Head of Bid | Bid Director | Senior Bid Manager in Luton

If so, we have an exciting opportunity within our Future Combat Air business for a Senior Bid Manager. The Future Combat Air (FCA) bid team is responsible for leading cross-functional teams in the generation and submission of complex multi-million-pound commercial offers that meet time, cost and quality requirements. You will be responsible for the formulation of bid strategies, building and leading bid teams to develop solutions for our customers that are deliverable, as well as ensuring that the offer meets programmatic and business needs.

As the Senior Bid Manager, you have accountability for the overall quality of bid submissions and will guide the team through the internal governance and approval gates, ensuring that relevant business winning information is presented to the FCA leadership team. This will require excellent planning and stakeholder management skills. As a Senior Bid Manager, you will coordinate inputs from multiple teams and work with Sector Vice Presidents, the FCA Head of Bids, Integrated Project Team Leads, Engineering, and Commercial Managers to define the bid strategy and then ensure its execution.

This role is based at our Luton site with occasional UK travel to other Leonardo and customer sites, as well as potential international travel. We operate a custom working hybrid model and offer flexible working to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. We expect you to work from our Luton office two to three times per week on average, but this can vary depending on business needs and your schedule.

What you’ll do as a Senior Bid Manager:

• Schedule and drive bid activities including Win Strategy, Bid Kick-off, Answer Planning, Bid Progress Reviews, Proposal production, Proposal content collation, Proposal reviews (e.g. colour reviews) and Tender Approvals.
• Lead bid teams to identify and analyse risks and opportunities, developing mitigation/realisation plans for action post-contract award.
• Support the capture team during the contract negotiation phase, managing and implementing changes required to our bid submission to secure contract award.
• Manage and contribute to the writing of proposal material, drawing on the skills and experience of capture team members and subject matter experts.
• Proven track record in winning business (preferably experience of leading bids with values of £20m+), with strong commercial, project, and risk management skills.
• Experience managing multi-functional teams (preferably in a Bid Management or Business Winning discipline).
• Excellent planning, organisation, and time management skills (to achieve bid milestones).
• Degree-level qualification or equivalent, with demonstrable bid management knowledge (APMP Foundation Certification or above is desirable).
• Leadership experience, including coaching, mentoring, team management, and team building skills.
• Interpersonal skills to develop close business relationships with internal and external stakeholders, senior management, and government/military customers.
• Have a working understanding of best practice bid processes and tools (e.g. for bid planning, Black Hat, Red Team, Price to Win, etc.).

Security Clearance

We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.

Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).

Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.

Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.

Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.

Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.

Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace.

Contract Type: Permanent

Hybrid Working: Hybrid