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- Tasks: Lead high-quality bid submissions and collaborate with diverse stakeholders.
- Company: Costain, a leader in smart infrastructure solutions across the UK.
- Benefits: Full-time role with opportunities for professional growth and development.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on sustainable infrastructure projects that improve lives.
- Qualifications: Experience in strategic bids and strong leadership skills required.
- Other info: Join a dynamic team focused on innovation and continuous improvement.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.
Costain brings together a unique mix of engineering solutions for increasingly complex problems. Our commitment to creating connected, sustainable infrastructure is core to all of our activities within our four strategic markets of transport, water, energy and defence.
A strong track record in completing high‐quality bid submissions. The Senior Author takes responsibility for all quality aspects of allocated responses. This individual is a strong collaborator and influencer, adept at working with a diverse mix of stakeholders including Sector Directors and SMEs to retain high degrees of confidence that the responses they are responsible for will be completed to the highest possible standard. The Senior Author is responsible for managing the end‐to‐end quality process, from storyboard development to final submission of allocated questions, with support from a Lead Author, ensuring all outputs are high‐quality, compliant and compelling.
Responsibilities- Leadership and Team Guidance
- Support Lead author in briefing SMEs and stakeholders on response approaches, client scoring mechanisms and win themes.
- Clearly incorporate win themes and value proposition into responses.
- Ensure SMEs understand their roles, responsibilities and how they contribute to the overall pursuit.
- Contribute to bi‐annual Authors Day to align ways of working, identify areas of improvement and lessons learned.
- Support the development of response strategies tailored to the client's scoring criteria, question requirements and incorporating value propositions and win themes.
- Support fellow Authors and Question Owners in strategically translating the value proposition into high‐quality written responses.
- Work with Bid Manager and SMEs to achieve quality response milestones (storyboard, pink and red reviews deadlines) and hold the team accountable for their actions.
- Lead, with the support of Lead Author, pink, red and gold review meetings.
- Translate high‐level feedback during reviews.
- Implement work‐winning best practices (as per authoring guide), governance and quality standards throughout the process.
- Escalate unresolved quality/output/relationship challenges to Lead Author, Bid Manager or Bid Director (as appropriate).
- Drive continuous improvement in quality.
- Embed improvements/learnings.
- Work collaboratively with Lead Author, Senior Author and Bid Directors during review processes to ensure alignment with strategic goals and client expectations.
- Significant experience of leading and securing successful strategic bids.
- Strong leadership qualities around influencing people and leading quality submission.
- Ensures the client needs are at the heart of every quality submission.
- Exceptional planning and organising skills, aligning activities to successfully achieve outcomes.
- Understands, and balances multiple stakeholder needs.
- Effective problem‐solving.
- Experience bidding both construction and consultancy opportunities.
- Experience in the transportation and natural resources sectors.
Costain helps to improve people's lives with integrated, leading‐edge, smart infrastructure solutions across the UK's energy, water, transportation and defence markets. We help our clients improve their business performance by increasing capacity, improving customer service, safeguarding security, enhancing resilience, decarbonising and delivering increased efficiency. Our vision is to be the UK's leading smart infrastructure solutions company. We will achieve this by focusing on blue‐chip clients whose major spending plans are underpinned by strategic national needs, regulatory commitments, legislation or essential performance requirements. We offer our clients leading‐edge solutions that are digitally optimised through the following five services which cover the whole lifecycle of their assets: future‐shaping strategic consultancy; consultancy and advisory; digital technology solutions; asset optimisation and complex programme delivery. Our culture and values underpin everything we do.
Costain appreciates the time and effort taken when applying for one of our positions but, due to the high volume of responses, we are unable to provide individual feedback on candidates at the application phase. We do share individual feedback following an interview.
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant who discloses they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer.
Senior Author in London employer: Costain Group PLC
Contact Detail:
Costain Group PLC Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Author in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, especially those who work at Costain or similar companies. A friendly chat can sometimes lead to insider info about job openings or even a referral.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching the company and its projects. Understand their values and how they align with your skills. This will help you tailor your responses and show that you're genuinely interested in being part of their team.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your storytelling skills! Be ready to share specific examples of your past experiences that demonstrate your leadership and collaboration abilities. This is key for a Senior Author role where influencing stakeholders is crucial.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining the Costain team and ready to contribute to their mission of creating sustainable infrastructure.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Author in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your application to reflect the specific requirements of the Senior Author role. Highlight your experience in leading high-quality bid submissions and how you’ve collaborated with diverse stakeholders.
Showcase Your Leadership Skills: We want to see your strong leadership qualities! Share examples of how you've influenced teams and ensured quality in submissions. This will help us understand how you can guide others in our collaborative environment.
Emphasise Quality Assurance Experience: Since the role involves managing the end-to-end quality process, be sure to detail your experience with quality assurance in bid submissions. Mention any specific methodologies or best practices you’ve implemented.
Apply Through Our Website: Don’t forget to submit your application through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for the role. We can’t wait to hear from you!
How to prepare for a job interview at Costain Group PLC
✨Know Your Bid Strategies
Before the interview, brush up on your understanding of bid strategies and how they align with client scoring criteria. Be ready to discuss specific examples where you've successfully developed response strategies that incorporate win themes and value propositions.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Senior Author, you'll need to demonstrate strong leadership qualities. Prepare to share experiences where you've influenced stakeholders or led teams to achieve high-quality submissions. Highlight your ability to guide SMEs and ensure everyone understands their roles.
✨Emphasise Quality Assurance
Quality is key in this role, so be prepared to talk about your approach to quality assurance. Discuss how you've managed the end-to-end quality process in previous roles, including conducting reviews and implementing best practices to enhance submission quality.
✨Engage with Stakeholders
Collaboration is crucial for a Senior Author. Think of examples where you've worked closely with diverse stakeholders, such as Bid Managers and Directors, to align responses with strategic goals. Show that you understand the importance of stakeholder engagement in delivering successful bids.
