Sales Manager - Tendering

Lever, Inc.; Delhi; On-site; INR 1,600,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Indrajaal is seeking a Sales Manager - Tendering to own the end-to-end bid management lifecycle across defence, government, and enterprise opportunities. This role is critical in ensuring timely, compliant, commercially optimized, and high-quality proposal submissions that improve win rates, protect margins, and support annual order booking objectives.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience in defence tendering, techno-commercial proposal management, and cross-functional stakeholder

Qualifications

• 6–10 years of Bid Management, Proposal Management, Tendering, or Defence Sales Support experience.
• Mandatory experience in defence, government, aerospace, homeland security, or strategic technology sectors.
• Proven track record of managing complex techno-commercial proposals and tender submissions.
• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Business Management, or a related discipline; MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of RFI, RFQ, RFP, tender responses, and techno-commercial proposal submissions.
• Ensure all proposals are complete, compliant, accurate, and aligned with customer requirements.
• Manage proposal timelines from customer requirement freeze through final submission.
• Ensure zero misses on customer submission deadlines.
• Coordinate with technical, finance, sales, business development, legal, budget owners, OEM partners, and operations teams to gather inputs and drive proposal completion.
• Manage bid schedules, dependencies, reviews, and approvals across stakeholders.
• Ensure timely closure of action items and maintain proposal delivery discipline.
• Drive commercial structuring and pricing strategies to maintain target gross profit margins.
• Standardize costing assumptions, exclusions, commercial terms, and risk notes.
• Support bid/no-bid qualification decisions and response strategies with sales leadership.
• Improve proposal turnaround time (TAT) while maintaining quality and compliance.
• Develop compelling, customer-focused proposals with a high probability of success.
• Track proposal outcomes and maintain bid performance metrics.
• Monitor competitor pricing intelligence, market trends, and bid learnings to strengthen future submissions.
• Maintain proposal repositories, templates, compliance matrices, and submission checklists.
• Ensure proper version control and documentation governance across all bid activities.
• Continuously improve bid processes to reduce rework, errors, and submission risks.
• Establish best practices for proposal development and review cycles.
• Extend documentation and proposal-related support to operations teams during customer trials, demonstrations, and evaluations.
• Ensure technical and commercial documentation is maintained accurately throughout the customer engagement lifecycle.

Skills

Bid management

Proposal management

Cross-functional coordination

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Business Management, or related discipline

MBA preferred

Job description

This role is for one of our clients

Seniority level: Mid-Senior level
Industry: Defense and Space Manufacturing
Company Name: Indrajaal

Min Experience: 6+ years
Location: NCR
JobType: full-time

₹16,00,000 - ₹18,00,000 a year

About the Role

We are seeking a highly driven and detail-orientedSales Manager - Tenderingto own the end-to-end bid management lifecycle across defence, government, and enterprise opportunities. This role is critical in ensuring timely, compliant, commercially optimized, and high-quality proposal submissions that improve win rates, protect margins, and support annual order booking objectives. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in defence tendering, techno-commercial proposal management, and cross-functional stakeholder coordination. You will act as the central point of ownership for all bid-related activities, ensuring proposal quality, submission discipline, and effective collaboration across technical, finance, sales, business development, legal, and operations teams.

Key Responsibilities

Bid Management & Proposal Ownership

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of RFI, RFQ, RFP, tender responses, and techno-commercial proposal submissions


• Ensure all proposals are complete, compliant, accurate, and aligned with customer requirements


• Manage proposal timelines from customer requirement freeze through final submission


• Ensure zero misses on customer submission deadlines

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Coordinate with technical, finance, sales, business development, legal, budget owners, OEM partners, and operations teams to gather inputs and drive proposal completion


• Manage bid schedules, dependencies, reviews, and approvals across stakeholders


• Ensure timely closure of action items and maintain proposal delivery discipline

Commercial Structuring & Margin Protection

• Drive commercial structuring and pricing strategies to maintain target gross profit margins


• Standardize costing assumptions, exclusions, commercial terms, and risk notes


• Support bid/no-bid qualification decisions and response strategies with sales leadership

Proposal Excellence & Win Rate Improvement

• Improve proposal turnaround time (TAT) while maintaining quality and compliance


• Develop compelling, customer-focused proposals with a high probability of success


• Track proposal outcomes and maintain bid performance metrics


• Monitor competitor pricing intelligence, market trends, and bid learnings to strengthen future submissions

Process Governance & Knowledge Management

• Maintain proposal repositories, templates, compliance matrices, and submission checklists


• Ensure proper version control and documentation governance across all bid activities


• Continuously improve bid processes to reduce rework, errors, and submission risks


• Establish best practices for proposal development and review cycles

Operations & Trial Support

• Extend documentation and proposal-related support to operations teams during customer trials, demonstrations, and evaluations


• Ensure technical and commercial documentation is maintained accurately throughout the customer engagement lifecycle

Qualifications & Skills

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Business Management, or a related discipline


• MBA preferred

Experience

• 6–10 years of experience in Bid Management, Proposal Management, Tendering, or Defence Sales Support roles


• Mandatory experience in defence, government, aerospace, homeland security, or strategic technology sectors


• Proven track record of managing complex techno-commercial proposals and tender submissions

Technical & Functional Skills

• Strong understanding of RFI, RFQ, RFP, tendering, and proposal management processes


• Experience in techno-commercial proposal preparation, costing, pricing, and bid strategy


• Strong commercial acumen with experience protecting margins and managing risk considerations


• Excellent proposal writing, documentation, and compliance management skills


• Experience managing multiple high-value bids simultaneously

Stakeholder Management

• Strong cross-functional coordination and stakeholder management skills


• Ability to influence teams and drive execution without direct authority


• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills

Mandatory Knowledge Areas

Working knowledge of:

• Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020)


• Defence Procurement Manual (DPM 2009)


• Government procurement and tendering frameworks


• Defence and public sector bidding processes

Key Success Metrics

• Proposal submission turnaround time (TAT)


• Bid win rate and conversion ratio


• Proposal quality and compliance adherence


• Gross margin protection on awarded contracts


• Zero missed submission deadlines


• Stakeholder satisfaction and coordination effectiveness


• Accuracy and completeness of techno-commercial proposals

About the company

Indrajaal is an AI-powered, indigenous multilayered counter-drone system developed by Indrajaal Drone Defence India Pvt Ltd., headquartered in Hyderabad. It offers comprehensive 360-degree protection against drone threats, covering areas up to 4,000 square kilometers

Must-have skills

Bid Management, Proposal Management, Tendering

Good-to-have skills

RFI, RFQ, RFP