Bid Manager - UK Defence in Birmingham

Mercury Hampton is exclusively retained on behalf of a highly successful UK engineering manufacturer operating within the defence sector. Our client is an established, financially strong business with decades of experience delivering highly engineered solutions into some of the world's most demanding and safety-critical environments. Continued investment, sustained growth and a healthy long-term order book have created an opportunity for an experienced Bid Manager to join their commercial team.

This is an excellent opportunity to play a pivotal role within a growing organisation, leading complex bids that support strategically important UK and international defence programmes while working alongside engineering, commercial and operational teams.

The Role

You will take ownership of the complete bid lifecycle, managing multiple high-value opportunities from qualification through to submission and contract handover. Working closely with Business Development, Engineering, Commercial, Finance and Operations, you will ensure every submission is commercially competitive, technically robust and fully compliant with customer requirements. This position offers significant autonomy and influence, allowing you to help shape bid strategy, improve processes and contribute directly to future business growth.

Key responsibilities include:

• Managing the complete end-to-end bid process
• Coordinating multidisciplinary bid teams across engineering, commercial and operational functions
• Developing bid strategies for complex engineering opportunities
• Producing compelling, compliant and commercially competitive proposals
• Managing pricing, commercial approvals and contractual documentation
• Coordinating customer clarification activities throughout the tender process
• Maintaining bid documentation, content libraries and proposal templates
• Driving continuous improvement through lessons learned and bid performance analysis
• Supporting the implementation of modern bid management tools and best practice methodologies

The Person

We are seeking an experienced Bid Manager with a proven track record of delivering successful bids within the UK defence sector. You'll be comfortable managing complex opportunities involving multiple stakeholders and be capable of translating technical information into clear, compelling customer proposals.

You will ideally possess:

• Previous Bid or Proposal Management experience within UK defence
• Experience managing complex engineering or manufacturing tenders
• Strong knowledge of defence procurement and competitive tender processes
• Excellent project management and stakeholder engagement skills
• Commercial awareness with experience of pricing and contractual documentation
• Outstanding written communication and proposal development ability
• A structured, organised and detail-oriented approach
• Experience with recognised bid management methodologies would be advantageous
• Eligibility to obtain UK Security Clearance (or existing clearance)

The Opportunity

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a growing engineering business supplying critical projects within the defence sector. The successful candidate will receive:

• Salary circa £70,000
• 10% employer pension contribution
• Hybrid working
• Excellent benefits package
• Long-term career progression
• Opportunity to work on technically challenging, high-value engineering programmes
• Stable business with continued investment and ambitious growth plans

If you're an experienced Bid Manager looking for your next challenge within the UK defence industry, we'd love to hear from you. Please click Apply or contact Mercury Hampton for a confidential discussion. We aim to respond to all successful applicants within two working days.