Bid Manager

Thales; Cheadle Hulme; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Half‑day Fridays

29 days leave incl. bank holidays (pro

Volunteer time

Life cover

Wellbeing app

Employee discounts

Job summary

Thales UK is seeking a Bid Manager to lead the delivery of high‑quality bids within the Underwater Systems domain. The role involves coordinating multi‑disciplinary teams, shaping bid strategies and driving compelling proposals for transformational programmes in a hybrid UK setting.

You will ensure robust schedules, stakeholder alignment and governance reviews to produce winning submissions while maintaining security clearances and working across multiple sites.

Qualifications

• Proven bid leadership experience in complex engineering/defence environments.
• Strong leadership and cross‑site coordination capabilities.
• Excellent stakeholder, customer and supplier relationship management.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate multi‑disciplinary bid teams, ensuring a structured, well‑governed and timely bid process.
• Create and control bid schedules, requirements baselines and resource plans to support high‑quality deliverables.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, partners, suppliers and customer representatives.
• Ensure cross‑functional alignment across all bid artefacts, including estimates, compliance, commercial terms and the initial project baseline.
• Lead the preparation of PQQ responses, proposal development and governance reviews to produce winning submissions.

Skills

Bid management

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Commercial awareness

Bid lifecycles

Job description

Location:

- Cheadle (Greater Manchester) or Templecombe (Somerset) - hybrid working arrangement 3 days per week in the office vs. home

We are looking for a Bid Manager. In this role you will be responsible for leading the delivery of high‑quality, strategically important bids within our Underwater Systems (UWS) domain. As part of a rapidly growing area of the business, you will coordinate multi‑disciplinary teams, shape robust bid strategies and ensure the creation of compelling, competitive proposals. This is an exciting opportunity to support transformational programmes and contribute directly to the long‑term success of Thales UK.

Core Benefits:

On offer is a competitive salary and benefits package, which includes;

• Performance-related bonus
• Half day every Friday, usually finishing around 13:00
• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) plus opportunity to buy up to 40 hours/year (pro rata)
• 24 hours volunteering paid for
• Life cover
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app
• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers
• You can read about some of our other benefits here: UK benefits | Thales Group

Under Water Systems (UWS)

Our purpose is to be the leading provider of underwater sensors and decision superiority, helping navies across the world keep our friends, families and all of us safe. We cover four sectors: Mine Counter Measures, Anti-Submarine warfare, Services and Future Capabilities.

Main Responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate multi‑disciplinary bid teams, ensuring a structured, well‑governed and timely bid process.
• Create and control bid schedules, requirements baselines and resource plans to support high‑quality deliverables.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, partners, suppliers and customer representatives.
• Ensure cross‑functional alignment across all bid artefacts, including estimates, compliance, commercial terms and the initial project baseline.
• Lead the preparation of PQQ responses, proposal development and governance reviews to produce winning submissions.

Ideal Experience & Skills:

• Proven experience supporting or leading successful bids and/or projects in complex engineering or defence environments.
• Strong leadership and coordination skills, with the ability to work across multi‑disciplinary and multi‑site teams.
• Excellent stakeholder, customer and supplier relationship management capability.
• Strong commercial awareness, analytical skills and understanding of bid lifecycles, assumptions and risk management.
• Highly effective communication skills (written and verbal), with resilience and the ability to manage change.

Security Clearance Requirement:

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires Security Clearance (SC). It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment.

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels.