Strategic Bid Finance Manager – Defence & Cost Modelling

WeAreTechWomen; Crawley; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance-related bonus

Private healthcare

Pension scheme

Life cover

Employee assistance program

Job summary

Thales is recruiting for a Bid Finance Manager in Crawley, United Kingdom. You will provide financial leadership, cost modelling expertise, and commercial insight to support profitable, competitive bids across engineering, project management, commercial and finance teams.

This 18-month fixed-term contract offers hybrid working: 3 days on site per week, with up to 25% UK travel and opportunities to influence high-value bids and business cases.

Qualifications

• Experience in estimating, cost engineering, bid finance, project controls, finance, or related discipline.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen; ability to analyse complex data.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Advanced Excel and financial modelling capabilities.
• Experience supporting complex bids, defence-related programmes or regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the preparation, review, and presentation of estimating, costing, pricing, and financial data for bids and projects.
• Develop financial models covering costs, risks, opportunities, cash flow, funding, and margins.
• Support bid reviews, gate approvals, and financial governance activities.
• Contribute to the creation of business cases and commercial strategies for new opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to help deliver competitive and successful bids.

Skills

Estimating

Cost engineering

Bid finance

Excel modelling

Financial analysis

Stakeholder mgmt

Tools

Excel

Cost estimation tools

Job description

Thales is recruiting for a Bid Finance Manager in Crawley, United Kingdom. You will provide financial leadership, cost modelling expertise, and commercial insight to support profitable, competitive bids across engineering, project management, commercial and finance teams.

This 18-month fixed-term contract offers hybrid working: 3 days on site per week, with up to 25% UK travel and opportunities to influence high-value bids and business cases.