Bid Manager (Proposal Manager)

Job Introduction

Sodexo Justice are recruiting for a Bid Manager who has experience within the Justice sector. 

You will actively manage the tender process for medium and complex bids, adding value and effective support to the segment sales team by leading all day to day bid activity, ensuring bid framework procedures and governance are followed to deliver a compliant, compelling bid on time, and ensuring bid documentation is of a high standard, is clear, appropriate to the project, and communicates the agreed win strategies and win themes.

Due to the nature of the role you must have proven experience working in the criminal justice sector at a senior level; including policy development. You will also need to be confident in dealing with senior Government officials as part of policy development and commissioning programmes. Given our diversification ambition; experience of international criminal justice markets, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, would be extremely desirable.

Role Responsibility

Justice Business Development:

• Lead work on diversification into new markets and regions, including international markets which the UK team will lead (e.g. Australia, New Zealand and Canada)
• Single point of contact for all CRM Administration; managing Client Relationships; webs of influence and pipeline analysis
• Responsible for relationships with Clients; Policy Makers and Influencers at Senior Level in Government
• Market analysis and research into market conditions; competitors and criminal justice developments
• Lead innovation and policy development for the Sodexo Justice approach to rehabilitation and reducing reoffending

   

  Bid Management:

• Provide active bid management support and lead all day to day bid activities for medium and complex bids
• Log and track risk, assumptions and opportunities throughout the tender process, highlighting areas of concern with the sales lead
• Manage and communicate to the bid team all bid-related interactions through the relevant client portal, including document management, CQs, messages and submission of completed responses
• Support segment bid writer/sales lead with content create for bids as required
• Act as a consultative counterpart to sales to provide a ‘fresh eyes’ perspective and provide effective challenge to decisions/solutions
• Ensure the winning strategy and win themes are articulated effectively throughout the bid response, showing excellent appreciation of what the client needs
• Create, publish and submit tender response documents in accordance with agreed timetables, collaborating where needed with the bid creative team for conceptual development, artworking and printing
• Own the master response files and collation of completed responses
• Prepare internal and client facing presentation materials relating to the bids as required throughout the bid process
• Ensure consistently high standards are maintained in all bid response documentation and sales materials through use of templates, and thorough content reviews including proofreading and formatting checks

** Full job description attached

The Ideal Candidate

Segment Specific Experience:

• Proven experience working in the criminal justice sector at a senior level; including policy development
• Confident in dealing with senior Government officials as part of policy development and commissioning programmes
• Acute understanding of the UK criminal justice market and policy development currently underway
• Given our diversification ambition; experience of international criminal justice markets, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, would be extremely desirable

Bid Management:

• Proven experience in managing bid processes within an FM services market
• Able to demonstrate the necessary personality and leadership skills to guide a diverse virtual team successfully through the bid process
• Able to build relationships with both internal departments and client representatives, and comfortable working at CEO/Director level
• Solid ability and desire to implement internal governance processes (bid framework)
• Proven ability to work under pressure to plan and deliver compliant, professionally produced proposals within client-defined timeframes, and to manage multi-workstream opportunities with many contributors
• Awareness of market trends, particularly within the FM sector
• Strong evaluation skills to respond effectively to client requests, including input into bid/no-bid decisions, identifying win strategies, solution design, and risk and opportunities logs
• Written English to a high standard; able to research, author, edit and challenge content
• Advanced MS Word skills and proficiency in MS Office – a working knowledge of InDesign would also be useful
• Experience of using O365 SharePoint to support bid management processes and document management
• Knowledge of recognised bid management methodology; APMP training and/or project management certification would be beneficial
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strong time management/prioritisation skills
• Self-confident, diplomatic but firm under pressure
• A flexible approach to the working week to accommodate the peaks and troughs of the bid lifecycle, including working outside of normal working hours on weekdays and weekends when required 
• Desirable
• Ability to develop strategic direction; utilising market analysis and commercial analytics to support diversification and go to market strategy development
• Experience of Client Relationships at Senior Level in Government
• Degree level academic background with a focus on criminal justice

Package Description

£41,200 - £48,600

23 days annual leave

Closing date for applications is 21st June 2019

About the Company

Sodexo UK & Ireland employs around 36,000 people and delivers On-site Service Solutions to clients at over 2,300 locations including offices, hospitals, schools, defense sites, prisons, sporting events and visitor attractions.  With an annual turnover of over £1bn, Sodexo delivers a diverse range of services from catering, cleaning, reception to security, laboratory and grounds maintenance services, enabling clients to focus on their core business.

We are building on our support to the Armed Forces community through the development of specific pathways within our recruitment process to further engage ex-forces personnel and reservists.  Those applying for roles with us who meet the essential criteria advertised under the ‘ideal candidate’ on the vacancy advertised, are guaranteed to progress within the selection process.

Sodexo and our clients are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults within a regulated activity. Certain roles will require applicants to undergo screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and/ or Disclosure Scotland