Senior Bid Manager

Overview

In this role you own and drive complex bids from qualification through to handover, shaping winning solutions with cross-functional teams. You’ll collaborate with Capture Leaders and multi-disciplinary groups to align bids with business strategy, customer values, and budget constraints. You’ll coach others, promote best practices, and ensure governance, quality, and timely delivery. This is a strategic, hands-on leadership position at Hitachi Rail, offering hybrid working and exposure to large-scale, multi-country bids. You will help transform opportunities into impactful projects and continuously improve bid performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of bid strategies and detailed bid plans
• Assist Capture Leaders to craft win themes and benefits aligned with strategy and customer needs
• Build and maintain customer, industry, and business networks to shape winning solutions
• Lead multidisciplinary bid teams across units, countries, and joint ventures/consortia
• Set objectives, milestones and deadlines for successful bid delivery
• Ensure bids comply with governance, budgets, and timescales
• Manage both competitive and single-source bids
• Forecast and manage bid budgets and changes
• Lead bid governance activities and reviews
• Contribute to proposal development and writing
• Develop graphics/content concepts to enhance proposals
• Provide expertise during bid and peer reviews
• Oversee estimating activities and validate cost assumptions
• Manage portal tender activities and submissions
• Utilise bid libraries and performance metrics to improve bids
• Identify and manage risks/opportunities throughout bid lifecycle
• Coordinate resource planning for bid activities
• Act as Baseline Authority to establish bids and future projects
• Support project teams with variation offers or claims
• Coach Bid Managers and promote continuous improvement
• Foster best practices through lessons learned and feedback

Key requirements

• Experience managing full bid lifecycle for complex bids
• Knowledge of Shipley and/or APMP Capture and Bid Management processes
• Strong bid strategy and planning abilities
• Experience leading multi-unit, multi-country teams
• Excellent proposal planning and peer-review skills
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship building
• Negotiation, networking and influencing capabilities
• Financial acumen: budgeting, forecasting, estimating, cost-benefit analysis
• Knowledge of project and change management techniques
• Experience identifying, mitigating and managing risks and opportunities
• Strong resource planning and organizational skills
• Attention to detail and analytical thinking
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment
• Collaborative and conflict-resolution skills
• Problem-solving and decision-making abilities
• Proactive and adaptable to change
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

• leadership
• stakeholder management
• communication
• bid management
• budgeting and forecasting
• cost-benefit analysis

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