Associate Bid Manager in Southampton

At Aztec, we provide talented and dynamic individuals with the opportunity to build a rewarding career. We’re an ambitious company, committed to building long-term partnerships with our clients and delivering operational excellence at every stage of their fund’s lifecycle. Our culture is what makes us a standout place to work. Our people are at the heart of our business: putting clients first; delivering service excellence; working as one team; building lasting connections and embodying our values and purpose. Join our journey and discover what makes us the bright alternative.

About the role:

Reports to the Head of Strategic Bids. As a Strategic Bid Manager, you will play a crucial role in driving successful bid submissions for the organisation. Your responsibilities will be to collaborate with and manage stakeholders across functions and jurisdictions to craft compelling, winning proposals whilst ensuring the effective management of the end-to-end bid process. This role is within our Business Development team and is key in supporting our ambitious growth plans.

Key responsibilities:

• Run a detailed qualification process for each opportunity.
• Undertake thorough relationship mapping exercises for each opportunity, and create action plans to develop the relationships as required.
• Establish strong win themes and value proposition, and ensure these are woven throughout all content and deliverables.
• Coordinate and manage the Aztec response to tender processes; provide project management from opportunity identification through to a win/loss decision.
• Develop detailed project plans outlining bid timelines, tasks, and dependencies.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams, providing clear direction and ensuring timely execution of tasks from opportunity identification stage right through to delivery.
• Create tailored material as needed, for each stage of a bidding process including proposals and pitch decks.
• Co-ordinate rehearsals, and provide feedback, in preparation for formal presentations.
• Identify and assess potential risks associated with bids, and help to develop mitigation strategies to minimize impact.

Strategic Proposal and Content Development:

• Work closely with Product Marketing and Design teams to produce relevant yet differentiated, client focused content that reinforces our brand messaging.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to gather relevant information and develop persuasive content.
• Support the maintenance and development of our content management framework.
• Support market research projects as required.

Proposal Creation:

• Lead the creation of compelling and tailored proposals, ensuring alignment with client requirements and showcasing Aztec’s strengths.
• Work closely with the Business Development and Marketing teams to ensure that any bespoke materials are high-quality, and reinforces Aztec’s brand messaging.

Performance Analysis and Continuous Improvement:

• Conduct post-bid analysis to evaluate the success of submitted proposals and identify areas for improvement.
• Provide feedback in order to enhance future bid strategies and processes.
• Provide best practice support and advice to colleagues engaged on opportunities.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices in bidding and proposal management.

Other:

• Support and develop junior members of the team in bid management tools and techniques.
• Demonstrate effective communications with the team and the business providing regular reporting feedback as needed.
• Contribute towards the business as a whole, for instance, in identifying improvements and efficiencies that could be applied.
• Ad-hoc tasks that may be required to be undertaken as part of a CMD team or as the business requires.

Skills, knowledge and expertise:

• Proven track record in co-ordinating and winning complex bids.
• Project and Bid management skills and/or qualification desired with demonstrated success in project management.
• People management experience would be advantageous.
• Experience working with delivery teams in the US would be advantageous.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and ability to build strong relationships across the business.
• Excellent organisation skills and the ability to run several projects in tandem.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to deliver high quality work within short timeframes.
• Ability to coach, develop and motivate direct and indirect teams in person and virtually to drive success.
• Self-driven, enthusiastic, and proactive with the ability to work with stakeholders from all levels of the business.
• Commercially astute.
• Advanced MS Office experience (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is required.
• Experience within a financial services organisation would be advantageous, but not essential.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences. If you’re excited by this role but don’t meet every requirement, we’d still love to hear from you.

Aztec will provide the training, both in-house for relevant technical knowledge and also professional qualifications to enhance your professional development. You will need to be quick to learn new systems and great with people, as close working relationships between our colleagues and clients is at the heart of what we do.