Senior Bid Manager

Bid Manager – Defence & Critical National Infrastructure M4 Corridor | Hybrid | £80,000–£85,000 + 15% bonus You already know how to run a defence bid. Now imagine having the freedom to influence which opportunities you win. Technify Talent is supporting a rapidly growing UK defence-technology company in the appointment of an experienced Bid Manager. The business has developed a strong position in counter-drone and advanced airspace protection technology, with solutions already deployed in some of the UK's most demanding environments. Following its acquisition by a major international defence group, it now has the backing, technology and global reach to pursue increasingly significant opportunities across Defence and Critical National Infrastructure. This is where things get interesting. You already work in defence. You understand complex programmes, demanding procurement processes and what it takes to put together a winning proposal. But perhaps you've reached the point where you'd like to spend less time navigating layers of bureaucracy and more time shaping opportunities, influencing decisions and actually winning business. This is a chance to do exactly that. Reporting directly to the VP of Business Development, you'll work closely with commercial leadership to evaluate opportunities, challenge bid/no-bid decisions, develop winning strategies and personally lead complex bids from qualification through submission. This is not a back-office bid coordination role. You'll be close to the customers, the technology and the commercial decisions. You'll work alongside engineers, solution designers and senior sales leaders, turning sophisticated defence capabilities into compelling, commercially credible proposals. You'll be expected to bring judgement, challenge assumptions, write persuasive content and keep opportunities moving in a business where speed and agility really matter. Your remit will include:

• Leading complex, competitive defence and CNI bids from qualification through submission.
• Helping shape bid/no-bid decisions, win themes, competitive positioning and commercial strategy.
• Personally developing compelling proposals rather than simply coordinating contributors.
• Working directly with senior commercial leadership, technical specialists and customers.
• Managing international opportunities, potentially involving customers and partners across Europe and the Middle East.
• Recognising export-control, licensing, sanctions and regulatory considerations, ensuring the appropriate specialists are involved early.
• Bringing structure, discipline and commercial judgement to multiple concurrent opportunities without slowing the business down.
• Helping develop the bid processes, tools and content required to support continued international growth. Who are we looking for? You must already be working in defence bid management, with a demonstrable track record of personally owning complex, competitive bids. You'll understand defence procurement, the expectations of MOD and international customers, and the challenges of bringing together technical, commercial and operational stakeholders. International defence bidding experience is particularly important, alongside a practical understanding of the export-control considerations that can affect overseas opportunities. You'll also be confident in front of customers, comfortable challenging senior decision-makers and capable of producing outstanding written proposals yourself. Experience within a major defence prime or established specialist defence-technology business would be highly attractive. Exposure to the air domain, including air defence, aerospace, radar, surveillance, electronic warfare or counter-UAS, would be particularly valuable. But ultimately, it's not about how impressive your employer's name looks on your CV. It's about what you've personally delivered. Why make the move? Because this isn't an opportunity to join another large bid department and maintain established processes. You'll be joining an agile, entrepreneurial UK defence-technology business at a genuinely exciting stage of international growth. You'll have direct access to decision-makers, greater influence over the opportunities pursued and the satisfaction of seeing how your work contributes to winning programmes that protect people, assets and critical infrastructure. If you've spent years mastering defence bids and now want more autonomy, commercial influence and pace, this could be a very interesting next move. Candidates should be comfortable with hybrid working on the M4 corridor and occasional international travel. If you already know defence bids inside out and want to be much closer to the commercial outcome, we'd like to hear from you. For further information or a confidential discussion, contact: Ryan Jones Technify Talent ryan.j@technifytalent.com