Bid Support Manager

The Business Development (BD) function is responsible to the CEO for business winning across the life cycle management model (from opportunity discovery, development, proposal writing and contract award). The team covers both UK and global opportunities and covers all offerings from Armstrong Works.

Working closely with all other business functions it is responsible for order intake and ensuring there is a sizeable and credible future business pipeline, backlog and customer relationship management.

A key function of the BD function is the development, co-ordination and issuing of compelling and winning proposals.

• Job Purpose
  • Reporting to the Head of Bid Management, the primary role is to support the Bid Management team in the development, co-ordination and issuing of compelling and winning proposals that are executable by the business.
  • The role is to support the Business Development (BD), and all other functions, across all aspects of business winning and opportunities. It will involve working closely with the BD Director and team to manage and deliver opportunity management, order intake tracking and reporting, bid & tender management, proposal preparation and customer relationship management.
  • There will be a requirement to work across all business functions (across Armstrong Works) to ensure that once an opportunity has been qualified and a decision made to bid, that appropriate resources, actions and reviews take place prior to any submission.
  • The appointee and their team will play a vital role in representing the BD team on a day-to-day basis and when needed attending any internal business meetings in their absence on business.
• Key Responsibilities

  Reports to the Head of Bid Management and will be involved in both management and completion of:

  • Opportunity & order intake pipeline
  • Order intake tracking and reporting
  • Bid co-ordination
  • Proposal preparation (including liaison with Commercial Function around costing models)
  • Customer relationship management (CRM) tool management.
  • Monitoring of advisor process and annual assessment.
  • Market & Competitor Analysis
  • Cross functional (Finance, Commercial, Engineering & Projects) liaison to prepare and deliver reports and inputs for complex business winning proposals.
  • Maintenance of performance indicators, metrics and tracks as required.
  • Monitoring and support to major business Campaign Plans.
  • Potentially attending major defence and security conferences and exhibitions (globally) in support of the BD team
  • Other related duties as assigned
• Skills / Experience
  • The Business Support Manager will have experience in business winning, bid management and sales activity within an Engineering/Manufacturing business operating on a global scale.
  • Experience in the defence sector is desirable.
  • Entry to this role might be through bid management experience or a technical sales manager or project manager and expanding in to bid co-ordination. Or by gaining practical industry experience of at least 5 years. However, this is not essential to a high-quality candidate.
  • Degree level qualification is an asset but not essential. The ability to work with and understand technical specifications and to speak confidently to customers (internal and external) is essential.
  • Our ideal candidate is an experienced professional with knowledge of sales/business development best practices.
  • A sound business acumen is essential, and an understanding of commercial principles would be desirable.
  • We expect you to perform exceptionally well in a team environment and demonstrate outstanding people skills.
  • Must also be able to operate as an individual and make timely, rational decisions when necessary.
  • Experience working with CRM systems and a proficiency in working with Excel spreadsheets and
  • Access databases would be desirable.
  • An eye for detail and the ability to communicate both verbally and written is essential.
  • The skill to interact across several functions inside the business is essential.
• Personal attributes and other requirements
  • As a defence contractor, we have a number of security obligations placed upon the Company, which means that all our staff must be able to successfully achieve the relevant security clearances.
  • You will be expected to support in-house training programmes, as required.
• Working Conditions
  • Typically, office based though trips to events, conferences and exhibitions (sometimes overseas) will be required from time-to-time.