Pursuit and Proposal Manager - Audit

Bdo; Manchester; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

BDO in Manchester seeks a Pursuit and Proposal Manager to lead high-stakes bids with disciplined governance and strong win themes. You will coach pursuit leads, shape messaging, and collaborate with designers, content owners and production teams to deliver compelling submissions.

The role requires expert writing, stakeholder coordination and hands-on proposal development in a professional services environment.

Qualifications

• Experience managing bids and proposals in a professional services or complex B2B environment.
• Excellent writing and editing judgement with ability to shape persuasive narratives.
• Ability to coach, influence, and coordinate multiple stakeholders across teams.

Responsibilities

• Support development of win themes and differentiated messaging.
• Coordinate inputs from SMEs and asset sources to strengthen proof points.
• Drive the proposal management process: workplan, contributors, deadlines and reviews.
• Shape structure and narrative flow of submissions; edit for clarity and buyer relevance.
• Collaborate with Design/production to ensure professional, distinctive outputs.
• Coach managers on bid behaviours and escalate when quality/readiness risks arise.
• Support readiness checks and governance milestones to improve delivery quality.
• Coordinate with Content/Markets Activation/Marketing for messaging alignment.

Skills

Proposal management

Storytelling/writing

Stakeholder coaching

Bid governance

Job description

The Pursuit and Proposal Manager deployed to Audit and based in Manchester, supports the firm's priority pursuits with a blend of coaching and hands-on proposal support. The role works on significant bids where disciplined governance, strong win themes and high-quality written submissions are required, partnering closely with pursuit leads to shape messaging and differentiation and to deliver a distinctive proposal and pitch approach. This role supports and contributes to coaching (often alongside a lead coach on the largest bids), while also taking a more active role in proposal development-working closely with designers, content owners and production support to strengthen the look, feel, structure and persuasiveness of the submission. The role is an expert in the "win it" stage and supports knowledge transfer to managers and senior managers involved in pursuits.

Main responsibilities

• Support development of win themes and differentiated messaging; ensure they are applied consistently across proposal and pitch materials.
• Identify evidence gaps and coordinate inputs from SMEs and asset sources to strengthen proof points.
• Contribute to competitor/buyer understanding and implications for how the team should position the response.
• Drive the proposal management process on assigned pursuits: workplan, contributors, deadlines, review cycles and actions.
• Shape the structure, narrative flow and clarity of the submission; edit and improve content for quality and buyer relevance.
• Work closely with Design/document production to ensure a professional, distinctive and consistent output.
• Support pitch preparation and rehearsal sessions: provide feedback on story, structure, roles and QandA.
• Coach managers/SMs on effective bid behaviours and standards, escalating where issues risk quality or readiness.
• Support readiness checks and ensure improvements are implemented.
• Apply pursuit governance milestones and review gates; track adherence and intervene early where delivery is at risk.
• Ensure pursuit teams use available assets, templates and guidance; identify gaps and feed into the proposals hub pipeline.
• Coordinate with Content/Markets Activation/Marketing teams where messaging alignment or campaign context is relevant.
  Strong experience managing bids and proposals in a professional service or complex B2B environment.
• Ability to coach and influence stakeholders while also managing delivery and document quality.
• Strong writing/editing judgement and ability to shape persuasive narratives.
• Confident coordinating multiple contributors and deadlines; strong risk awareness.
• Comfortable supporting pitch preparation and rehearsals.
  We're BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today's changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain's economic engine - ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high growth businesses that fuel the economy - and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them. We'll broaden your horizons Our Sales & Marketing team is building a function that reflects who we are: open, trusted and focused on shaping what matters. You'll join a team big enough to offer big priorities and commercial challenges, yet personal enough to ensure you're supported and empowered from day one. Here, we think beyond. You'll bring ideas, challenge thinking and help shape how we deliver campaigns, insights and engagement across the business. Working closely with internal clients, you'll deepen your understanding of our sectors and see how connected teams drive our 2028 growth ambitions. From strategic storytelling to capability-building and smarter ways of working, you'll grow your skills while working with people who care about doing the right thing. We'll help you succeed In this team, development is central to how we work. You'll have access to best-in-class training, clear capability frameworks and hands-on learning that give you the confidence and skills to grow quickly. We make it personal with supportive teams where you belong, are trusted, and take transformative work on early. You'll collaborate across service lines and leadership levels, building relationships grounded in openness and accountability. You'll bring your best - taking ownership, delivering quality and building trust across the firm. In return, you'll get clarity, fair feedback and the development you need to succeed. You won't just complete tasks - you'll help shape how the team evolves and how we support the business., At BDO, we'll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development. We're in it together Mutual support and respect is one of BDO's core values and we're proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we'll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs. Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you'll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work. We know that collaboration is the key to creating value for the companies we work with and satisfying experiences for our colleagues, so we've invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO's people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we'll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you'll never stop learning at BDO.