Bids Lead - Interim - Nottinghamshire

Purpose of the role

Responsible for leading the bids team, and for transforming the company approach to bids and other sales collateral, working with the relevant teams. This includes managing and developing the bid process; ensuring bids & collateral are on strategy; and coaching partners to achieve success.

Responsibilities

Developing knowledge:

• Continuing to improve and update bid skills through regularly reading, discussions with lateral hires (obtaining insight from other firm) and general market intelligence

Team management:

• Managing the team to ensure delivery of the team objectives. Ensuring that bids are focussed on client need, liaising client with sector development team and lawyers to help achieve this. Ensure the team are developed, as appropriate, and are evaluating their workloads, focusing on the most strategically important activity.
• Ensuring business continuity when there are vacancies, or vacations.
• Ensuring that the bid team support, and do not contradict the sector development leads, so that we present as a joined-up team.

Improving best practice around bids:

• Ensuring need for client focus, and proactively in this regard, is embedded within team.
• Analysing feedback and proactively making improvements to bid content.
• Working with sector development team to ensure appropriate sector messaging.
• Working with L&D advisor to deliver pitch training needs across the business, ensuring all our people are equipped with the necessary skills for a successful client pitch presentation.

Technical Skills

• 5-10 years’ experience of the bid and tender process – ideally in a professional services environment
• Able to work under pressure – demonstrating effective time and project management skills and the ability to manage conflicting timescales and priorities
• Extensive knowledge of scoping, pitching, coaching for verbal presentations, debriefing clients and using analysis of performance to drive improvement
• Confidence and credibility - ability to influence and manage key stakeholders across the business
• The ability to work with the finance team to propose appropriate pricing options
• Strong verbal communication and able to present and articulate to a high standard
• Strong written skills and a passion for detail
• Resilience and focus on delivery
• Proficient in Microsoft Office

Person specification

As part of the Client and Marketing team, you would be expected to have the following skills and experience:

• Trusted Advisors: To be positive, credible, trusted advisors to the business, treating colleagues outside the team as clients, challenging constructively, and making things easier for them. Leading the way in best practice learning from inside and outside the sector and ensuring quality deliverables within deadlines.
• Focus: Reducing volume, increasing quality, and improving results. Strong project management.
• Collaborating: Working as a seamless team from a business perspective and advocating and supporting colleagues.
• Facilitating collaboration: Helping the business join-up and collaborate (across departments, sectors and regions), for example, cross-selling profitable work to current clients, and communicating the availability of specific products.
• Communication skills: Strong communication skills (written and verbal) and attention to detail.
• Supporting innovation: Developing product and other client driven innovation based on regular and current client insights.
• Measuring success: Regularly measuring effectiveness (output/ROI), rather than activity, and feeding back subsequent recommendations to the business, raising awareness of our value.
• Flexible: For example, spending time in other offices, if required.

This excellent opportunity to join a national law firm, who offer a unique collection of specialisms across the commercial, public, health and insurance sectors, with offices across the country. They have long-standing relationships with an impressive range of clients and aim to truly understand their needs to deliver an exceptional service which exceeds their expectations and makes their life easier.