Bid Principal

This role is pivotal in meeting the overall growth strategy for TPX. The post holder will be responsible for the achievement of sales effectiveness and win rate targets that contribute to the achievement of DT growth targets.

As a Bidding Principal, you'll hold end-to-end accountability for the sales process. This includes the successful submission of winning tenders, the development of opportunities from leads all the way through to winning bids, accountability for the end-to-end pipeline, responsibility for the creation and maintenance of effective knowledge management and reference examples, and the development of best practice bidding processes.

The role also includes individual responsibility for leading the capture process, producing win themes and sales strategies, top-scoring content; and managing the end-to-end bid process to ensure a winning submission is submitted within the bid time frame. Most of our clients are in the UK public sector, with stringent requirements around compliance, and we operate in a highly competitive market, where differentiation comes with the slimmest of margins.

You’ll be adept at rapidly immersing yourself in often lengthy bid documentation; using your public-sector commissioning/procurement experience to flag areas of concern or clarification early; and synthesising key requirements to bring client-facing colleagues up to speed quickly and easily. The post holder will have a detailed working knowledge of the bid process and the related fields of digital transformation and IT consultancy, gained through extensive experience.

Along with the other bid principals, you will hold a shared responsibility for the management of the sales pipeline. Working with sales support, the growth teams and delivery to ensure effective pipeline hygiene management and sales progression. You will also be responsible for the implementation of effective sales and bidding processes, ensuring that all opportunities are properly qualified and signed off through appropriate governance processes.

The post holder will also be responsible for the development and maintenance of an effective knowledge management system, ensuring that all references, case studies, methodologies and proof points are up-to-date and easily accessible for bidding purposes. The post holder will be responsible for developing and defining these best practice processes and ensuring the team adopts them.

You’ll work at pace, and thrive in a busy digital consulting environment with pressing deadlines. You’ll oversee the production and submission of bids/tenders, collaborating with colleagues across the business to engage their expertise. You’ll work proactively to develop capture plans, great content, model answers and also support the wider development of colleagues outside the bid team so we build a network of future contributors.

You will draw on your extensive professional experience in sales enablement, digital transformation and IT consultancy to deliver integrated professional leadership. You’ll translate the growth teams win strategies and business objectives into comprehensive capture plans, smart, compelling, consistent, client-focused, error-free documents and presentations, project managing activity through bid plans and escalating risk where required.

You will also be responsible for the line management responsibility of some of the bid team, including bid managers, co-ordinators and sales support.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for achievement of sales effectiveness and win rate targets that contribute to the achievement of DT growth targets.
• Responsible for end-to-end pipeline management, including sales progression and pipeline hygiene.
• Responsible for the development, definition and implementation of new systems and best practice processes to ensure successful sales enablement, bidding success and appropriate governance.
• Responsible for the development and maintenance of effective knowledge management.
• Responsible for the leadership, development and management of key members of the bid team, including bid managers, co-ordinators and sales support.
• Responsible for planning and managing all aspects of bids from qualification, capture and through to final submission (which may include a presentation stage), delivering agreed fit for purpose proposals on time and to extremely high quality and winning standards.
• Support the business development function through proposals and shaping of solutions/approaches.
• Organises the agreement of competitively positioned commercials, the technical solution and the corresponding solution delivery model.
• Oversees our commercial and pricing approach into all of our bids.
• Takes responsibility for the co-ordination of bid pricing schedules in accordance with the sales lead and the agreed commercially reviewed figures.
• Writes, edits and reviews bid responses, or sections of bid responses, drawing on contributions as well as collateral.
• Ensures our brand values and high standards are embedded across all bid activity, including visual collateral that simplifies our win theme/approach etc to our clients.
• Continually seeks innovative ways to improve bid team productivity, enhancement of collateral and procurement success rates.
• Continuously maintain and update skills and knowledge to stay current within your relevant field of expertise.

