Freelance Consultant: Bid Review and Tender Strategy

About the role

NXG delivers mental health, wellbeing and employment support services across the East of England, alongside group companies operating in related sectors. Our Tender Department manages a live pipeline of competitive public sector opportunities across NHS, local authority and central government commissioners, primarily in health, education and employment support.

We are seeking a freelance consultant who has sat on the other side of the table. You will have been employed by a UK commissioning organisation, such as an NHS ICB, NHS trust, a city, county or unitary council, or a central government department or agency, and will bring an evaluator's perspective to our bids before submission.

Scope

• Review draft bid responses through an evaluator's lens, scoring them against the published criteria, and identifying where an answer could be tailored to maximize score.
• Advise on bid strategy at key decision points: win themes, lotting and pricing strategy, and how a submission will read against likely competitors.
• Strengthen our understanding of what commissioners weight in practice: evidence quality, deliverability, social value, risk transfer and financial standing.
• Advise on effective use of clarification questions and, where relevant, feedback and standstill processes.
• Support post-outcome reviews of both won and lost bids, translating commissioner feedback into repeatable improvements.
• Provide occasional input on procurement mechanics, including the Procurement Act 2023 and the NHS Provider Selection Regime, as they affect bid positioning.

Essential

• Previous employment by a UK public sector commissioning organisation (NHS body, local authority or equivalent) in a role involving procurement, commissioning, contract management or bid evaluation. This is a prerequisite; applications without it will not be considered.
• Direct experience of evaluating or moderating supplier bids, or of drafting specifications and evaluation criteria.
• Working knowledge of UK public procurement frameworks and their practical application.
• Ability to give direct, evidenced, actionable feedback to short deadlines.

Desirable

• Commissioning or procurement track record in health (NHS ICB, trust or NHS England) or education (local authority children's services, post-16, alternative provision or DfE funded programmes).
• Familiarity with the NHS Provider Selection Regime, DPS and framework mechanics, and cost reimbursement or outcomes-based contract models.
• Experience of mental health, wellbeing, employment support (including IPS) or children and young people's services markets.
• Experience advising SMEs bidding into the public sector.

Engagement terms

• Freelance contract for services at an agreed day or half day rate, engaged ad hoc around live tender deadlines. Volume will vary month to month; availability at short notice may be required.
• Fully remote, with review sessions held online. All work is subject to a confidentiality agreement.

Probity and conflicts of interest

Applicants must declare any current or recent relationships with commissioning organisations that could give rise to a conflict of interest. The consultant will not be asked for, and must not share, confidential information obtained from any commissioner, and will recuse themselves from any opportunity where their former employer is the contracting authority and a conflict would arise. All advice must be consistent with the fair and transparent conduct of public procurement.