Global Strategic Bid Lead

Company description

We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future.

As strategies, technologies and innovation collide, we create opportunity from complexity.

Our diverse teams of experts combine innovative thinking and breakthrough use of technologies to progress further, faster. Our clients adapt and transform, and together we achieve enduring results.

An innovation and transformation consultancy, we are over 4000 specialists in consumer and manufacturing, defence and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government and public services, health and life sciences, and transport. Our people are strategists, innovators, designers, consultants, digital experts, scientists, engineers and technologists.

We operate globally from offices across the UK, US, Netherlands and Nordics.

Job description

This is a hybrid role, with the opportunity to balance working from home with a requirement to work from our office in London Victoria twice a week to build relationships, collaborate and generate new ideas.

Do you enjoy the challenge of shaping and winning large, Strategic Bids?

PA is looking for exceptional Strategic Bid Lead to successfully lead bid teams to create compelling and differentiated winning responses to client challenges. In this role, you will be hands-on, working alongside a bid team and its Bid Manager on our most complex pursuits.

You will bring deep bidding expertise to inspire new ideas, and influence and challenge senior stakeholders to shape and deliver high-quality bids and proposals. And you will support Bid Managers across several pursuits to lead specific elements of a bid (i.e. win strategy workshops, or storyboarding sessions) to increase win probability and help PA stand out from the competition.

You will work across our seven Go To Market sectors as a pivotal individual in their growth:

• Consumer & Manufacturing
• Defence & Security
• Energy & Utilities
• Financial Services
• Health & Life Sciences
• Public Sector
• Transport

This role sits within our Central Sales Unit, serving all Go To Markets, so you will have the opportunity to influence and transform bidding best practice across our business, upskilling teams through guidance, training, and assets.

You will report to PA’s Head of Strategic Bids and be supported by the Head of Sales and the wider Central Sales team. You will also collaborate with our Strategic Bid Writers.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Work across a variety of sectors, clients and markets, learning about all aspects of our business and influencing senior stakeholders in a fast-paced environment
• Find compelling solutions to delight clients, supporting bid teams to understand client needs and helping develop win strategies to deliver brilliant client outcomes
• Lead win strategy workshops, storyboard sessions, and other key activities across the bid cycle to ensure we deliver high quality, winning bids
• Lead cross-functional bid teams and leverage your expertise in our bidding and tender process to ensure we meet best practice standards
• Help shape PA’s bidding approach as a subject matter expert, to ensure we have the best tools, training and guidance for our teams to succeed
• Advise Bid Managers on their bids to achieve compliance, best practice, and top scores
• Compare proposals with requirements to ensure our bids are compliant
• Manage expenditure within the agreed bid budget. Work with the Partner in Charge to identify the investment budget and submit investment requests.  

About you and the strengths you will need to thrive in this role:

• Bid excellence – You have a deep understanding of what makes a successful strategic bid, the technical ‘bid toolkit’ to achieve this, and a track record of operating and winning large, complex pursuits
• People skills – You can build relationships and rapport quickly and can bring groups together to form teams in hours
• Gravitas – You know your strengths and how to use your experience to take the right actions and to gain credibility with a team quickly
• Curiosity – You may not know the client or the solution in depth, but know how to probe the team to make sure that they articulate the insight that they bring, and then check that these insights are evident in the written response and pitch
• Self-starter – You will manage your bid pipeline by networking within your sector, attending sales meetings and by building relationships in the Central Sales Unit
• Problem-solver – You love fixing problems. If you see a challenge, you’ll come up with a solution or range of solutions, then get buy-in to fix it. PA is a wonderful place to get things done
• Proactive – You will actively network with people in core bid roles to guide and shape the right behaviours by advising them on best practice
• Literacy – You love straightforward language and clarity. You know how to support a team to simplify the way they communicate complex solutions
• Eye for detail – You can hone in on the smallest details to make sure that your bid is compliant, mistake-free and accurate
• Flexibility – You are comfortable with change. Timelines frequently change and client demands shift. You need to be able to roll with these changes and feel energised by a changing landscape.

Qualifications

Qualifications

• Highly proficient in Microsoft 365 for general business use
• Ideally possess an APMP or PRINCE2 qualification
• Demonstrate excellent relationship and people skills, time management/prioritisation skills, strong written English language skills, and good attention to detail.

We know the skill-gap and ‘need to tick every box’ can get in the way of meeting brilliant candidates, so please don’t hesitate to apply – we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today by completing our online application

Additional information

Life At PA encompasses our peoples' experience at PA. It's about how we enrich peoples’ working lives by giving them access to unique people and growth opportunities and purpose led meaningful work.

We believe diversity fuels ingenuity. Diversity of thought brings exciting perspectives; diversity of experience brings a wealth of knowledge, and diversity of skills brings the tools we need. When we bring people together with diverse backgrounds, identities, and minds, embracing that difference through an inclusive culture where our people thrive; we unleash the power of diversity – bringing ingenuity to life.

Find out more about Life at PA here .

We are dedicated to supporting the physical, emotional, social and financial well-being of our people. Check out some of our extensive benefits:

• Health and lifestyle perks accompanying private healthcare for you and your family
• 25 days annual leave (plus a bonus half day on Christmas Eve) with the opportunity to buy 5 additional days
• Generous company pension scheme
• Opportunity to get involved with community and charity-based initiatives
• Annual performance-based bonus
• PA share ownership
• Tax efficient benefits (cycle to work, give as you earn)

We recruit, retain, reward and develop our people based solely on their abilities and contributions and without reference to their age, background, disability, genetic information, parental or family status, religion or belief, race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity (or expression), political belief veteran status, or other by any other range of human difference brought about by identity and experience. We are on a journey towards ensuring our workforce is diverse at all levels and that our firm is representative of the world around us. We welcome applications from underrepresented groups.

Adjustments or accommodations - Should you need any adjustments or accommodations to the recruitment process, at either application or interview, please contact us at [email protected]

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