Dimensions:

• Budget: Managing complex budgets ranging from £50k to £50m.
• Accountability: Responsible for win/loss ratio contributing to TPXs overall growth targets.
• People Management: Responsible for the leadership, coaching and development of key members of the bid team.
• Policy and Process Development and Implementation: Responsible for the development and implementation of new and effective sales policies, processes and tooling, based on best practice process.
• Problem Solving and Time Management: Sales and bidding situations can require bid teams to navigate complex problems, including commercial and quality challenges.
• Change Management Requirements: We are improving our growth-related sales practices, and this includes refreshing our bid governance, templates and training materials.
• Internal / External Interactions: You’ll be required to work with people from across the business as well as partners/subcontractors.
• Capture Planning and Proposal Submission: You must be able to demonstrate experience of running capture plans from early stage opportunities through to bid submission.

About You:

• Significant and broad knowledge of sales enablement, digital transformation and IT consultancy, gained through extensive experience.
• Extensive knowledge of wider market trends and their potential impact on future sales opportunities.
• Extensive experience operating as a senior bid professional with recent experience of developing top quality approaches to digital transformation and IT.
• Deep understanding of the UK public sector procurement and buying landscape is essential.
• Highly capable of multi-tasking and prioritising tasks with the ability to work under pressure and deliver to regular tight deadlines.
• Excellent organisational and analytical skills with a keen eye for detail.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Understands and makes recommendations on relevant propositions and collateral to share with clients.
• Provides coaching for early client conversations, oral presentations and negotiations.
• Facilitates capture, kick off, storyboarding and win themes sessions and provides independent review and challenge of win themes, proposals and other bid materials.
• Understands how to run internal pitch team briefs and debriefs and conduct retros with the bidding team.
• Brings the best out of TPXimpact by connecting teams to deliver high quality, winning bids.
• Demonstrates a track record of winning.

Behaviours and PACT values:

• Commitment to professional integrity and ethical standards.
• Strong leadership skills, with an emphasis on collaboration and team-building.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of engaging with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Adaptability in a fast-paced and dynamic consultancy environment.

Strengths, drivers and traits:

• Affable, credible and can communicate effectively with clients and colleagues.
• Good team player capable of delivering results in less than perfect circumstances.
• Quality focused with pride in delivered work.
• Highly flexible.
• Self-motivated and proactive with respect to personal development.
• Able to model best practice, bringing energy, impact and strategic advice.
• Is an active member of the bids and proposal community externally and an expert at delivering winning approaches and methodologies.
• Is driven to improve team performance and quality, whilst remaining respectful of others skills and points of view.

About Us:

We’re a purpose-driven organisation, supporting organisations to build a better future for people, places and the planet. Combining vast experience in the public, private and third sectors and expertise in human-centred design, data, experience and technology, we’re creating sustainable solutions ready for an ever-evolving world.

At the heart of TPXimpact, we’re collaborative and empathetic. We’re a team of passionate people who care deeply about the work we do and the impact we have in the world. We know that change happens through people, with people and for people. That’s why we believe in people-powered transformation.

Working in close collaboration with our clients, we seek to understand their unique challenges, questioning assumptions and building in their teams the capabilities and confidence to continue learning, iterating and adapting.

Benefits Include:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays.
• 2 volunteer days for causes that you are passionate about.
• Maternity/paternity - 6 months Maternity Leave, 3 months Paternity Leave.
• Life assurance.
• Employer pension contribution of 5%.
• Health cash plan.
• Personal learning and development budget.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Access to equity in the business through a Share Incentive Plan.
• Green incentive programmes including Electric Vehicle Leasing and the Cycle to Work Scheme.
• Health assessments.

About TPXimpact - Digital Transformation:

We drive fundamental change in approaches to product and service development, delivery and technology. Our agile, multidisciplinary teams use technology, design and data to deliver better results, improving outcomes for individuals, organisations and communities.

By working in the open, in partnership with our clients, we not only transform their systems and services but also build the capability of their teams, so work can continue without us in the longer term. Our focus is sustainable change, always delivered with positive impact.

We are committed to having a positive impact on the clients and the communities we serve. We actively encourage applications from all genders, ethnicities, disabled people, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.