Senior Bid Manager

Hybrid working arrangement: 2 days per week on site in Reading, Berkshire (based on full time hours) Thales Research and Technology UK is seeking an experienced Senior Bid Manager to lead and deliver high‑quality, strategically aligned bids that support our innovation and technology objectives. The role requires strong organisational skills, commercial acumen, and the ability to work collaboratively across multi‑disciplinary teams to produce well‑structured, compliant, and compelling proposals. Core Benefits: On offer is a competitive salary and benefits package, which includes; Performance-related bonus Half day every Friday, usually finishing around 13:00 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) plus opportunity to buy up to 40 hours/year (pro rata) 24 hours volunteering paid for Private healthcare (grade dependent) Pension scheme Life cover 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers Gym membership discounts You can read about some of our other benefits here: UK benefits | Thales Group Key responsibilities: Provide structure, clarity, and governance across all bid management activities. Lead the planning, development, review, and submission of high‑quality bid proposals and deliverables. Work with Capture Leaders and technical teams to develop win themes aligned to customer requirements and organisational strengths. Oversee cost estimation, pricing strategy, and budgeting to ensure compliance and competitiveness. Support creation of initial project baselines, business cases, customer presentations, and negotiations. Identify and implement improvements to bid management processes and capability About you: Proven track record managing multiple fast‑paced, successful bids, including research, technology, consortium or teamed environments. Demonstrated ability to construct commercially and technically sound proposals that address market needs. Strong organisational ability with excellent stakeholder management and team collaboration skills. Comprehensive understanding of the bid lifecycle and bid management processes, with the ability to tailor approaches as needed. Experience working across functions including commercial and finance. Working knowledge of industry‑standard methodologies (e.g., Shipley Capture Bench). Proactive approach to risk identification, mitigation and initial baseline development. Security Clearance requirement: Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires Security Clearance (SC). It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks. Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels .