Bid Director

Atkins is recruiting a Bid Director for its Aerospace, Defence, Security & Technology business to lead on strategic bids through the win-work lifecycle and successfully on to contract with our clients. 

You will be working closely with technical experts, consultants and leaders across our business, as well as external partners, suppliers and of course our clients to achieve business growth.  The multi-disciplinary nature of our work and complexity of challenges our clients are facing, means you will be working with thought leaders and innovators to develop value propositions which set us apart from our competitors and open up new business opportunities.

Based in one of our main offices in Bristol, London or Aldershot you will be expected to spend time working remotely in other UK locations (mainly Bristol and London) as necessary to lead bid teams and support client engagements. 

As a key member of the core business development team, the appointed individual will be

primarily responsible for the overall development and submission of a winning bids, as well as contributing to the to the continuous improvement of the division’s win-work capability (people, processes, tools, information and governance). This is an active role and not simply a point of accountability – the individual will be expected to get directly involved and get their hands dirty

Responsibilities

• The customer relationship and any required customer engagement activities.
• Liaison with relevant Atkins business functions to obtain the resources necessary to stand up a Bid Team and produce the bid.
• Ensuring all relevant operations functions, including though not limited to Technical Governance, Operations, Business Development and Commercial management are suitably informed as to the status of the Bid/Opportunity pursuit.
• Partner and/or supplier relationships; including defining the contribution required of partners through the establishment of relevant non-disclosure and teaming agreements and leading any required commercial negotiations. 
• Development of the offer price and the commercial shape of the proposal
• Providing lead review and challenge on submissions prepared by other parts of the business
• Proactive involvement in the development and implementation of initiatives to improve the quality and cost effectiveness, system compliance and success of all bid submissions
• Providing a mentor/role model for best practice approaches and behaviours across the core business development and wider work winning community        

Essential criteria:

• Experience of major strategic bid preparation and management
• Strong commercial awareness / understanding – experience of a range of business models and commercial constructs
• Excellent communication skills - written, verbal and presentational
• Experience of writing high quality, compelling proposal material
• Ability to lead a team to deliver tasks within demanding timescales
• Able to select, form and maintain high-performing bid teams
• Analytical skills - able to make sense of complex problems spanning technical, commercial and programmatic.
• Experience liaising with external and internal contacts at a range of levels

Desirable criteria: 

• Knowledge of the Aerospace, Technology, Security & Technology sectors
• Knowledge of both public and private sector bidding and business development
• Key stakeholder contacts across industry and government
• Negotiation experience
• Experience of bidding in an international environment
• Engineering or business / marketing-related degree
• Experience of software packages such as MS SharePoint, MS Project, MS CRM etc
• Awareness of industry recognised techniques such as Shipley, Miller Heiman and Huthwaites

Atkins is one of the world’s leading design, engineering and project management consultancies. We have the breadth and depth of expertise to respond to the most technically challenging and time critical projects. Protecting the security of our home and of our citizens abroad is one of government’s highest priorities Our role as a trusted advisor allows us to offer rewarding careers to people who want to enhance their skills and build on their experience in this dynamic sector.

This role may require security clearance and offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance. If this is necessary it will be discussed with you at interview.

If applying to this role please do not make reference to (in conversation) or include in your application or CV, details of any current or previously held security clearance