Bid Manager, Management

To lead the Bid Team in securing sustainable growth for United Response. You will retain existing contracts and win new opportunities ensuring our work creates lasting positive outcomes for people and communities.

Our vision is a society where everyone has equal access to the same rights and opportunities.

Our mission is to ensure that people with learning disabilities, mental and physical support needs have the opportunity to live their lives to the full.

To achieve the above, we need you to live our values and be:

• Creative
• Strong
• Responsive
• United

• Make a significant positive contribution to Growth and Innovation, including raising key issues for decision, debating and contributing to the effective resolution of key challenges.
• Ensure that processes for assessing, developing and mobilising bids are robust, inclusive and fit with organisational strategy.
• Produce regular pipeline reports, growth KPIs and market insights to inform decision-making.
• Lead, mentor and manage the Bid Team fostering a culture of high performance and collaboration.
• Oversee the entire bid and tender management process ensuring high-quality, competitive submissions that achieve a strong success rate.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the organisation, influencing and motivating them to meet deadlines and deliver excellence.
• Ensure all proposals and bid submissions align with our values and quality standards.
• Embed social value commitments into all bids and proposals, demonstrating how our work benefits communities and contributes beyond contractual requirements.
• Keep up to date with business development practice, market intelligence and innovation (including AI tools).
• Lead continuous improvement by analysing feedback and sharing learning from successful and unsuccessful bids and proposals.

• Champion diversity, equality and inclusion and uphold United Response’s values
• Travel to services and occasionally work outside office hours
• Ensure dignity and respect for the people we support in every aspect of your work
• Maintain confidentiality at all times
• Adhere to relevant legal and statutory requirements and our organisational policies
• Carry out any other duties as reasonably required

• Strong knowledge of commissioning environments and public sector procurement.
• Sound levels of professional practice/knowledge across all the care/support areas relating to people with disabilities and support needs.
• Experience of working in a senior role within a bid team in a social care, community or not for profit organisation
• Track record of delivering sustainable growth through bid/tender processes.
• Excellent project management and bid/business case writing skills with the ability to prioritise competing demands
• Experience of embedding social value into bid/proposals to increase competitiveness and bid success rate
• Familiarity with CRM and contract management systems.
• Strong analysis and research skills, using up-to-date market analysis, ideas and good practice to retain existing contracts and win new opportunities.
• Excellent written, verbal, numeracy and IT skills (competent and confident using Microsoft Office packages (Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint).

• Being personally accountable for the area of your responsibility, providing clear vision, strategies, direction and support to your colleagues whilst working in a way which is central to the values and culture of United Response.
• Effective planning, influencing and organisational skills with the ability to think analytically.
• Motivational leadership style which fosters a collaborative environment to ensure high quality bids/tenders and proposals are delivered.

• Champion diversity, equality and inclusion and uphold United Response’s values
• Ensure dignity and respect for the people we support in every aspect of your work

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to present persuasively at senior level.
• Comfortable with leading and attending virtual meetings
• Skilled at negotiation within agreed, delegated parameters and…