
Bid Manager
- Bristol Area
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Hybrid working where possible – business expectation of 60% onsite working over a one-month period.
- Half day finish on a Friday
- 25 days holiday per year (plus bank holidays), increasing with long service and with the opportunity to buy/sell up to 5 days
- Private medical insurance with optional family cover
- Pension scheme of up to 7% employer contribution
- Life Assurance 4x salary (flexible up to 10x)
- Group income protection
- Flexible opt-in extras such as a health care cash plan, dental insurance, gym membership, critical illness cover and cycle to work scheme
- Employee assistance program providing mental health and wellbeing support
- Professional membership reimbursement (discretionary)
- Leading 15–25 simultaneous bids, ranging from $50,000 up to $100 million, across shipbuilding, systems integration, through-life support, and naval innovation programmes.
- Developing and maintaining robust, resource-accurate Bid Delivery Schedules using MS Project, and managing workflows through Project Server. Driving all bid governance checkpoints—supporting Gate reviews from PQQ through to final submission.
- Planning and facilitating Bid Kick-Offs, strategy alignment sessions, and critical stand-up reviews to keep momentum high and deliverables on track.
- Producing clear, data-driven weekly status reports across your bid portfolio to ensure leadership has the full operational picture.
- Acting as the central point of communication for internal and external stakeholders—managing risks, resolving blockers, and ensuring alignment across engineering, commercial, technical, and operational teams.
- Leading post-submission reviews, capturing lessons learned, and embedding improvements across the team for future bid excellence.
- This role is high-paced and high-pressure, but for the right person, it offers huge visibility, strategic influence, and the satisfaction of directly contributing to national defence capability.
- 5+ years of end-to-end bid management experience, including proven wins in complex programmes
- Outstanding communication and stakeholder management skills—you’ll be interacting with engineering leads, commercial managers, and senior military customers
- Demonstrable ability to plan, forecast, and report on multiple live bids, with a structured, methodical approach.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and MS Project.
- A proactive mindset—someone who thrives under pressure, solves problems collaboratively, and drives momentum without supervision
- Experience working on bids involving complex systems—combat systems, platforms, sensors, or through-life support in the naval domain is desirable.