Associate Director - Proposal Manager

AECOM; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

AECOM seeks an Associate Director - Proposal Manager to lead strategic, high-value transportation pursuits across the UK and Ireland. You will steer teams through qualification, capture, proposal, interview and debrief, shaping winning strategies and investments for senior leaders.

You will mentor capture and proposal teams and deliver compliant, client-focused responses, with strong MS Office and collaboration skills in a hybrid work environment.

Qualifications

• APMP Practitioner or equivalent certification is required.
• Substantial experience in a senior proposals or pursuits role.
• Proven lifecycle experience from qualification to debrief for complex, high-value pursuits.
• Ability to create differentiated win strategies and translate them into compliant responses.
• Excellent facilitation, presentation and communication skills in virtual and in-person settings.
• Strong working knowledge of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams.
• Judgement, resilience, and organisational skills to lead multiple contributors under tight deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Lead large, complex pursuits across regions and external partners from capture to debrief.
• Develop and execute differentiated win strategies aligned with client insights and analysis.
• Direct capture activity, advise senior stakeholders on priorities and investment decisions.
• Mobilise multidisciplinary teams with clear governance and momentum.
• Lead proposal planning, content development, reviews, and interview preparation.
• Ensure compliant, persuasive submissions consistent with processes and branding.
• Analyse debriefs and feedback to identify trends and drive improvements.
• Coach and mentor teams in capture planning, strategy, and bid writing.

Skills

APMP Practitioner

Leadership

Proposal management

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Communication

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Teams

Job description

Lead the strategic pursuits that will shape the growth of AECOM's Transportation business across the UK and Ireland. As Associate Director - Proposal Manager, you will lead AECOM's most strategic and complex transportation pursuits. You will advise senior leaders and bring together technical, capture and proposal specialists to develop differentiated, client-focused bids that support our growth strategy. Reporting to the Pursuits Team Director, you will influence investment and pursuit decisions, shape winning strategies and lead teams through the full business development lifecycle-from qualification and capture to proposal, interview, debrief and continuous improvement. You will also strengthen work-winning capability across the business by embedding best practice, coaching teams and turning client feedback into practical improvements. Here's what you'll do:

• Lead large and complex pursuits involving multiple disciplines, regions and external partners, from early capture through proposal, interview and debrief.
• Develop and execute differentiated win strategies that translate client insight, competitor analysis, and technical expertise into compelling, client-focused proposals.
• Direct positioning and capture activity, facilitate win-strategy workshops, and advise senior stakeholders on pursuit priorities, investment and decision-making.
• Mobilise multidisciplinary teams, establish clear governance, and maintain momentum, accountability and quality throughout each pursuit.
• Lead proposal planning and delivery, including kick-off, answer planning, content development, reviews, document production, and interview preparation.
• Ensure submissions are compliant, persuasive and consistent with AECOM processes, templates, branding, and quality standards.
• Analyse internal debriefs and client feedback to identify trends, share lessons learned, and embed continuous improvement across clients and markets.
• Act as a visible role model for collaborative, client-focused work winning, constructively challenging teams to achieve the strongest possible outcome.
• Coach and mentor capture and proposal teams in capture planning, strategy development, answer planning, proposal management and bid writing.
• APMP Practitioner or Professional certification, or an equivalent recognised proposal-management qualification. Substantial experience in a senior proposals or pursuits role, with the confidence to advise, influence and constructively challenge senior stakeholders.
• A strong track record of leading high-value, complex pursuits - typically with a total contract value above £20M - across the construction, engineering, or infrastructure sectors.
• Demonstrable success across the pursuit lifecycle, from qualification and capture through proposal, interview, debrief, and lessons learned.
• Proven ability to create differentiated win strategies and convert them into compelling, compliant pursuit responses.
• Excellent facilitation, presentation and communication skills in both virtual and in-person settings.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams.
• The judgement, resilience and organisational skills to lead multiple contributors, work effectively under pressure and deliver high-quality outputs to demanding deadlines.
• Strong personal accountability, rigorous attention to detail and consistently high-quality standards. Work with Us. Change the World.

At AECOM, we're delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world's most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations. There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world. We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us., At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment. About AECOM AECOM is the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle - from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM. Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you're working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed. You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients. AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We're the world's trusted global infrastructure firm, and we're in this together - your growth and success are ours too. Join us, and you'll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm - access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours.