Water Capture Lead / Bid Director in Edinburgh

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With unprecedented opportunity across the UK and Ireland water industry, AECOM’s Water business is seeking a Capture Lead / Bid Director to join the Strategy and Growth team. In this role, you will be accountable for the capture, positioning, and successful bidding of major contracts within AECOM’s Water business. You will shape winning solutions through strategic positioning, early client and partner collaboration, and strong leadership across complex pursuits.

As the Capture Lead / Bid Director, you will own and lead AECOM’s largest and most strategic bids (typically £35m+ revenue), guiding teams through all pursuit stages. You will use your technical and client‑facing experience to define execution strategies, select partners, develop consortiums, manage risk and pricing, and mobilise the best resources to deliver compelling propositions across Regulated Water, Strategic Resource Options, and Climate Resilience sectors.

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Growth Strategy & Opportunity Shaping: Drive growth by positioning for and capturing key opportunities, including new business and renewals or extensions within priority accounts. Lead a holistic capture approach, incorporating client listening, win strategy development, solution shaping, marketing and communications planning, answer planning, reviews, debriefs, and lessons learned. Partner with bid, marketing, technical, operational, and commercial teams to develop robust Capture Plans for complex pursuits. Build and maintain a diversified pipeline of qualified opportunities aligned to business goals, using data‑led insight to focus on activities delivering the greatest value and return on investment. Own and champion pursuit strategies across the full sales lifecycle, from early capture and positioning through PQQ, ITT, BAFO, interviews, and post‑bid debriefs. Shape opportunities early by influencing scope, delivery models, and commercial structures through proactive market engagement and client positioning. Coordinate with strategic marketing to plan and deliver effective pursuit‑based positioning campaigns that strengthen client engagement and brand awareness. Maintain an external presence, building relationships with clients and partners to deepen understanding of market drivers and upcoming opportunities. Apply strong market, technical, and commercial insight relevant to each pursuit to improve capture effectiveness and win rates. Analyse competitive landscapes and apply learning from wins and losses to continuously refine capture strategies.
• Partnering & Consortium Leadership: Identify, select, and lead strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and consortiums to strengthen competitive position. Build trusted relationships with delivery partners, designers, contractors, technology providers, and supply chain organisations. Define partner roles, responsibilities, and value contribution to create integrated, compelling solutions. Act as the senior representative of the business in partner negotiations and alliance discussions.
• Client Engagement & Positioning: Build and sustain senior‑level client relationships across water companies, regulators, and public‑sector bodies. Lead executive‑level engagement during pre‑procurement and procurement phases, positioning AECOM as a partner of choice. Own the client narrative, clearly articulating why AECOM, why this team, and why this approach.
• Commercial & Strategic Oversight: Set the strategic commercial direction for major pursuits, including delivery models, risk appetite, pricing, and value proposition. Provide senior challenge and assurance that proposed solutions are deliverable, differentiated, and commercially sound. Retain accountability for overall commercial outcomes and long‑term value, not bid mechanics.
• Leadership & Influence: Provide clear strategic direction to bid team members, commercial and technical leaders. Influence senior internal stakeholders to align resources, partners, and priorities behind priority pursuits. Act as a visible leader for growth, collaboration, and external engagement within the water business. Communicate pursuit priorities clearly across market sectors and leadership teams to ensure appropriate resourcing and strategic alignment. Guide technical writers to develop dynamic and compelling content, that is both compliant and compelling/persuasive.

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible? Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Demonstrated experience shaping and leading teams to win major contracts within water utilities or the public water sector.
• Proven track record of leading strategic and complex pursuit strategies for large‑scale opportunities (typically $35m+ net service revenue), across multi‑disciplinary and multi‑location teams, working collaboratively with clients, delivery partners, and supply chain organisations.
• Strong technical and delivery background, with the ability to understand client drivers and requirements and translate them into compelling, differentiated bid solutions.
• Excellent communication skills, with demonstrated leadership across all stages of the bid and sales process, including the facilitation of workshops with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Strong experience in partner‑led delivery models, including alliances, joint ventures, and complex multi‑party arrangements.
• Credibility and confidence operating at executive and board level with clients, partners, and internal senior leadership teams.
• Sound commercial judgement and strategic thinking, with the ability to balance risk, value, and long‑term business positioning.
• Strong understanding of the UK water regulatory environment or national government water sector.
• Experience operating in matrix organisations with separate bid management and delivery functions.

We celebrate diversity, including neurodiversity, and believe it enriches our team. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and abilities. If you are an applicant with a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us at ReasonableAccommodations@aecom.com. At AECOM, we value everyone's unique contributions and perspectives. If you meet some of the requirements above or have transferable skills you believe would benefit us, we would be delighted to hear from you!