed submissions, driving continuous improvement across the bid function. Share knowledge across the business and contribute to the development of winning bid strategies. About You We are looking for an ambitious and detail-oriented proposals professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys working collaboratively across multiple disciplines. Essential Requirements Proven experience in a Proposals Manager, Bid Manager, Bid Coordinator or similar role. Experience managing complex PQQ, SQ and tender submissions within construction, civil engineering, infrastructure or related sectors. Excellent writing, editing and proofreading skills. Strong project management and organisational abilities with the capacity to manage multiple deadlines simultaneously. Experience coordinating contributions from technical, operational and commercial teams. Strong stakeholder management and communication skills. High attention to detail and commitment to producing high-quality work. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications. Desirable Experience within reinforced concrete frames, civil engineering, infrastructure, power, defence or data centre sectors. Knowledge of public sector procurement processes and frameworks. Experience with tender portals and bid management software. Understanding of graphic design principles and document production. Why Join Us? Be part of a successful and growing business with ambitious expansion plans. Contribute to landmark projects across infrastructure, power, data centres and defence. Work alongside experienced industry professionals in a collaborative environment. Enjoy genuine opportunities for career progression and professional development. Competitive salary, benefits package and flexible working arrangements. If you are a motivated proposals professional looking to make a significant impact within a dynamic and growing contractor, we would welcome your application. About Us We are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive community. In line with our Diversity and Inclusion policy, we welcome applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. As a Disability Confident Employer, and part of the Nicholas Associates Group, we are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities, and we're happy to discuss flexible working options. We are committed to protecting the privacy of all our candidates and clients. If you choose to apply, your information will be processed in accordance with the Nicholas Associates Group of companies Privacy Notice.
As a successful and established reinforced concrete frame and civil engineering contractor, my client has built a reputation for delivering complex, high-quality projects across the UK. With a strong track record in structural frames, groundworks and civil engineering, they are entering an exciting phase of growth and diversification. We are seeking an experienced and highly organised Proposals Manager to join our Bid team to support our strategic expansion. They are increasing our presence within the Infrastructure, Power, Data Centre and Defence sectors, creating new opportunities to work on some of the UK's most significant and technically challenging projects. The Proposals Manager will play a pivotal role in coordinating, managing and delivering high-quality bid submissions that support the company's growth ambitions. Working closely with Bid Leads, operational teams and subject matter experts, you will ensure that every submission is compelling, compliant and aligned with our strategic objectives. You will be responsible for managing the end-to-end proposal process, from initial opportunity assessment through to final submission, helping to secure work across our expanding portfolio of sectors. Key Responsibilities Work with Bid Leads to coordinate the bid process and submission programme, ensuring compliance with all client requirements and deadlines. Track bid activities, milestones and deliverables to ensure the timely production of high-quality proposal documents for electronic submission or print. Coordinate the development of executive summaries, presentations and supporting submission materials. Collaborate with subject matter experts to develop, write and edit compelling, well-structured responses that address client requirements, demonstrate value and articulate clear win themes. Ensure all narrative content is completed and reviewed in accordance with internal governance procedures and external submission deadlines. Work closely with writers, designers and technical contributors to ensure documents are visually engaging, professionally presented and aligned with company branding. Coordinate with graphic designers to implement design templates and develop impactful graphics that strengthen proposal responses. Manage all bid-related documentation throughout the tender lifecycle, including organising meetings, workshops and review sessions. Administer client portals and procurement systems, including uploading tender queries, managing clarifications and distributing amendments and responses. Collate and prepare PQQ, SQ and tender submission information, including case studies, CVs, project profiles and supporting evidence. Conduct research across a range of internal and external sources to support proposal development and continuously improve submission quality. Maintain and develop the company's bid and business development reference library. Manage formatting, collation and submission of tender documents, including electronic uploads and printed submissions where required. Liaise with external suppliers, including photographers, animators, designers and print agencies. Capture lessons learned and best practice from completed submissions, driving continuous improvement across the bid function. Share knowledge across the business and contribute to the development of winning bid strategies. About You We are looking for an ambitious and detail-oriented proposals professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys working collaboratively across multiple disciplines. Essential Requirements Proven experience in a Proposals Manager, Bid Manager, Bid Coordinator or similar role. Experience managing complex PQQ, SQ and tender submissions within construction, civil engineering, infrastructure or related sectors. Excellent writing, editing and proofreading skills. Strong project management and organisational abilities with the capacity to manage multiple deadlines simultaneously. Experience coordinating contributions from technical, operational and commercial teams. Strong stakeholder management and communication skills. High attention to detail and commitment to producing high-quality work. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications. Desirable Experience within reinforced concrete frames, civil engineering, infrastructure, power, defence or data centre sectors. Knowledge of public sector procurement processes and frameworks. Experience with tender portals and bid management software. Understanding of graphic design principles and document production. Why Join Us? Be part of a successful and growing business with ambitious expansion plans. Contribute to landmark projects across infrastructure, power, data centres and defence. Work alongside experienced industry professionals in a collaborative environment. Enjoy genuine opportunities for career progression and professional development. Competitive salary, benefits package and flexible working arrangements. If you are a motivated proposals professional looking to make a significant impact within a dynamic and growing contractor, we would welcome your application. About Us We are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive community. In line with our Diversity and Inclusion policy, we welcome applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. As a Disability Confident Employer, and part of the Nicholas Associates Group, we are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities, and we're happy to discuss flexible working options. We are committed to protecting the privacy of all our candidates and clients. If you choose to apply, your information will be processed in accordance with the Nicholas Associates Group of companies Privacy Notice.