Bid Director

Bid Strategy & Leadership

Own the overall bid strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives, market positioning, and win themes.

End-to-End Bid Governance

Lead the full bid lifecycle from opportunity qualification (led by Business Development) to submission and contract award, ensuring robust governance and decision-making at all stages.

Cross Functional Coordination

Direct and align internal stakeholders (sales, commercial, legal, finance, delivery, partners) to deliver high quality, integrated bid responses.

Commercial & Risk Management

Ensure bids are commercially viable, competitively priced, and compliant, with clear identification, mitigation, and approval of risks and assumptions.

Quality & Compliance Assurance

Maintain high standards of bid quality, ensuring responses fully meet customer, regulatory, and internal compliance requirements.

Stakeholder & Executive Engagement

Act as the primary escalation and reporting point for senior leadership, providing clear insights on bid status, risks, and recommendations.

Capability & Performance Improvement

Drive continuous improvement in bid processes, tools, and team capability, using lessons learned to improve win rates and efficiency.

Key Internal Stakeholders & Relationships

• CLT
• Growth Enablement Director
• Strong relationships required with Operations & Central Functions, in particular Finance

Key External Stakeholders & Relationships

• Major government department customers

Qualifications & Experience Essential

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent professional experience)
• Demonstrable senior level bid leadership experience (5 years+), in public sector / outsourcing
• Strong commercial and contractual understanding, gained through practical experience managing high value or complex bids.

Desirable

• MBA or postgraduate qualification in Business Administration, Strategy, Finance, or a related field.
• Formal bid management training or certification, such as APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) Foundation / Practitioner / Professional
• Shipley or equivalent structured bid methodology training
• Leadership or executive development programmes, demonstrating commitment to senior leadership capability.

Individual competencies
1. Strategic Thinking & Market Insight

• Shapes winning bid strategies aligned to corporate goals and market positioning
• Anticipates customer drivers, competitive dynamics, and future opportunities

2. Bid Leadership & Governance

• Provides decisive leadership across the end to end bid lifecycle
• Applies robust governance, assurance, and clarity of accountability

3. Commercial Acumen

• Demonstrates strong financial, pricing, and contractual judgement
• Balances value, risk, margin, and competitiveness in complex bids

4. Stakeholder Influence & Collaboration

• Builds credibility and alignment with senior stakeholders and delivery teams
• Influences decisions across sales, finance, legal, operations, and partners

5. Risk & Decision Management

• Identifies, evaluates, and mitigates bid, delivery, and contractual risks
• Makes timely, evidence based decisions under pressure

6. Customer & Relationship Focus

• Understands client needs and strategic priorities
• Drives customer centric solutions and compelling value propositions

7. Communication & Executive Presence

• Communicates clearly and persuasively at senior and executive level
• Produces high impact bid messaging and recommendations

8. Quality & Compliance Orientation

• Sets and enforces high standards for bid quality and compliance
• Ensures submissions are accurate, consistent, and compelling

9. Leadership & Talent Development

• Motivates, coaches, and develops bid professionals
• Builds high performing, resilient bid teams

10. Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Embeds lessons learned and best practice into bid delivery
• Drives improvements in tools, processes, and win rate performance

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 wellbeing and are working to ensure that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment due to any personal characteristic.…