Head of Bids

AeroCloud; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Share Options

25 days PTO

Take your birthday off work

Upskilling and training

Digital Nomad Scheme

Job summary

AeroCloud is seeking a seasoned Head of Bids to lead and scale its bid function across Europe and North America. You will own bid strategy, governance, and performance, guiding the Bid/No-Bid process, pricing, and narrative development with cross-functional partners.

You will build and lead a bids team within the wider commercial group, leveraging AI tools for tender analysis and post-mortem learnings to inform product roadmap and market strategy.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in bid or proposal management.
• Track record of winning high-value, competitive bids.
• Experience designing and managing complex Bid/No-Bid processes.
• Analytical, data-driven approach to tender analysis and qualification.

Responsibilities

• Set and own AeroCloud’s bid strategy, aligning activity with targets and regional plans.
• Lead and coach a growing bids team across Europe and North America.
• Oversee end-to-end delivery of RFPs, RFQs, RFIs, and other tenders, ensuring compliant, competitive submissions.
• Maintain win/conversion rate targets and report progress to leadership.
• Manage a systematised win/loss post-mortem process to drive improvements.

Skills

Bid management

Team leadership

Analytical thinking

Strategic planning

Tools

Loopio

HubSpot

Claude AI

Job description

AeroCloud is the new-age operating system for airports aiming to grow. Our suite includes Airport Operating Systems (AOS), PPS, and Passenger Flow Management solutions, empowering airports to gain deep insights into the movement of passengers and aircraft around the world.

We achieve this by becoming the airport’s first call for technology. Whether in times of need or growth, we stand alongside our clients, offering support through innovative software that drives their success.

Our Commitment to Excellence

At AeroCloud, being the airport’s first call means exceeding expectations at every customer interaction. This is not just a goal; it’s our standard. We prioritize detail, diligence, and a proactive approach in everything we do. If there’s a task to be completed, we see it through. If a customer needs an answer we don’t yet have, we respond promptly to let them know we’re on it. We believe in keeping our team informed, being transparent, and maintaining accountability at every step.

About The Role

We’re looking for an experienced, commercially minded Head of Bids to lead and scale our bid function as the business grows across airport markets in Europe and North America. The Head of Bids will own bid strategy, governance and performance end to end: leading the Bid/No-Bid decision-making process, shaping how the AeroCloud bid narrative, and building the team, processes and technology that deliver consistently high win rates.

You’ll be leading a bids team that operates within the wider commercial team across both regions, the role partners with Product Engineering, Operations, Finance, Legal and the wider Go To Market (GTM) team to produce persuasive, compliant and competitively priced submissions.

The successful candidate will bring a data-led, AI-enabled approach to tender analysis, qualification and bid management and will run a systematic win/loss process that makes each submission stronger than the last. Win/loss findings will form part of a feedback loop to the Product and Engineering team to inform the product roadmap, with the bids team acting as AeroCloud’s canary in the coal mine: often the first to see shifts in customer requirements, competitor positioning and market demand.

Initially, the Head of Bids will work closely with AeroCloud’s current Bid Manager to keep live bids moving and build on the processes already in place to drive success in 2027 and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Set and own AeroCloud’s bid strategy, aligning bid activity with commercial targets and regional growth plans, informed by market, procurement and competitor insight across European and North American airport markets
• Work closely alongside the current Bid Manager in the early months to understand live bids, existing processes and content, then lead, develop and coach a growing bids team that functions within the wider commercial team across Europe and North America
• Own and run a complex Bid/No-Bid process, using AI tools for tender analysis and qualification to assess requirements, evaluation criteria, risks and fit, and give senior leadership clear, evidence-based recommendations, including when to walk away
• Oversee end-to-end delivery of RFPs, RFQs, RFIs, PQQs and other tender submissions, shaping win strategy, narrative and pricing with Commercial, Finance and CX leads so every response is compliant, competitive and on time
• Maintain industry-leading win and conversion rates, setting targets, reporting on pipeline and performance to the VP of Sales and wider leadership, and acting quickly where results fall short
• Run a systematised win/loss post-mortem process for every tender outcome (won, lost or no-bid), capturing customer and evaluator feedback, feeding lessons back into strategy, content, pricing and qualification, and sharing market and product insight with Product Engineering to inform the roadmap
• Own the bid technology stack: Loopio for the content library and response workflows, HubSpot for accurate bid tracking and forecasting, and Claude for AI-assisted drafting and review across the bid lifecycle
• Ensure a clean handover from bid to post-sales and delivery teams and continuously improve the function so it stays scalable and aligned with AeroCloud’s growth objectives

What We’re Looking For

• Significant experience in bid or proposal management, including proven experience leading a bids team
• Track record of winning high-value, competitive bids and maintaining industry-leading win/conversion rates
• Experience designing and managing complex Bid/No-Bid processes, including qualification frameworks, scoring and senior-level governance
• Experience using RFP management software (Loopio preferred)
• Experience using AI tools (Claude preferred) for tender analysis, qualification and bid management
• Experience running a systematised win/loss post-mortem process and turning the findings into measurable improvements
• Experience using HubSpot to track bids, pipeline and outcomes
• Experience leading a team that functions within a wider commercial team across Europe and North America, or a comparable multi-region structure
• Analytical and data-driven, using bid metrics, win/loss insight and pipeline data to inform decisions

What We Offer

• Best in Class Share Options scheme
• 25 days PTO + statutory holidays
• Take your birthday off work on us as well
• Extensive upskilling and training
• Digital Nomad Scheme

AeroCloud recognises Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion at the heart of our business. They represent the mutual trust, respect and understanding we strive for. They are integral to our brand, reputation, success, business sustainability and employee relations impact.

Our vision is to have a diverse, equal and inclusive organisational culture. We want everyone who comes into contact with us, both face to face and virtually, to feel valued and respected. We want our workplace both in the office and at home to foster belonging to all colleagues to feel seen, connected, supported and proud. We will draw on the rich diversity of our workforce and harness the diverse contributions and considerable talents of our staff to achieve our vision in line with our organisational values and DE&I principles.

AeroCloud is an equal opportunities employer so if you have any specific work or access requirements as a result of a condition or disability then AeroCloud would be committed to working with you on the best way to support this at work.