Head of Bid Management & Commercial Strategy

Destinus; Katwijk; Vor Ort; EUR 120.000 - 180.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Destinus in the Netherlands seeks a Head of Bid Management to own end-to-end bid strategy, governance, and execution across complex defense opportunities. You will lead a growing team and collaborate with Business Development, Engineering, Finance, Legal, and senior leadership to win strategic contracts.

The role requires 10+ years in bid or proposal management within regulated tech, strong leadership, and a deep understanding of defense procurement. Fluent English essential; travel as needed.

Qualifikationen

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Aerospace, or related field.
• 10+ years of relevant bid management or proposal experience in defense, aerospace, or regulated technical industry.
• Experience leading complex, high-value bids with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of defense procurement processes and tender frameworks (RFPs, RFQs, RFIs).
• Proven experience building, managing, and developing bid or proposal teams.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication; willingness to travel.

Aufgaben

• Own and continuously improve the bid management strategy, processes, governance, and tools across Destinus
• Lead the complete bid lifecycle from initial opportunity assessment and bid/no-bid decisions through proposal development, submission, clarification, negotiation support, and post-bid review
• Build, lead, and develop a growing Bid Management team, initially managing 2 to 3 team members with the potential to scale the function as the business grows
• Coordinate cross-functional bid teams across Business Development, Engineering, Finance, Legal, Operations, Supply Chain, and other relevant functions
• Translate customer requirements, tender documentation, and commercial priorities into clear bid strategies, responsibilities, timelines, and deliverables
• Ensure proposals are compelling, accurate, compliant, commercially sound, and aligned with both customer requirements and Destinus objectives
• Establish strong quality control across all submissions, ensuring consistency of technical, commercial, contractual, and supporting documentation
• Manage resources across multiple concurrent bids, prioritizing critical opportunities and ensuring teams have the information and support needed to deliver under demanding timelines
• Prepare bids for internal review and bidding committee approval, ensuring decision-makers have complete and reliable information
• Develop reporting and performance models to understand bid costs, resource requirements, conversion rates, timelines, and overall effectiveness of the bid function
• Provide regular bid pipeline and performance updates to the Head of Commercial Operations, CCO, and relevant senior stakeholders
• Lead structured reviews of unsuccessful tenders to identify lessons learned and translate findings into concrete improvements for future submissions
• Analyze competitor positioning and tender outcomes to identify opportunities to strengthen Destinus proposals, commercial positioning, and overall competitiveness
• Manage relevant external suppliers and partners supporting proposal development while maintaining control over the bid management budget
• Create scalable processes, templates, documentation standards, and best practices that allow the bid organization to grow without slowing down

Kenntnisse

Bid management leadership

Proposal development

Cross-functional coordination

Strategic thinking

English communication

Pricing and bid economics

Risk assessment

Leadership of teams

Understanding of defense procurement

Travel readiness

Ausbildung

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Aerospace

Master's degree or MBA (plus)

Jobbeschreibung

Destinus in the Netherlands seeks a Head of Bid Management to own end-to-end bid strategy, governance, and execution across complex defense opportunities. You will lead a growing team and collaborate with Business Development, Engineering, Finance, Legal, and senior leadership to win strategic contracts.

The role requires 10+ years in bid or proposal management within regulated tech, strong leadership, and a deep understanding of defense procurement. Fluent English essential; travel as needed.