Bid Manager in Milton Keynes

CMAC Group, established in 2007, specializes in providing safe and reliable passenger transport and accommodation solutions. Serving a diverse clientele, including airlines, train operators, corporations, and breakdown companies, CMAC Group facilitates the transportation of over 5 million passengers globally each year. By combining advanced technology with a skilled Service Delivery team, CMAC Group ensures exceptional service delivery around the clock, every day of the year.

CMAC is looking for a writing-capable Bid Manager to play a critical role in delivering high-quality bids and tenders across multiple sectors and geographies. This is not a coordination-only role. The successful candidate will combine end-to-end bid management, hands-on bid writing, and early-stage opportunity sourcing, ensuring CMAC is well-positioned ahead of tender release and consistently delivers compliant, compelling submissions. You will work closely with the Head of Bid, subject matter experts, and senior stakeholders, supporting CMAC’s organic growth across aviation, rail, public sector and other transport-led markets.

What You’ll Be Responsible For:

• Bid & Tender Sourcing (Pre-Release)
  • Monitoring public and private sector procurement platforms to identify upcoming opportunities.
  • Ensuring CMAC is registered, compliant and engaged on relevant tender portals and frameworks.
  • Supporting early visibility of opportunities to enable better bid/no-bid decisions.
  • Maintaining a clear view of the forward bid pipeline in collaboration with Commercial and Sales teams.
• Bid Management
  • Managing bids from kick-off through to submission and handover.
  • Creating and owning bid plans, schedules, milestones, and deadlines.
  • Managing risks, issues, assumptions, and change throughout the bid lifecycle.
  • Running bid reviews, governance checkpoints, and progress reporting.
• Bid Writing & Content Ownership
  • Writing first-draft responses for core and repeatable bid sections, including:
  • Service delivery and operating models
  • Governance, reporting, and assurance
  • Mobilisation and transition
  • Risk and compliance narratives
• Converting structured SME bullet-point input into clear, persuasive, compliant written responses.
• Applying consistent structure, tone, and evaluation focus across submissions.

What We’re Looking For:

• Essential
  • Proven experience managing and writing bid/tender responses in competitive environments.
  • Strong written communication skills, with evidence of producing high-quality bid content.
  • Experience working with procurement portals and tender submission platforms.
  • Ability to manage multiple deadlines and stakeholders concurrently.
  • Strong understanding of bid compliance, evaluation criteria, and scoring.
  • Confident communicator able to challenge constructively and influence outcomes.
• Desirable
  • Experience within rail, bus, transport or mobility-related sectors.
  • Exposure to regulated or public-sector procurement.
  • Commercial awareness and understanding of pricing narratives.
  • Experience working across multiple business areas or sectors.

Why This Role Is Different:

• Writing is a core part of the role, not an add-on.
• You will have genuine ownership of content quality, not just process.
• The role is designed to grow, with future potential to manage a Bid Writing Team.
• You’ll be part of a function that is central to CMAC’s growth strategy, not a back-office support team.

Who This Role Suits:

• This role is ideal for someone who:

• Enjoys writing and shaping bid content as much as managing delivery.
• Wants to move beyond pure coordination or writing into true bid ownership.
• Is ambitious and interested in progressing into senior bid leadership over time.
• Thrives in fast-paced, multi-sector environments.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be based in the UK and have the right to work in the UK at the time of application.
• This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
• Candidates must be able to work primarily remotely, with occasional travel required in line with business needs, including internal meetings, client meetings and presentations.

Benefits Include:

• Competitive Salary
• 25 Days Annual Leave (excluding public holidays)
• Regular Company events
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Health & wellbeing programme
• 3 days paid volunteer time annually