MERITUS are recruiting for a Bid Manager specialising within the manufacturing industry to join our client within the defence industry. The company hiring, are one of the defining, world-leaders within defence and has frequently featured in the top 25 places to work over the last decade.
BID MANAGER - INSIDE IR35 - £33 PER HOUR - BOLTON - 12 MONTHS - UNDERGO SC CLEARANCE - SINGLE STAGE INTERVIEW PROCESS
We're currently supporting a prestigious defence engineering organisation in the search for a Bid Manager to join their forward-thinking and high-performing manufacturing team. This is a brilliant opportunity for a commercially savvy and detail-driven professional to shape cost proposals for complex, high-value engineering programmes.
You'll play a key role in producing competitive, fully costed manufacturing proposals - ensuring alignment with business strategy, financial governance, and operational capability.
What You'll Be Doing:
* Leading the development of manufacturing bids in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
* Generating detailed cost models in Excel for materials, direct/indirect labour, and other manufacturing-associated costs.
* Producing high-quality bid presentations and cost brochures in PowerPoint for review and approval by senior stakeholders.
* Interpreting bid directives and ensuring proposals align with manufacturing industrial policy and business goals.
* Analysing data to produce accurate, evidence-backed 3-point estimates.
* Reviewing risks, assumptions, and compliance to ensure commercially sound and competitive submissions.
* Collaborating with stakeholders across Engineering, Procurement, Finance, and Programmes to ensure bid readiness throughout the life cycle.
* Championing continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and feeding into the evolution of bid strategy and cost methodology.
* Supporting the identification of new business opportunities and contributing to win strategies.
What We're Looking For:
* Strong experience in managing or coordinating bids within an engineering or production environment.
* Solid understanding of manufacturing processes - from procurement through to delivery.
* Proficient in developing cost models and working with commercial data.
* Clear communicator, confident presenting to senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams.
* Skilled in data analysis and logical reasoning, with an eye for detail.
* Comfortable working to tight deadlines and managing multiple bids simultaneously.
* Proactive, enthusiastic, and able to work independently or as part of a collaborative team.
* Knowledge of bid governance and evidence-based cost estimation is highly desirable.
* Experience with PowerPoint and Excel is essential; SAP knowledge would be a plus.