Bid Writer

United Infrastructure Ltd; Water; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

United Infrastructure in the UK is seeking a Bid Writer to support the identification, management and submission of tender opportunities across the Water business, including framework contracts.

The role combines high-quality proposal writing with the coordination of lower-complexity bids and framework opportunities. You will work with operational, commercial, estimating and technical teams to ensure opportunities are properly assessed, developed and progressed through the work-winning process.

Qualifications

• Strong written communication with excellent grammar and clarity.
• Ability to interpret tender questions and client requirements.
• Experience drafting structured bid responses with persuasive content.
• Collaboration with SMEs to gather technical, commercial, SHEQ and sustainability data.
• Proofreading and quality-checking tender submissions for accuracy.

Responsibilities

• Draft clear tender responses for Water sector opportunities.
• Interpret tender criteria and client requirements to shape answers.
• Develop structured responses showing approach, capability and differentiators.
• Coordinate inputs from operational, technical, commercial and support functions.
• Maintain CRM records and track opportunities through the bid process.
• Support governance, reviews and timely submission of bids.

Skills

Bid writing

Proposal writing

CRM management

Microsoft Office

Education

Degree or equivalent in English

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Microsoft Teams

Job description

United Infrastructure is a dynamic and rapidly expanding business, focused on delivering critical infrastructure projects, across the utility and social infrastructure sectors.

Our team of highly skilled and hardworking specialists deliver innovative solutions to the complex challenges our clients face.

Our company is split into two business areas:

Utility Infrastructure –

Our team of Utility Infrastructure specialists design, build and maintain critical water, energy (gas), power and telecoms infrastructure, for the UK’s largest network owners and operators.

Social Infrastructure –

Our team of Social Infrastructure specialists revitalise homes and communities by carrying out a wide range of work, from retrofit to refurbishment, and maintenance.

Equal Opportunities Statement – At United Infrastructure, we are committed to making every interaction a positive and inclusive experience. If there is anything we can do to support you, remove barriers, or make the process more accessible, please let us know — we want this to be the best possible experience for you.

Job Description – Bid Writer

Job Title: Bid Writer

Department: Work Winning / Bids – Water

Reports To: Bid Manager / Head of Bids

Location: Clearwater

Role Purpose

The Bid Writer will support the successful identification, management and submission of tender opportunities across the Water business, with particular responsibility for opportunities arising through existing framework contracts.

The role combines high-quality proposal writing with the coordination and management of lower-complexity bids and framework opportunities. The Bid Writer will work closely with operational, commercial, estimating and technical teams to ensure opportunities are appropriately assessed, developed, recorded and progressed through the business's work-winning process.

A key part of the role will be supporting the effective management of existing Water frameworks, maintaining accurate opportunity and pipeline information within the CRM, monitoring upcoming framework activity and ensuring the business is prepared to respond to client opportunities.

This is a developing role designed to provide increasing exposure to bid management, client frameworks, commercial decision-making and wider work-winning activities, creating a clear progression route towards Bid Manager.

Key Responsibilities

Bid Writing and Proposal Development

• Draft clear, compelling and client-focused tender responses for Water sector opportunities.
• Interpret tender questions, evaluation criteria and client requirements to establish what must be demonstrated within each response.
• Develop structured responses that clearly communicate our proposed approach, relevant experience, capability, benefits and differentiators.
• Work with subject matter experts to gather technical, operational, commercial, SHEQ, environmental, sustainability and social value information.
• Translate technical information into clear and persuasive written responses.
• Develop and maintain project case studies and supporting evidence for use within submissions.
• Ensure responses are tailored specifically to the client, framework and opportunity rather than relying on generic content.
• Proofread and quality-check submissions for accuracy, consistency, grammar and presentation.
• Incorporate review comments and lessons learned into final tender responses.

Framework Contract Management

The Bid Writer will have particular responsibility for supporting the management of opportunities generated through the Water business's existing framework contracts.

