Bid Administrator in Southampton

SLR Recruitment are currently seeking a Bid Administrator for Advanced Shipbuilding in Southampton. This is a full-time, on-site position with a salary of £30k–£40k plus incentives.

Every winning bid needs someone holding it all together. That's you. We're the UK arm of a global shipbuilding group known for high-performance vessels built for defence, government, and commercial clients around the world. Backed by serious international scale and a growing order book, we're building our UK presence from the ground up, moving fast, and punching well above our size.

This role offers real autonomy, ownership, and a genuine seat at the table as we scale. If you're ambitious, restless, and ready to prove what you can do, this is your chance to stop being a cog in someone else's machine and start building something that's actually yours.

The Role

You'll sit right at the heart of how we win business, providing the administrative drive behind our bids and tenders for defence, government, and commercial shipbuilding projects. You'll be hands-on with live opportunities from the moment they land, coordinating documentation, tracking deadlines, and keeping bid teams organised across complex, multi-stakeholder submissions. Alongside this, you'll support our wider compliance requirements, including export licensing and security certification, helping keep the business ready to operate in the defence sector.

This is a varied, fast-paced role for someone who enjoys being where the action is, juggling multiple live bids, working closely with the Head of the Defence Business Unit, and taking real ownership of the processes that keep our pipeline moving.

What you'll be doing

• Owning the administrative process for marketing and sales bids, coordinating documentation, deadlines, and stakeholders across multiple live opportunities at once.
• Supporting wider bid teams to ensure tenders are submitted accurately, on time, and to a high standard.
• Acting as a key point of organisation across the bid lifecycle, from initial opportunity through to submission.
• Managing export licensing applications and supporting wider compliance and security certification requirements.
• Liaising with external advisors and consultants on compliance-related matters as needed.

What we're looking for

• A degree in engineering or a related discipline preferred or equivalent experience considered. This role would also suit a recent postgraduate looking to build a career in defence and shipbuilding.
• Knowledge of shipbuilding and/or ship operations preferred, ideally within a military or defence environment but not essential.
• Strong written and spoken English; French language skills would be beneficial.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to work in a multidisciplinary, multicultural team.
• Ability to work independently, manage a heavy workload, and stay organised under pressure.
• Eligible for UK security clearance (SC minimum).
• Up for occasional international travel, including to group shipyards.
• Most importantly: dynamic, driven, unapologetically ambitious, and genuinely excited by the idea of building something rather than just running it.

Why join us

• Shareholder opportunity — build equity in a business that's going somewhere, not just draw a salary.
• A genuine growth story — join early, grow with us, and help shape what this business becomes as we push toward global leadership.
• Private health insurance, incentivisation scheme, flexible working.

The Package

• £30,000–£40,000 depending on experience.
• Shareholder/equity opportunity.
• Private health insurance.
• Incentivisation scheme.
• Flexible working hours.