Proposals Bids and Tenders Manager in Stoke-on-Trent

Are you an experienced bid professional with a proven track record of winning commercial tenders and developing high-performing teams? Do you thrive in a strategic, commercially focused environment where your expertise directly influences business growth, client partnerships, and long-term success? This is an outstanding opportunity to join a highly respected organisation at an exciting stage of expansion, helping shape and grow a successful bids and proposals function across a diverse and evolving client portfolio.

Why Join? Our prestigious client delivers industry-leading professional development, training programmes, conferences, and events across a broad range of sectors, while also supporting ambitious international growth in partnership with a leading University. You’ll be joining an organisation that genuinely invests in its people, offering flexibility, autonomy, and excellent professional development opportunities within a collaborative and forward-thinking culture.

Benefits Include:

• Agile and predominantly remote working
• 24 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Christmas closure
• Birthday day off
• Healthcare Cash Plan
• Subsidised University gym membership and dining
• Excellent CPD and professional development opportunities
• Pension scheme
• Supportive and values-led working culture

The Role

As Proposals, Bids & Tenders Manager, you will lead the development and delivery of compelling, commercially successful tender submissions while driving strategic growth opportunities across the organisation. You will take ownership of key bid portfolios, build and maintain a healthy pipeline of opportunities, and mentor Bid Coordinators to ensure best-practice bid management across the team. This is a highly strategic role requiring strong commercial awareness, exceptional stakeholder engagement skills, and the ability to create persuasive, compliant, and high-quality bid responses that win business.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify, evaluate, and manage high-value bid and tender opportunities
• Lead the end-to-end bid process, ensuring quality, compliance, and timely submission
• Manage, coach, and develop Bid Coordinators and support team performance
• Build and strengthen long-term client and stakeholder relationships
• Develop strategic re-bid and account growth plans
• Create tailored, high-impact proposal content aligned to client objectives
• Work collaboratively with finance, legal, operational, and subject matter experts
• Analyse market trends, pricing models, and commercial data to maximise bid success
• Maintain accurate forecasting, reporting, and pipeline management
• Identify opportunities to expand partnerships, sponsorships, and commercial growth

About You

We are looking for an accomplished bids and tenders professional who can combine commercial insight with outstanding relationship management and leadership capability. You will ideally have:

• A strong track record of winning commercial bids and tenders
• Experience managing or mentoring bid coordination and/or sales teams
• Excellent proposal writing and strategic bid management skills
• Strong financial and commercial acumen, including forecasting and pricing analysis
• The ability to manage multiple deadlines and deliver results under pressure
• Outstanding communication and stakeholder engagement skills
• A proactive, solutions-focused and growth-oriented mindset

This role would suit someone looking to step into a broader strategic position where they can genuinely influence growth, client success, and future business direction.

To apply for the role of Proposals, Bids & Tenders Manager, please send your CV to: Tina Lacey Recruitment is a specialist recruitment agency dedicated to the skills, training, and employability sectors nationwide. We provide free pre-interview advice and guidance throughout the interview process to help candidates perform at their very best.