Responsibilities will include:

• Maintain visibility of upcoming opportunities across allocated Water frameworks.
• Monitor framework portals, client communications and internal intelligence to identify new and upcoming opportunities.
• Maintain a clear forward look of expected tenders, mini-competitions, work packages and call-off opportunities.
• Coordinate with Framework Managers, Operations Leads and Commercial teams to understand likely workload and client priorities.
• Ensure new opportunities are captured within the CRM promptly and accurately.
• Support initial opportunity qualification and Bid / No Bid discussions.
• Coordinate the early mobilisation of bid teams when opportunities are released.

Establish Key Tender Dates, Deliverables, Responsibilities And Review Requirements.

• Manage lower-value and lower-complexity framework submissions under the direction of the Bid Manager / Head of Bids.
• Track outstanding actions and inputs from contributors to maintain progress against submission deadlines.
• Maintain awareness of framework performance, upcoming workload and potential pipeline gaps.
• Support the preparation of framework opportunity reviews and pipeline updates for the Water leadership team.
• Develop an understanding of individual framework requirements, client expectations, contractual mechanisms and procurement processes.

The Bid Writer will become a key point of contact within the Work Winning team for allocated Water frameworks, ensuring opportunities are actively managed rather than simply responded to when tenders are released.

Bid Management

As capability develops, the Bid Writer will take increasing responsibility for managing appropriate opportunities from receipt through to submission.

• Review tender documentation and identify key submission requirements.
• Develop bid programmes and submission schedules.
• Coordinate inputs from operational, technical, commercial and support functions.
• Arrange and participate in bid kick-off meetings and response workshops.
• Allocate actions and monitor completion against agreed deadlines.
• Maintain tender trackers and action logs.
• Identify missing information, evidence or resource requirements and escalate these where necessary.
• Coordinate review stages and ensure comments are incorporated ahead of submission.
• Support the completion of internal governance and approval requirements.
• Ensure all tender documentation is correctly controlled and stored.

Coordinate Final Submission Requirements And Portal Uploads Where Required.

Support post-tender clarifications, presentations and interviews.

Larger, strategically important or higher-risk opportunities will continue to be led by a Bid Manager, with the Bid Writer supporting proposal development and coordination.

CRM and Pipeline Management

The Bid Writer will play an active role in maintaining the quality and accuracy of Water work-winning information within the CRM.

Responsibilities will include:

• Create and maintain CRM records for allocated Water framework opportunities.
• Ensure opportunities are recorded at the earliest appropriate stage.
• Maintain accurate information relating to Client and framework, Opportunity / project name, Scope, Estimated value, Tender release date, Submission date, Expected award date, Programme / delivery dates, Probability and opportunity status, Bid / No Bid decision, Bid owner, Operational and commercial leads, Key partners or supply chain requirements, Tender outcome.
• Update opportunity stages as bids progress through the work-winning process.
• Ensure CRM information reflects the latest intelligence from Framework Managers and operational teams.
• Support regular reconciliation of framework pipelines against CRM records.
• Identify missing, duplicated, outdated or inaccurate CRM information and coordinate its correction.
• Ensure submitted, won, lost and withdrawn opportunities are correctly updated.
• Capture reasons for tender outcomes and client feedback where available.
• Support reporting of secured, submitted and pipeline opportunities.
• Contribute to regular Water pipeline and work-winning reviews.
• Promote consistent CRM usage across the Water Work Winning and operational teams.

Opportunity and Pipeline Management

Maintain an up-to-date understanding of the Water framework pipeline.

Support the Head of Bids and Bid Managers in developing a forward view of workload.

Identify periods of increased tender activity and highlight potential resource constraints.

Track opportunities from early intelligence through qualification, tender, award and mobilisation.

Liaise with operational teams to understand expected framework opportunities before formal tender release.

Support prioritisation of opportunities where multiple tenders are being developed concurrently.

Provide regular updates on bid status, upcoming deadlines and outstanding actions.

Highlight risks to submission deadlines or bid quality at an early stage.

Support reporting to the Water Senior Leadership Team on work-winning activity.

