Head of BID Management

Strativ Group; Madrid; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Strativ Group in Madrid is seeking a Head of Bid Management to lead a function responsible for strategic defence opportunities. You will unite technical capability, commercial strategy and stakeholder input to craft compelling bids that win business.

Reporting into the Head of Commercial Operations, you will initially lead a small Bid Management team and scale the function as the business grows, with travel as required for key opportunities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years' experience in bid or proposal management or related discipline.
• Experience delivering complex, high-value bids with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience in defence, aerospace or regulated technical industries.
• Understanding of defence procurement processes and tendering.
• Proven ability to build and develop Bid or Proposal teams.
• Ability to translate technical capability into a clear customer proposition.
• Strong commercial awareness including pricing and risk considerations.
• Experience managing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams under deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Own and develop the overall bid management strategy, processes, governance and tools.
• Lead the full bid lifecycle from qualification to submission and post-bid review.
• Build and develop a high-performing Bid Management team.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary bid teams across BD, Engineering, Finance, Legal, Operations and senior leadership.
• Translate complex requirements into clear bid strategies, timelines and deliverables.
• Ensure bids are technically strong, commercially sound and compliant.
• Establish quality control across technical, commercial and contractual documentation.
• Manage multiple concurrent bids prioritising strategic opportunities.
• Prepare bids for internal review and senior bidding committee approval.
• Develop reporting on bid costs, resources, timelines and performance.

Skills

Bid management

Stakeholder management

Defence/Aerospace domain

RFPs RFQs RFIs

Team leadership

Job description

We are working with a rapidly growing defence and aerospace technology business developing next-generation UAV and autonomous systems for mission-critical applications.

They are now looking for a Head of Bid Management to build and lead the bid function, taking ownership of some of the organisation's most strategic and complex defence opportunities.

This is a senior role for someone who understands that winning a bid is about much more than producing a good proposal. You will bring together technical capability, commercial strategy, customer requirements and internal stakeholders to create compelling, competitive and deliverable bids.

Reporting into the Head of Commercial Operations, you will initially lead a small Bid Management team, with the opportunity to build the function as the business continues to scale.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own and develop the overall bid management strategy, processes, governance and tools.
• Lead the full bid lifecycle, from opportunity qualification and bid/no-bid decisions through to submission, clarification, negotiation support and post-bid review.
• Build, lead and develop a high-performing Bid Management team.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary bid teams across Business Development, Engineering, Finance, Legal, Operations, Supply Chain and senior leadership.
• Translate complex customer requirements and tender documentation into clear bid strategies, timelines, responsibilities and deliverables.
• Ensure bids are technically strong, commercially sound, compliant and aligned with customer requirements.
• Establish robust quality control across technical, commercial, contractual and supporting documentation.
• Manage multiple concurrent bids, prioritising resources around the most strategically important opportunities.
• Prepare bids for internal review and senior-level bidding committee approval.
• Develop reporting and performance metrics covering bid costs, resources, timelines, conversion rates and overall bid performance.
• Provide regular updates on the bid pipeline and performance to senior leadership.
• Lead post-bid reviews and turn lessons learned into tangible improvements.
• Analyse competitor positioning and tender outcomes to improve future bid strategies and win rates.
• Manage external suppliers and partners involved in proposal development.
• Build scalable processes, templates and best practices as the organisation continues to grow.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for an experienced Bid or Proposal leader who has operated in a complex, technical and highly regulated environment.

You'll ideally bring:

• 10+ years' experience in bid management, proposal management, business development, commercial operations or a related discipline.
• Strong experience delivering complex, high-value bids and tenders involving multiple technical and commercial stakeholders.
• Experience within defence, aerospace or another highly regulated technical industry.
• A strong understanding of defence procurement and tender processes, including RFPs, RFQs, RFIs and government procurement.
• Proven experience building, managing and developing Bid or Proposal teams.
• The ability to understand complex technical products and turn technical capability into a clear customer proposition.
• Strong commercial awareness, including pricing, contractual requirements, risk and bid economics.
• Experience managing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams against demanding deadlines.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to use bid data, competitor intelligence and tender outcomes to improve performance.
• Experience working with government agencies, defence organisations, prime contractors or institutional customers.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.
• Willingness to travel when required.

Highly Desirable

Experience with:

• UAV / UAS
• Autonomous systems
• Aerospace platforms
• Mission-critical defence technology
• Complex international tenders
• Strategic capture and proposal management

Why This Role?

This is an opportunity to join a business operating at the cutting edge of defence, aerospace and autonomous technology.

You’ll have the opportunity to shape how a growing organisation approaches some of its most important strategic bids, build a team around you and have a genuine influence on the commercial growth of the business.

If you’ve successfully led complex defence or aerospace bids and want the opportunity to build something rather than simply inherit an established process, this could be a very interesting next step.

Location: Madrid

Working Pattern: Hybrid

If you’d like to find out more, please get in touch for a confidential conversation.