Reports to Associate Director 

As a Senior Strategic Bid Manager, you will play a crucial role in driving successful bid submissions and securing strategic opportunities for the organisation. Your responsibilities will be to collaborate with and manage stakeholders across functions and jurisdictions to craft compelling proposals whilst ensuring the effective management of the end-to-end bid process. This role within our Client Development and Marketing team is key in supporting our ambitious growth plans.

Key responsibilities:

Project Planning and Coordination

• Run a detailed qualification process for each opportunity, with stakeholders
• Undertake thorough relationship mapping exercises for each opportunity, and create action plans to develop the relationships as required
• Establish strong ’win themes’ and ensure these are woven throughout all content and deliverables
• Coordinate and manage the Aztec response to large tender processes; provide project management and guidance from opportunity identification through to project delivery
• Develop detailed project plans outlining bid timelines, tasks, and dependencies
• Coordinate cross-functional teams, providing clear direction and ensuring timely execution of tasks from opportunity identification stage right through to delivery
• Rehearse and coach bid teams in preparation for formal presentations
• Identify and assess potential risks associated with bids, developing mitigation strategies to minimize impact

Strategic Proposal and Content Development

• Work closely with Product Marketing and Design teams to produce relevant yet differentiated, client focused content that reinforces our brand messaging
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to gather relevant information and develop persuasive content
• Collaborate with key stakeholders to understand organisational objectives and develop bid strategies aligned with business goals
• Lead the maintenance of proposal content repositories that support the development of self-serve proposal documents
• Conduct thorough market research to identify key competitors, market trends, and potential risks associated with our strategies

Proposal Creation

• Lead the creation of compelling and tailored proposals, ensuring alignment with client requirements and showcasing Aztec’s strengths
• Work closely with the Business Development and Marketing teams to ensure that any bespoke materials are high-quality, and reinforces Aztec’s brand messaging

Performance Analysis and Continuous Improvement

• Conduct post-bid analysis to evaluate the success of submitted proposals and identify areas for improvement
• Use data-driven insights to enhance future bid strategies and processes
• Provide best practice support and advice to colleagues engaged on opportunities
• Develop and enhance the firm’s overall proposal/pitch approach working collaboratively with other teams and drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the bid process
• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices in bidding and proposal management

Other 

• Support and develop junior members and managers of the team in bid management tools and techniques
• Demonstrate effective communications with the team and the business providing regular reporting feedback so that all targets are met
• Reviewing and feeding back on work produced by the BD and Bid team
• Contribute towards the business as a whole, for instance, in identifying improvements and efficiencies that could be applied
• Leading adhoc projects related to process and technology improvements
• Production of MI and reporting as required
• Ad-hoc tasks that may be required to be undertaken as part of a CMD team or as the business requires

Skills, knowledge and expertise:

• Demonstrable relevant experience in a similar role
• Proven track record in co-ordinating and winning complex bids
• Project and Bid management skills and / or qualification desired with demonstrated success in project management
• Experience of managing and developing staff
• Excellent communication skills and ability to build strong relationships across the business
• Excellent organisation skills and the ability to run several projects in tandem
• Strong attention to detail and ability to deliver high quality work within short timeframes
• Ability to coach, develop and motivate direct and indirect teams in person and virtually to drive success
• Self-driven, enthusiastic, and proactive with the ability to work with stakeholders from all levels of the business
• Commercially astute
• Advanced MS Office experience (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is required
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Experience within a financial services organisation would be advantageous, but not essential

We will provide the training, both in-house for relevant technical knowledge and also professional qualifications to enhance your professional development. You will need to be quick to learn new systems and great with people, as close working relationships between our colleagues and clients are at the heart of what we do.