Working with Operational and Technical Teams

• Build effective relationships with Framework Managers, Operations Directors, Project Managers, Engineers, Commercial teams and other specialists.
• Attend project and site visits to improve understanding of construction methodologies and project delivery.
• Interview subject matter experts to develop tender content.
• Challenge contributors constructively where information does not fully answer the client's question.
• Identify measurable evidence and project examples that strengthen submissions.
• Develop an understanding of how projects are planned, priced, delivered and commercially managed.
• Capture lessons learned and delivery innovations for use in future tenders.

Client and Framework Knowledge

• Client priorities and strategic objectives.
• Framework procurement processes.
• Tender and mini-competition requirements.
• Client terminology and scoring methodologies.
• Key operational and commercial requirements.
• Previous tender feedback.
• Existing relationships and delivery performance.
• Competitor landscape.
• Upcoming investment programmes and pipeline.

Bid Governance

• Support compliance with the business's Bid / No Bid and Delegation of Authority processes.
• Ensure required governance information is available at appropriate decision points.
• Support preparation of bid approval information including scope, value, margin, key risks and contractual considerations where required.
• Maintain appropriate records of bid decisions and approvals.
• Escalate material commercial, contractual, programme or delivery risks to the Bid Manager.
• Ensure submissions are not issued without the appropriate internal approvals.

Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement

• Maintain and develop the Water bid content library.
• Capture strong responses, case studies and evidence from completed submissions.
• Maintain project case studies containing measurable outcomes and client benefits.
• Capture tender feedback and incorporate lessons learned into future submissions.
• Identify recurring weaknesses or gaps in tender evidence.
• Support continuous improvement of bid templates, processes and standard content.
• Maintain awareness of developments across the Water sector and individual client investment programmes.

Essential

Skills and Experience

• Strong written communication skills with excellent grammar and attention to detail.
• Ability to produce clear, structured and persuasive written content.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to coordinate multiple activities.
• Ability to work effectively to fixed tender deadlines.
• Confidence communicating with operational, technical and commercial colleagues.
• Ability to gather information proactively rather than relying solely on written inputs.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams.
• Strong attention to detail when maintaining systems and opportunity information.
• Willingness to develop knowledge of Water infrastructure and construction.

Desirable

• Previous bid writing, proposal writing or work-winning experience.
• Experience within construction, utilities, engineering or infrastructure.
• Experience working with framework contracts or call-off arrangements.
• Previous experience using a CRM or opportunity management system.
• Understanding of public or regulated utility procurement.
• Degree or equivalent qualification in English, Communications, Business, Construction or another relevant discipline.

Personal Attributes

• The successful candidate will be: A strong and enthusiastic writer.
• Highly organised and comfortable managing deadlines.
• Proactive in chasing information and progressing actions.
• Confident working with colleagues at different levels of the business.
• Naturally curious and willing to develop technical knowledge.
• Comfortable taking ownership and being accountable for allocated opportunities.
• Able to challenge constructively where inputs are incomplete or insufficient.
• Detail-focused, particularly in relation to CRM and tender requirements.
• Commercially aware and interested in understanding how the business wins and delivers work.
• Motivated to develop from bid writing into broader bid and work-winning management.

Key Measures of Success

• Quality and scoring of written tender responses.
• Delivery of submissions in accordance with tender deadlines.
• Accuracy and completeness of Water CRM opportunity records.
• Visibility and accuracy of allocated framework pipelines.
• Effective management of lower-complexity framework opportunities.
• Timely identification and escalation of bid risks and resource requirements.
• Quality of coordination with operational and commercial teams.
• Improvement in the quality and availability of Water case studies and bid evidence.
• Implementation of lessons learned from client feedback.
• Increasing ability to independently manage opportunities from identification through to submission.

Career Development

The role is intended to develop capability across both bid writing and bid management.

Initially, the Bid Writer will focus on proposal development, CRM management and supporting existing Water frameworks. As experience and capability increase, they will take greater ownership of framework opportunities and lower-complexity tenders.

The expected development pathway is:

Bid Writer → Senior Bid Writer / Junior Bid Manager → Bid Manager → Senior Bid Manager

Join us at United Infrastructure and be part of our mission to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to the complex infrastructure needs of the UK.