Quality Bids & Proposals Engineer

Mane Contract Services; Ampthill; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Mane Contract Services in Ampthill, England, is seeking an experienced Quality Engineer/QA to join our defence-focused bids team. You will ensure quality requirements are understood, costed and integrated into competitive proposals.

You will work with Business Development, Engineering and Manufacturing to align quality activities with bid strategy and manufacturing capabilities, supporting risk reviews and approvals.

Qualifications

• Background in Quality Engineering or Quality Assurance within manufacturing or aerospace/defence sectors.
• Experience supporting bids, tenders or proposals in regulated industries such as defence or aerospace.
• Good understanding of AS9100 Quality Management Systems.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications and customer requirements.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Strong organisational, planning and coordination abilities.

Responsibilities

• Review customer specifications and contractual requirements to define the quality scope of work.
• Develop and maintain Quality BOEs, ensuring quality activities are planned, costed and resourced.
• Collaborate with Quality SMEs to validate labour hours, inspection requirements and delivery approaches.
• Identify quality assumptions, dependencies and exclusions in bid documentation.
• Assess quality risks and opportunities; support mitigation plans and bid reviews.
• Identify tooling, equipment, certifications, training, or resources needed.
• Represent Quality during bid reviews, approvals and sign-off activities.
• Maintain and improve Quality bid templates and response content.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to align quality with manufacturing capability and business goals.
• Ensure all proposed quality activities comply with customer, regulatory and company standards.

Skills

Quality Engineering

Bid support

AS9100

Drawing interpretation

Stakeholder management

Organisational skills

Tools

SAP

ERP/MRP

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Quality Engineer or Quality Assurance professional looking to move into a commercially focused role. You'll play a key part in ensuring quality requirements are fully understood, accurately costed and incorporated into competitive, compliant bids for complex defence programmes.

Working closely with Business Development, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Programme teams, you'll ensure that quality obligations, risks, resources and compliance activities are identified before contract award, helping to set programmes up for success from the outset.

Key Responsibilities

• Review customer specifications, drawings and contractual requirements to determine the quality scope of work.
• Develop and maintain Quality Basis of Estimates (BOEs), ensuring quality activities are accurately planned, costed and resourced.
• Work with Quality Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to validate labour hours, inspection requirements and delivery approaches.
• Identify and document quality assumptions, dependencies and exclusions within bid documentation.
• Assess quality-related risks and opportunities, supporting mitigation plans and bid risk reviews.
• Identify any additional tooling, equipment, certifications, training or specialist resources required to deliver customer requirements.
• Represent the Quality function during bid reviews, approval boards and proposal sign-off activities.
• Maintain and continuously improve Quality bid templates, response libraries and reusable proposal content.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure quality requirements align with manufacturing capability and business objectives.
• Ensure all proposed quality activities comply with customer, regulatory and company quality standards.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Background in Quality Engineering, Quality Assurance or Manufacturing Quality.
• Experience supporting bids, tenders or proposals within Defence, Aerospace or another highly regulated industry.
• Good understanding of AS9100 Quality Management Systems.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications and customer requirements.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Strong organisational, planning and coordination abilities.

Desirable Skills

• Experience developing Basis of Estimates (BOEs) and resource plans.
• Knowledge of First Article Inspection (FAI) and APQP methodologies.
• SAP or equivalent ERP/MRP system experience.
• Internal or Lead Auditor qualification.

Key Attributes

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Highly organised with strong planning and time management skills.
• Confident communicator with the ability to influence stakeholders across multiple functions.
• Proactive in identifying risks, opportunities and process improvements.
• Comfortable working in a collaborative, fast-paced environment.

Working Pattern

• Based at the Ampthill site.
• 4-day working week (Monday-Thursday).
• Primarily site-based, with flexibility depending on business requirements