Bid Manager - Rail

Bid Manager - Chippenham - Short-term contract

Our rail client is seeking a Bid Manager with experience in rail engineering project-based bids and tendering, to join their team on a 6 week contract.

Role Definition
Working closely with all disciplines within the Bids and Tendering department and the wider business, to ensure delivery of high quality, consistent winning bids, and effectively mobilising these to the project delivery team.

The Bids and Tendering function is a centralised bidding team that is responsible for the delivery of all bids for the Rail business, ensuring appropriate levels of governance and accuracy is applied to a winning strategy. The Bid/Project Manager is a key member of this team, reporting directly to the Director: Bids and Tendering.

Key Accountabilities
Management of the creation of winning tenders through full bid life cycle from Bid/No-Bid through to customer negotiation and Contract Award, for bids ranging in value from £100k up to £50m.
Definition and implementation of a winning bid strategy ensuring a breakdown of tender requirements and coordination of all technical, commercial and financial aspects of the estimation and proposal creation process (including pricing structures, subcontract partnerships etc.)
Preparation and coordination of compelling tender documentation ensuring high levels of consistency and quality, that adequately captures our offer, provides an accurate baseline for a future project, incorporates lessons learned, and mitigates company risks
Preparation of all review meeting materials and coordination of the close-out of all actions
Provision of leadership to the tender team and allocated business resources, influencing and negotiating with people at all levels, including providing progress reports to management
Involvement in pre and post bid submission negotiations with the client encompassing technical, financial and commercial considerations, acting as the client single point of contact in relation to the bid.
Production and delivery of presentations (internal and external to the client) up to board level
Responsible for transferring knowledge from the tendering team to the Delivery team, verifying the tender and achieving scope stability and handover to Delivery
Accurate management of bid budgets, and ensuring company policies and procedures (including quality assurance) as suitably followed, striking the right balance between governance and cost efficiency
Implement improvement in company processes and standards in relation to bid management and the wider functional areas

Essential:
Able to manage the delivery of bids through corporate governance procedures, including parallel approval workstreams (eg financial, technical, commercial etc.)
Significant bid management experience from an engineering project based business, in a regulated industry, with experience leading bids in excess of £20m, and managing bid budgets in excess of £500k
Possess a good understanding of the way in which railway-signalling projects are managed and delivered in order to influence, monitor and challenge every aspect of the bid ie, finance, engineering, planning, delivery and commercial inputs.
Commercially astute, and able to structure a bid to present the offer in the best light.
Possesses sufficient management experience (min. 5 years) and stature to operate at the same level as project managers and senior business managers, in order to provide appropriate leadership to tender teams and manage negotiations with the client as appropriate.
Matrix management experience in leading teams greater than 10 people, motivating and directing team members to a shared goal
Ability to influence and negotiate with people at all levels within the business and customer organisations, whilst fostering strong working relationships.
High degree of mobility to spend a time away from the agreed base' office as required.
Excellent communication skills both oral and written.
A pro-active high achiever with high energy levels, who is used to working under pressure and to tight/challenging deadlines.
Degree qualified (or equivalent) in a business or technically related discipline
Proficient in the use of Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint.

Desirable:
IEE or MIRSE preferable
Previously, or currently, occupying the position of Bid Manager, Project Manager, Commercial Manager or Project Engineering Manager in an engineering project based business.

Measures
Win rate
Elapsed time from ITT arrival to submission
Cost of bidding against allocated budget
Quality of tender documentation
Customer feedback

Please apply with your CV in the first instance

Resource Group are acting as an employment/agency business in relation to this vacancy