Bid Support Manager - Defence Sales

Join a High-Growth Technology & Engineering Business

Are you a highly organised commercial professional who thrives on winning complex business opportunities? Do you enjoy bringing structure to fast-paced sales environments, coordinating diverse stakeholders, and ensuring high-value bids are delivered to the highest standard?

This is a fantastic opportunity to join an innovative engineering and technology company entering an exciting phase of growth. With ambitious expansion plans and a forecast to more than double turnover over the coming years, the business is investing heavily in its commercial capability and looking for a commercially minded Sales & Bid Operations Manager to play a pivotal role in that journey.

Working at the heart of the business, you will be responsible for coordinating bids, supporting sales campaigns, driving CRM excellence, and ensuring opportunities are progressed efficiently from initial qualification through to contract award and project handover.

The Opportunity

This is far more than a traditional bid administration role.

You will become the central hub connecting sales, engineering, project delivery, finance, commercial and legal teams to help secure exciting technology programmes across defence and advanced technology markets.

You'll have the opportunity to influence how opportunities are qualified, managed and won, while helping shape and improve the company's commercial processes as it continues its rapid growth trajectory.

Key Responsibilities

Bid & Proposal Management

Lead and coordinate the full bid lifecycle from qualification through to proposal submission and contract award. Develop bid plans, schedules and review processes to ensure submissions are delivered on time and to a high standard. Coordinate contributions from technical, commercial, project management and leadership teams. Maintain proposal quality, compliance, document control and submission readiness. Support proposal development, customer responses, project planning and pricing activities.

Sales Operations & CRM Excellence

Own and maintain CRM data integrity, ensuring accurate pipeline management and forecasting. Drive sales process discipline and governance across the opportunity lifecycle. Produce meaningful sales reports, dashboards and management information. Support adoption of new commercial tools, automation initiatives and AI-enabled business systems. Help improve pipeline visibility and forecasting accuracy across the business.

Opportunity & Framework Management

Monitor customer procurement portals, defence frameworks and tender platforms for new opportunities. Coordinate opportunity reviews and qualification activities with key stakeholders. Manage supplier registrations, onboarding requirements and portal submissions. Ensure critical deadlines and compliance requirements are tracked and met.

Commercial & Stakeholder Coordination

Work closely with finance and commercial teams to support pricing, approvals and contract acceptance. Coordinate legal reviews of customer terms and contractual requirements. Support collaborative bids involving partners and subcontractors. Maintain clear records of commercial assumptions, negotiations and customer communications.

Project Handover & Business Improvement

Coordinate smooth transition from successful bid to project delivery. Ensure project teams receive complete information regarding customer expectations, milestones and commercial commitments. Support resource planning discussions linked to future opportunities. Capture lessons learned and help continuously improve sales and bid management processes.

What We're Looking For

We're interested in individuals who combine strong organisation and attention to detail with commercial awareness and the confidence to work across multiple teams.

You will likely have:

Experience in bid management, proposal coordination, sales operations or commercial support. Strong CRM experience, ideally using HubSpot or a similar platform. Excellent project coordination and stakeholder management skills. The ability to manage multiple deadlines and priorities simultaneously. Strong communication skills and the confidence to work with senior stakeholders. A proactive, process-driven mindset with a passion for continuous improvement.Experience within engineering, technology, defence, aerospace or highly regulated industries would be advantageous but is not essential.

Why Join?

Be part of a growing technology business with ambitious expansion plans. Play a visible and influential role in shaping commercial success. Work on innovative projects that have real-world impact. Collaborate with some of the brightest engineering and technology professionals in the industry. Enjoy excellent opportunities for career progression as the business continues to scale. Benefit from a supportive, collaborative culture that values initiative, development and teamwork. Participate in regular social events and company activities that create a genuinely enjoyable working environment.

Location

South Cambridgeshire (with excellent transport links to Cambridge and the surrounding region).

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