Bid Manager

Dalcour Maclaren Limited; England; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus scheme

25 days annual leave plus 1 birthday

Vitality Health Membership

Flexible working

Pension scheme

Cycle to work

Job summary

Dalcour Maclaren Limited is seeking an experienced Bid Manager to lead the development of high-quality bids, tenders and client proposals. You will work with Client Relationship Directors, Growth Directors and subject matter experts to identify opportunities and shape winning strategies.

This role emphasizes commercial awareness, strong writing/editing skills, and the ability to influence stakeholders across public and private sector tenders.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a Bid or Proposal Manager role.
• Excellent written communication and editing skills.
• Creative and bold – bring bids and presentations to life with innovative ideas.
• Exceptional attention to detail, identifying inconsistencies, omissions, compliance risks and errors before submission.
• Understanding of public and private sector procurement processes.
• Demonstrable track record of delivering successful bids and framework submissions.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams and senior stakeholders.
• Strong project management and organisational capabilities.
• Commercial awareness and understanding of business growth drivers.
• Ability to develop compelling client value propositions.
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Lead submissions for public and private sector frameworks.
• Coordinate expressions of interest, selection questionnaires, mini competitions and direct awards.
• Manage the complete bid lifecycle from qualification to submission and interview stages.
• Lead bid planning, kick-off meetings, technical review workshops and submission timelines.
• Own bid delivery by guiding multidisciplinary teams to high-quality, compliant submissions.
• Set expectations for contributors and escalate risks to ensure timely, top-standard bids.

Skills

Bid management

Proposal writing

Stakeholder management

Project management

Commercial awareness

Influencing & presenting

Ability to work under pressure

Tools

CRM

Bid management software

Knowledge management systems

Job description

The Opportunity

You will manage the development of high-quality bids, tenders, framework submissions and client proposals, working closely with Client Relationship Directors, Growth Directors, operational leaders and subject matter experts across the business. The successful candidate will combine exceptional bid management and bid writing expertise with strong commercial awareness, helping us identify the right opportunities, improve bid quality and increase conversion rates. This role goes beyond coordinating submissions. We are looking for someone who can challenge, influence and shape winning strategies.

Key Responsibilities

• Bid Management Lead submissions for public and private sector frameworks.
• Coordinate expressions of interest, selection questionnaires, mini competitions and direct award opportunities.
• Manage the complete bid lifecycle from opportunity qualification through to submission and interview stages.
• Lead bid planning, kick-off meetings, technical question review workshops, submission timelines and review cycles.
• Take ownership of the bid delivery by proactively managing multidisciplinary teams to ensure the delivery of high-quality, well written, compliant submissions.
• Set clear expectations for contributors, proactively chase outstanding inputs and escalating risks to the submission programme early, where required, to ensure all bids are submitted on time and to the highest standard.

Content Development

Develop compelling, client-focused bid responses by critically analysing tender questions, evaluation criteria and scoring methodologies to ensure answers are tailored for maximising scoring. Translate technical information into clear client benefits and outcomes. Create persuasive executive summaries, win themes and differentiators. Maintain and develop a central bid content library and knowledge repository.

Stakeholder Management

Work collaboratively with Directors, technical specialists and subject matter experts across the business. Confidently and constructively challenge SME drafts to identify gaps, risks and areas where stronger evidence is required. Support presentation preparation and interview coaching for key opportunities.

Continuous Improvement

Track bid performance and win rates. Drive continuous improvement in bid quality, efficiency and effectiveness. Streamline future bid submissions through the use of templates, case studies and the bid library.

About You

Essential Experience & Skills

• Proven experience in a Bid or Proposal Manager role.
• Excellent written communication and editing skills.
• Creative and bold – we want to bring our bids and presentations to life with innovative ideas.
• Exceptional attention to detail, with the ability to identify inconsistencies, omissions, compliance risks and errors before submission.
• Understanding of public and private sector procurement processes.
• Demonstrable track record of delivering successful bids and framework submissions.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams and senior stakeholders.
• Strong project management and organisational capabilities.
• Commercial awareness and understanding of business growth drivers.
• Ability to develop compelling client value propositions.
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple deadlines.

Desirable Experience

Desirable Experience within utilities, energy, transport, telecommunications or infrastructure consultancy sectors. Experience with CRM, bid management and knowledge management systems. Experience supporting presentation and interview stages for major opportunities.

Benefits

• Annual bonus scheme
• 25 days annual leave plus 1 day to celebrate your birthday
• Vitality Health Membership (including Private healthcare, subsidised gym membership and other discounts)
• Flexible working through our Flexible Advantage supporting working families & your work/life balance
• Pension Scheme via The Peoples Pension Life insurance (4x Base Salary)
• Cycle to work scheme
• 26 Weeks paid
• Maternity Leave 4 Weeks paid
• Paternity Leave
• BHN Extras - provides discounted gift cards for hundreds of popular retailers
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme (provided by Octopus Electric Vehicles) effective at 1 years' service
• Sabbatical Policy effective at 3 years' service
• Professional development - paid study leave
• Military service paid leave (7.5 days per year)
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) plus wider Mental Health & Wellbeing support
• 2 x Company-wide events every year, in addition to multiple office socials throughout the year

Dalcour Maclaren is an equal opportunities employer.

At Dalcour Maclaren, our people help drive the transition to net zero by unlocking consents for the UK’s utilities and infrastructure sector.

Whether you're starting out or bringing years of experience, a Dalcour Maclaren job has a real impact on your career, our clients, and the systems that power and connect the UK.

We’re always open to hearing from top talent.