Bid Manager

Job Introduction

Serco is a partner of choice to the European Institutions and other International Organisations. We work closely with our customers to deliver custom-made and specialized services across International Organizations, Space, Immigration, and Defence. For the past 30 years, we provide tailored services for various public sector bodies including European Institutions, the Belgian Defence, the European Space Agency, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Our expertise spans IT services, Facility Management, Space Research, and Operations.

Main Responsibilities

Serco is seeking a Bid Manager with proven experience in participating in bids of significant complexity and scale, with specific focus on bidding and winning work with Public Sector bodies, Defence organisations, and International Organisations. The role will lead and support opportunities across Europe, with a primary focus on the Defence and International Organisations sectors, including both mature markets and established propositions where the ability to deliver high-quality, repeatable bid processes efficiently and effectively is key.

As a member of the bidding community, this role will play an active part in team development, continuous improvement, and cross-portfolio challenge and support, working collaboratively across Serco's European Growth and Business Unit teams to maximise win rates and deliver sustainable growth.

• Deliver allocated bids in line with allocation from Head of Bidding & Governance, with a primary focus on opportunities across Europe within the Defence and International Organisations sectors.
• Develop and maintain effective Bid Plans that leverage the Business Development activity set out within the Capture Plan.
• Identify and resource team requirements from within Serco; set out requirement for external resourcing and participate in sourcing process.
• Manage and sustain Bid Team capabilities, capacity and welfare throughout the bidding process.
• Support the Bid Lead on complex transactions, enabling both to be effective and efficient.
• Engage with the Business Unit Business Development Team, supporting and providing positive challenge to the development of Capture Plans that will influence upcoming bids across the European Defence and International Organisations markets.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders within the Business Unit and ensure there is a “one team” approach to the bid within Bidding, the Business Unit and the wider Growth Team.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with the wider Serco community, creating links that will be supportive of deal review, challenge, innovative thinking and effective governance.

Main Responsibilities (Continued)

• Manage resources across the Bid lifecycle and apply robust ongoing opportunity review to support increased win rates.Lead (where appropriate for scale of deal) and support customer engagement including Clarification Questions, dialogue, negotiation and, where appropriate, presentations, particularly with Defence customers and International Organisations across Europe.
• Oversee and deliver compelling and coherent bid submissions.
• Engage with Business Development to maintain customer stakeholder mapping and engagement plans across key European Defence and International Organisation accounts.
• Develop robust analysis in support of ongoing qualification and governance, placing specific emphasis on win strategy, competitive positioning, commercial positioning, risks and opportunities.
• Lead or support deals through the appropriate governance sessions.
• Lead or support handover to operations from the Bid Team once a bid is won, ensuring that a full and robust understanding of all aspects of the deal is embedded within the Contract Team, maximising probability of successful execution.
• Provide expert support to other Bid staff and their deals through participation in challenge and review activities.
• Understand Serco’s solutions and assess them against customer requirements and needs, identifying gaps and implementing individual strategies to address these for each specific opportunity.
• Review probable competition and evaluate relative strengths to inform Price to Win, Score to Win, Messaging and Ghosting strategies.
• Participate in commercial team activities within the bid, ensuring an appropriate balance of risk and reward is struck in the context of both customer requirements and affordability envelopes.
• Ensure comprehensive lessons learned are carried out at each stage, with specific plans to incorporate learning into future activities.
• Provide coaching and mentoring to new and junior members of the team, supporting their growth and the longer-term sustainability of the Growth function.
• Actively input into new proposition development to support innovative solutions for bids within the Defence and International Organisations sectors.
• Foster team and joint Business Unit collaboration and knowledge transfer to ensure Growth targets are achieved across the European portfolio.

Qualifications

Essential technical and professional skills, knowledge and qualifications:

• Sustained Bid experience either as a Bid Manager or in another key role within a Bid Team or process in this (or similar) market; showing skills and experience that  translates into positive outcomes for the customer, the company and employees working on bids.
• Ability to create and monitor bid budgets, identifying opportunities and risks and taking appropriate action as a result.
• Provide team leadership and management oversight for core bid team
• Commercial and financial understanding to ensure risk / reward / price are understood and clearly articulated
• Exhibit management skills that focus on team members and are adapted to suit circumstances
• Exhibit characteristics of high performance, goal oriented, and creative problem solving;
• Ability to operate successfully in a challenging, changeable role, balancing autonomy and accountability
• Trained in bidding methodologies, and ability to deploy these consistently, considering options to adapt to suite circumstances
• Strong written and verbal communication skills – active listening, ability to articulate customer’s environment and bid requirements to all management levels;
• Well-developed numerical and commercial understanding
• Demonstrated ability to self-motivate and self-manage
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Project, and Word at an intermediate/advanced level;
• Resilient and able to work in a pressurised environment whilst remaining focussed on team effectiveness and wellbeing.
• Experienced in enabling and sustaining Diversity with and across teams, creating an environment where all can flourish.
• Our main working language is English. French and Dutch capabilities are an advantage.

Qualifications (Continued)

Essential Experience:

• Degree or equivalent gained through experience;
• Experience in structured methodologies such as Prince2, Shipley, Miller Heiman are not essential but advantageous.

Package Description

• Competitive Salary 
• Corporate Benefits Package 
• International working environment 
• Hybrid working 
• And the chance to make a positive difference in a company passionate about diversity and inclusion.

Further information available from the Serco Europe Recruitment Team