At Smart, our mission is to transform retirement, savings and financial wellbeing, across all generations, around the world.
THE ROLE
(10 Month Fixed-Term Contract)
Smart’s Bid Team runs all Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Smart Pension UK Master Trust bids and tender responses. Reporting to the Head of the Bid Team and as part of the wider Smart team, we are looking to hire a Bid Proposal Manager with experience in the financial services and/or technology industries.
The role will support the Business Development team and executive sponsors to drive new business into Smart. The role involves the preparation of responses for tenders received as well as managing larger bid projects with internal stakeholders and joint bidders, including reporting to Smart’s C-level executives. We are looking for a candidate who has strong experience of both delivering and managing these bids. You will also contribute to the ongoing development of the team, improving processes, documentation, reporting and advancement of the team.
Main responsibilities:
* Manage the proposal project, working closely with the business development manager/senior executive who 'owns' the opportunity
* Produce & manage the proposal project plan (including risk analysis & contingency planning), ensuring that all necessary activities are completed on time
* Facilitate Pre-Proposal Planning meetings, with the account team, to ensure the appropriate steps are taken to maximise the proposal's chances of success.
* Contribute to qualification decisions as required
* Build the proposal team for the deal - identify and brief the staff who need to be involved, and ensure their focus and motivation
* On a project-by-project basis, coordinate and manage the activities of the other bid team members who may be involved in the proposal
* Facilitate the proposal strategy meeting, with the business development manager/senior executive and other SME proposal contributors, to establish a clear strategy (based on customer & competitive analysis) and to 'storyboard' proposal content
* Coach and chase content contributors as required - managing content quality reviews
* Review and critique content as it is produced by the contributors. Ensure that the overall document tells a consistent and clear story.
* Ensure that all relevant processes are followed as required (e.g. qualification, approvals), and lead or facilitate those meetings as required
* Coach the proposal presentation team if required (content design, development of slides and other collateral, logistics, rehearsals etc.)
* Lead proposal learning reviews (providing objective facilitation, and developing clear action plans)
* Once a proposal has been submitted, identify new content that may be re-usable via the team's pre-written content library
* Suggest, lead and contribute to projects to improve the organisation’s proposal management capabilities
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
The skills, experience, and aptitudes we are looking for are listed below but please don’t be discouraged from applying if you don’t meet every single one of these criteria – having a ‘can do’ attitude is sometimes more important than being able to tick every box:
* Strong experience in proposals – ideally in fintech/pensions
* Clear understanding of the strategic proposal management processes, including qualification, pre-proposal planning, strategy development and storyboarding – as well as the overall proposal project management
* Excellent facilitation skills – able to build & motivate proposal teams, generate creativity, act as an effective “devil’s advocate”. Understand and use a range of effective facilitation techniques.
* Able to quickly establish credibility and rapport with the business development team and senior executives
* Strong project management skill-set and mindset; able to manage teams and projects under tight time pressure
* ‘Business-savvy' – some relevant market understanding ideal (but not essential from Day One)
* Good purchasing empathy (able to “read between the lines” of the RFP to identify the customer’s drivers)
* Strong strategic thinking (to develop proposal strategies, with the business development team)
* Enthusiasm for working in an intensive, deadline-driven and high-profile role
* Good strategic proposal writing skills (able to cover Bid Writer role as required)
* Able to work effectively on multiple, concurrent projects
* APMP Foundation or similar qualification is desirable
WHO WE ARE
We work in partnerships with governments and financial institutions in the UK and internationally. Our cloud-native digital platform is revolutionising how people around the world think about, and save for, their retirement.
At heart, we’re a financial technology business. What we do is all about innovation, and using the power of digital change to put the customer first. Our Engineers will tell you that working at Smart gives you the opportunity to play your part in developing world-class technological solutions, working with – and learning from – like-minded people.
You’ll also find that, across our business, our colleagues love Smart’s culture, and how what we do means better financial outcomes for savers. That feels worthwhile, and it means that what we do, collectively, goes way beyond the nine to five of a typical working day.
Don’t just take our word for it – you can see what our colleagues say about working at Smart on and .
BENEFITS
At Smart, one of the eight principles we work to is “We want happy and good people in our team”. We created a list of benefits that helps us achieve this goal:
* 25 days’ holiday per year, increasing with length of service.
* £500 annual training budget to spend on your professional development
* Extensive private healthcare, including dental, eyecare and EAP
* Enhanced sick leave (three months’ pay per year)
* Enhanced maternity and paternity (maternity – 6 months fully paid/paternity – 3 weeks fully paid)
* Death in service insurance cover
* Fully-paid five-week sabbatical after five years of employment
* In office wellbeing, such as manicures, massages and barbers. We also serve free lunch, breakfasts and social drinks weekly.
* Smart employees also enjoy a 50% discount on orders from our sister company Arena Flowers, Britain's most ethical florist. They offer unique hand-tied bouquets, luxury flowers, letterbox flowers, plants and gifts to spend on friends and loved ones or even for yourself.
Visit our careers page at to find our Recruitment Data Policy.
We think Smart is an awesome place to work. If it sounds like somewhere you’d like to work, too, and if you’re ready to play your part in our continued success in the future, then naturally we’d love to meet you.