Senior Bid Manager - Maximus

Be part of something great

Maximus is a global organisation that specialises in providing health and employment services to millions of people every year. Here in the UK we employ around 5,000 people across the country to deliver services that have a profound impact on people's lives. From assessments and health services to employability programmes and specialist support, we do work that matters with people who care.

This role is a key role to support our growth strategy and will focus on leading a team of Bid Managers in the development and production of high-quality complex and multiple stage bid submissions to win new business and retain existing business. The Senior Bid Manager will also be responsible for managing a portfolio of their own bids. There is a requirement for the Bid Manager to manage multiple bids at any one time and to support the Growth Team as is necessary to produce work winning capture and proposals.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Bid Managers are responsible for leading bid teams through the end-to-end bid process from ITT publication through the submission.

Accountability

Team Management

• Provide day to day line management of Bid Managers

• Have oversight of the Bids the team are managing and be the first escalation point

• Provide coaching to the Bid Management team. Setting objectives, undertaking reviews and delivering performance management of team

• Lead by example in demonstrating Maximus culture and values.

Bid Planning

• Set up bid Teams channel and ensure all documentation is correctly filed

• Organise Bid Kick Off calls and support the Sales Lead in preparing the presentation material. Lead Kick off calls for the Sales Lead where appropriate

• Create intranet pages where appropriate to communicate bid activity to the wider business

• Create, own and drive the bid plan from ITT publication through to post submission ensuring dates for key activities (including reviews) are mapped against key milestones and internal governance requirements

• Report progress and deviation from plan to Head of Bid Management

• Regularly report on the status of the bid development to the Bid Team, workstream leads and external stakeholders

• Ensure all Stakeholders provide details of identified risks and their mitigations

• Complete opportunity appraisals and lead Bid/No Bid decisions on publication of the ITT.

Internal Stakeholder Management - Including Solution Architects and Workstream Leads

• Point of contact for all bid stakeholders during ITT phase, including workstreams. Share bid documentation, signposting to relevant areas

• Identify and highlight any gaps in workstream allocation against the resource plan

• Ensure incorporation of key workstream requirements and governance activity, such as technology architecture review boards & procurement compliance requirements

• Organise meetings as required. Set up meeting objectives, chair meetings, take and disseminate actions within 24hrs of all meetings

• Promptly follow up actions, report deviations and risks to the Sales Lead and escalate to the Senior Bid Manager/ Head of Bid Management where required.

External Stakeholder Engagement

• Work with the Sales Lead and Dir. Bidding Services to identify additional external stakeholder requirements

• Manage the onboarding process for external consultants and manage the timesheet process

• Ensure NDA's, Teaming Agreements etc are in place and filed where appropriate

• Manage time sheets of external contractors to ensure alignment to work package and incoming invoices

• Keep the plan updated on use of external stakeholders and their role in the bid

• Organise meetings as required. Set up meeting objectives, chair meetings, take and disseminate actions within 24hrs of all meetings

• Promptly follow up actions, report deviations and risks to the Sales Lead and escalate to the Head of Bid Management where required.

Commissioner Engagement

Where this can not be delegated to your team;

• Portal management of assigned bid including downloading documents and dissemination of bid documentation

• Ensure the Bid Team, including external stakeholders are aware of the Clarification Question (CQ) deadline and process

• Capture all CQ's, ensuring Sales Lead sign off before submission to the Commissioner

• Promptly distribute answers to all CQ's to Bid Team, including external stakeholders where appropriate

• Manage post submission engagement which could include negotiation, clarification or presentation requirements.

Technical Submission:

• Work closely with Head of Bid Writing and Writers to plan the technical submission inputs, including graphics

• Organise and lead storyboarding sessions with Bid Team and External Stakeholders (where required) ensuring each component is joined up and activity aligned to the bid plan

• Signpost bid team and workstreams to the relevant aspects of the specification

• Ensure writer requirements for additional information is sourced

• Manage the review process, ensuring the requirements for each reviewer are articulated following the review process guidelines

• Undertake reviews of written responses to ensure compliance - all of the question has been responded to and the response meets maximum evaluation criteria, feeding back to the Bid Writers through tracked changes

• Track progress against milestones in the bid plan

• Support with formatting, naming conventions and sourcing/ labelling of graphics and tables

• There may be occasions where the Senior Bid Manager will be required to write and/or edit bid content

• Champion the use of A.I in generating and reviewing content.

Social Value

• Work with the Procurement Team and Sales Lead to identify Social Value deliverables that fit the cost model whilst increasing our PWIN

• Work with Sales Lead and Solution Architects to ensure the overarching solution maximises Social Value

• Work with the Bid Writers to ensure the deliverables are articulated correctly in the technical response

• Work with Commercial team to ensure that Social Value deliverables are costed.

Governance

• Identify the relevant governance route

• Manage the internal governance process, by working with legal, finance, procurement and technology teams

• Support collation of governance packs - solution, financial models and associated risks to allow presentation to the Country Leadership Team and US Corporate Teams via BRC's

• Lead Governance sign off meetings deputising for the Sales Lead where appropriate

• Ensure governance documentation is stored and archived.

Bid Close Down

Where this can not be delegated to your team;

• Ensure bid close down including archive of documents and creation of a single collated response

• Ensure Lessons Learned process is followed, manage collation of actions across the team and provide analysis across the bids the team are managing, suggesting improvements and recognising good practice.

Bid Handover

Where this can not be delegated to your team;

• Manage a successful Bid Handover/Transition with Operational Colleagues and Maximus Project Management Office and point of contact for relevant bid information post submission.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• 5 years+ experience as a Senior Bid Manager responding to Invitation to Tenders managing the end-to-end bid process for complex multi-stage bids exceeding £20m

• Team management experience

• Bid writing experience including leading storyboarding sessions, participating in key review meetings / final document review, and content editing and sign off

• Experience of communicating with and influencing key internal and external stakeholders to provide bid deliverables

• Experience of supporting the solution design, understanding assumptions and being able to challenge inputs.

Desirable

• A relevant project management, APMP qualification or equivalent

• Experience bidding into central and local government organisations.

Individual Competencies

• Proactive and energetic with an ability to manage a pressurised workload

• Excellent communication skills

• High capacity to plan and manage competing demands, tight deadlines, alongside a diverse and multiple tasks/workflows.

• Articulate with excellent written and verbal communication skills with ability to draft concise, clear and compelling proposals for clients

• Commercially minded with a focus on winning profitable business for the company

• Able to manage and organise multiple stakeholders/priorities, prioritising work by urgency and importance.

Travel Requirements

Minimal travel expectations include quarterly Business Development away days, and occasional team meetings.

EEO Statement

Maximus is committed to developing, maintaining and supporting a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the recruitment process. We know that feeling included has a dramatic impact on personal well-being and are working to ensure that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment due to any personal characteristic. Advertisements for posts will include sufficiently clear and accurate information to enable potential applicants to assess their own suitability for the post.

We are a Disability Confident Leader, thanks to our commitment to the recruitment, retention and career development of people with disabilities and long-term conditions. The Disability Confident scheme includes a guaranteed interview for any applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for a job. When you complete your job application you will find a question asking you if you would like to apply under the Disability Confident Guaranteed Interview Scheme. If you feel that you have a disability and apply under this scheme, providing that you meet the essential criteria for the job, you will then be invited for an interview. YourGuaranteed Interview application will only be shared with the hiring manager and the local resourcing team. Where reasonable, Maximus will review and consider adjustments for those applicants who express a requirement for them during the recruitment process.

Minimum Salary

£

54,000.00

Maximum Salary

£

64,000.00