Head of Bids

Are you an experienced bid leader with a passion for driving high‑quality, high‑scoring proposals? Do you thrive in a fast‑paced environment where continuous improvement, stakeholder influence, and measurable ROI are at the heart of your work? We’re looking for a strategic and proactive Head of Bids to lead a professional, high‑performing central bid function for our client based in London. About the Role As the Head of Bids, you’ll lead a small but impactful team responsible for strengthening end‑to‑end bid processes, ensuring quality assurance, and driving improvements in bid capability across the organisation. This is a pivotal role that blends operational excellence, strategic thinking, stakeholder collaboration, and innovation — including the smart use of AI and automation. Head of Bids Key Responsibilities * Manage and lead a small team of bid professionals (c2 People). * Oversee and refine the end‑to‑end bid process, ensuring it is fit for purpose and adaptable to varying requirements and timeframes. * Lead bid submission, debrief, and lessons‑learned processes to support continuous improvement. * Act as the first line of quality assurance for compliance and technical content, using judgement, mark schemes, and requirement documents. * Provide second‑line commercial quality assurance. * Influence the shaping of RFPs for warm clients to maximise win potential. * Identify new opportunities through market and tender intelligence tools. * Develop and maintain procurement routes‑to‑market guidance. * Set policies for the effective and ethical use of AI within the bid environment. Head of Bids Qualifications & Capabilities * Ideally Shipley or APMP Bid & Proposal Management Practitioner‑level expertise. * Worked in a similar role across the Public Sector, Not‑for‑Profit, Defence or Nuclear, Industrials. * Proven experience applying AI and automation to bid processes and knowledge management. * Strong people leadership and coaching skills. * Excellent prioritisation, time management, and stakeholder engagement. * Ability to build proactive and trusted relationships across the business. Why Join this company? This is a unique opportunity to: * Shape and elevate a core business capability. * Lead a talented, central team with strong organisational visibility. * Influence bid strategy across multiple sectors. * Drive real, measurable impact through improvements in quality and process. Should this position be of interest, please contact Lisa Easthope at Bid Solutions