Bid Manager

Job Introduction

Who is Triage? 

Triage provides information, advice, guidance, skills, workplace training, work preparation and supportive recruitment services that help people secure a job, progress in the workplace and build meaningful careers.

Delivering from locations across Scotland and North East England, Triage partners with multiple public, private and community organisation. Working with local, regional, and national stakeholders, prime contractors and Jobcentre Plus, we deliver employment, education and training programmes that respond to the social, cultural, inclusive and economic growth agendas. 

We are looking for people to join us, who reflect our values. With offices across the UK, our values are what helps unite our teams and provides us with a sense of belonging. No matter the location we work in, or the role we carry out, we feel a sense of community and that's all because of our values. For us, our five values frame our interactions and set standards both internally and externally - they are the building blocks on how we do business.

"We thrive together", "We do something amazing everyday", "We never give up", "We know our knowledge is power", "We act with kindness".

In other words, if you have a true passion for working with and helping others, Triage could be the employer for you.

About the role: 

The Bid Manager is responsible for overseeing the end-to-end bid process and for producing high-quality, compelling and compliant bids and proposals aimed at securing contracts within the employability, skills, justice, education and health and wellbeing sectors. This role requires in-depth experience of writing winning bids across these sectors and the ability to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines. The role will involve close collaboration with colleagues within the Business Development team and across the wider organisation. The Bid Manager role will be impactful, supporting Triage to grow and diversify our contracts in line with our Growth Strategy. 

There will also be the opportunity to support the growth and development of Dynamic Community Fusion CIC (which shares the same Board of Directors as Triage) via bids and other funding applications, with a focus on support for mental health, wellbeing and social inclusion. 

As a Disability Confident Leader, we wish to engage and encourage people with a disability or long-term health condition to work for us, ensuring they have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations. We will interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the job and make reasonable adjustments to ensure candidates are not disadvantaged in any way.

Key responsibilities: 

• Analysis of opportunities: Analyse tender documents to understand commissioner requirements, objectives and evaluation criteria. Provide feedback to the Director of Business Development and other members of the Executive Team to support timely bid evaluation. 

• Bid strategy: Support the development of bid strategies, including storyboarding, identifying USPs and win themes.

• End-to-end bid management: Be relied upon to execute the full bid process, ensuring the highest standards of quality and compliance are always adhered to. Ensure timely preparation, management and submission of quality responses and supporting documentation. 

• Collaboration: Build strong working relationships with internal colleagues to coordinate bid input including examples, case studies, data, financial input and evidence of successful outcomes. Work closely with the Partnerships Manager to identify, source and utilise information from partners/subcontractors. 

• Content creation: Lead the planning, writing and editing of quality responses for bids, framework/DPS applications, proposals and expressions of interest. These will be tailored to commissioner needs and clearly demonstrate our capability to deliver high quality provision, drawing out added value, innovation and examples where appropriate. 

• Document management: Maintain all necessary bid documentation using SharePoint. Complete associated documents such as mobilisation plans, risk registers, pre-qualification/procurement specific questionnaires, organograms and other visual content as needed. 

• Quality Assurance: Routinely seek, capture and respond to feedback, both internally and from commissioners, to ensure continuous learning and improvement. Conduct peer reviews of bid submissions, ensuring responses are compliant, persuasive and aligned with commissioner requirements. 

• Research and market analysis: Undertake regular competitor research and market analysis to identify and understand policy changes, sector trends and competitor positioning. Research and summarise local information, demographics, partner information and other bid-related topics to support high quality bid content. Attend and feedback from market engagement events to support understanding of commercial opportunities and commissioner priorities. 

• Administration: Support management of the internal bid content library and accurate record keeping, to enhance bidding efficiency and effectiveness.

Required criteria: 

• Degree-level education, or equivalent. 

• Extensive experience (3+ years) in writing successful bids within the employability, skills and/or related sectors, with a proven track record of winning substantial contracts. 

• Excellent communication skills; English language and proofreading skills, with a keen eye for detail. 

• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to develop rapport with stakeholders. 

• Highly motivated and proactive, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team. 

• Strong project management, organisational and problem-solving skills, able to manage multiple bids simultaneously, meeting tight deadlines without compromising quality.

• Ability to interpret and clearly articulate complex information. 

• Flexibility to meet business requirements including attending sector relevant events, training and team meetings. 

• Solid understanding of the employability and skills sector,funding landscapes and key stakeholders e.g. DWP, Combined Authorities, Local Authorities. 

• Advanced Microsoft Officeskills, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint. 

• Ability to take on and respond positively to feedback with acontinuous improvement and positive mindset. 

• Ability to identify and extract data from a variety of sources to provideevidence-based bid content that aligns to local commissioner needs. 

• Team player able to demonstrate a values-drivenapproach on a day-to-day basis. 

• Strategic thinker capable of understanding broader organisational objectives. 

• Resilient and adaptable under pressure. 

• Highly experienced in the use of electronic tender platforms.

Desirable criteria: 

• Proficiency in the use of AI for bid writing and editing purposes. 

• Skilled in the development of accurate costings for bids. 

• Experience of developing creative and eye-catching bid content e.g. effective use of diagrams.

NB: This job description is designed as guidance and there may be requirements to take on additional or alternative tasks to support the business as required. Your key tasks and responsibilities will be agreed with your line manager as part of the Triage performance management cycle.

For the successful candidate, this role will require a disclosure check appropriate to the level of responsibility involved. We handle all disclosure information in line with the relevant safeguarding legislation and the DBS Code of Practice, ensuring a fair and transparent process for all applicants. Cost will be reimbursed through our onboarding and internal expense process.