Bid Manager in Manchester

As a Bid Manager, you will take ownership of end-to-end bid management and the production of high-quality technical proposals for inclusion within tender submissions across our utility and infrastructure portfolio. You will craft compelling, evidence-led responses that demonstrate the Network Plus’ technical capability, safety record, and proven ability to deliver complex utilities and infrastructure programmes across regulated markets.

Working within a regulated environment shaped by Ofwat, Ofgem, and industry price-control and investment cycles (AMP and RIIO), you will translate client priorities, framework requirements, and evaluation criteria into winning, client-specific submissions.

You will be joining a dynamic and successful team that has achieved an average win rate (by value) of more than 75% over the last five years. This is a key hire for the business; vital to ensuring we achieve our vision and ambitious targets over the next five years.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan, manage, and complete non-commercial (quality) submissions across multiple utility clients, ensuring a client-specific focus and alignment to published evaluation criteria is applied throughout.
• Develop articulate, coherent responses that support comprehensive submissions, utilising written text, method statements, case studies, photographs, sketches, and supporting documents where applicable.
• Adopt best-practice proposal writing techniques – including win themes, storyboarding, and answer planning – to maximise the scoring potential of every submission against the client's price/quality split and MEAT criteria.
• Work to exceed expected quality standards, complying with internal governance and bid processes and contributing to their continuous improvement.
• Read, understand, and extract key bid requirements from client documentation (SQ/PQQ, ITT, specifications, and framework schedules), and communicate these clearly to the wider bid team.
• Engage with subject matter experts across operations, SHEQ, commercial, and technical delivery to ensure that workstream specifics, methodologies, and safe systems of work are accurately embedded into bid responses.
• Maintain a high level of market intelligence, including insight into wider industry best practice, competitor activity, regulatory drivers (Ofwat/Ofgem), investment cycles (AMP/RIIO), and client-specific priorities.
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve the end-to-end bid process, including the development and upkeep of a reusable content and case study library.
• Manage client procurement portals to ensure all requirements, deadlines, and clarifications are understood, tracked, and applied to the bid process.
• Review and develop draft responses provided by other members of staff into polished, compliant, submission-ready content.
• Raise clarification questions with the Head of Bids or Bid Lead to ensure Tender Queries are captured and submitted within client deadlines.
• Support post-tender activity, including presentations, negotiations, clarification responses, and structured win/loss reviews to inform future submissions.

Experience and Qualifications

• Proven experience in a bid team, with a track record of directly managing or contributing to successful tenders (SQ/PQQ and ITT stages).
• Understanding of bid management throughout the full bid lifecycle, from opportunity qualification and bid/no-bid through to submission, clarification, and post-tender review.
• Familiarity with regulated frameworks and public/utility procurement routes, including framework call-offs, mini-competitions, and OJEU/Find a Tender processes.
• Working knowledge of relevant compliance and accreditation requirements (e.g. CDM 2015, NRSWA, SSIP schemes, ISO 9001/14001/45001).
• Computer literate in MS Office – Word, Excel and Powerpoint – with confidence navigating client e-procurement portals.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, with the ability to turn technical input into clear, persuasive narrative.
• Well-organised with excellent time management and the ability to run multiple deadlines concurrently.
• High attention to detail and a commitment to quality and compliance.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities to fixed submission deadlines.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to work independently as well as part of a collaborative bid team.
• Ideally with sector knowledge and understanding of utilities, infrastructure, and construction, ideally across one or more of gas, power, telecoms, transport, water, wastewater or traffic management.

Salary and Benefits

We offer a competitive salary based on experience along with a full benefits package. Network Plus is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law. We are Armed Forces-friendly. We welcome applications from ex-Armed Forces personnel, reservists, armed forces veterans, cadet instructors and military spouses/partners.

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