Proposal (Bid) Manager
Description
About the Company
Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH) helps businesses transform their workforce so they can accelerate performance. We recognise that radical change is impacting every aspect of the workplace: how we work, how we lead, how we collaborate and how we learn. These transformations are creating a world of opportunity, and successful professionals don’t fear this change, they embrace it, and they capitalise on the opportunities it presents. Not only do we help our clients harness the changing environment, we also help them build better leaders, better careers, and better businesses. We also aspire to do the same for ourselves.
About the Team
The Opportunity Management (OM) Team is a global bid management function that partners with sales and wider teams to deliver wow moments for customers. We deliver an end-to-end bid and proposal management service that leverages global insights and best practices to support all forms of pursuits.
About the Role
The Proposal (Bid) Manager role partners with sales, and other relevant teams, to protect their market-facing time by providing a highly effective proposal and bid support function, primarily for North America.
- You will support the sales teams with responding to qualified opportunities through the preparation of competitive proposals and smaller RFP responses.
- This includes managing the process, coordinating, and writing content, designing response documents in line with the LHH brand. You will also support the presentation phase through pitch deck and team preparation.
- You will support the Career Transition & Mobility and Leadership Development service areas within LHH.
- You will utilize the existing global bid process, promoting best practices with your stakeholders. And, as a member of the global OM Team, you will take part in monthly development activities and contribute to our content refresh cycle and wider work in enabling the sales organisation.
Reporting Relationships:
- Director, Opportunity Management, North America
Location of Position:
- Virtual/Home (based in Canada, preferably Eastern Time Zone)
What you’ll do
Specifically, in this role you will:
- Project-manage proposals and RFPs through the discovery, proposal development, presentation and follow-up sales processes including:
- Drive the opportunity response process, coordinating stakeholders and their inputs
- Use project management techniques to manage timelines, consider risks and issues
- Ensure qualification protocols are adhered to, and that support is being provided to the right deals at the right time
- Own the response document – including coordinating inputs from others, drawing on boilerplate content and writing fresh content where needed, aligning responses to agreed messaging/win themes, format and proofreading, manage the review and finalisation process.
- Support the process through to closure, including pitch support, auctions/BAFOs and all queries raised by the client.
- Track the results of opportunities supported, identifying areas for improvement in the service and with the sales teams
- Maintain close relationships with sellers to promote the Opportunity Management function
- Respond to content and collateral queries as they arise / as assigned by Director
- Contribute to the creation of sales resources, such as case studies
- Support the maintenance of our RFP Content Library (Loopio)
About you
Mandatory
Knowledge and Experience
- Minimum 3 years’ recent experience in a bid or proposal management role – including direct responsibility for the bid management of opportunities (covering all aspects outlined above).
- Minimum 5 years’ overall business experience in the professional services, business services or HR technology preferred.
- Track record winning in relevant bidding environments
- Track record of content production inside and outside of bids
Functional Skills
- Excellent writing and editing skills - development of powerful responses with strong sales messaging
- Extensive experience using PPT effectively in producing well designed proposals and sales documents.
- Time / priority Management for managing multiple projects simultaneously (typically 3-5 deadlines, with 1-2-week turnaround).
- Effective use of online tools such as MS Teams, SalesForce.
- Analytical skills, being able to interpret data and use it effectively with impact.
- Comfort and flexibility to juggle several bids across time zones
Soft Skills
- Stakeholder management – ability to collaborate and influence at all levels.
- Ability to focus on the detail whilst not losing sight of the big picture.
- Ability to ensure that standards and processes are maintained.
- Resourcefulness, creativity, and intuitiveness.
- Ability to function well in a client focused and deadline-driven environment.
- Adept at distilling complex concepts into compelling visual information and sales messaging.
- Agile and has a sense of urgency.
- Able to work independently.
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with Sales personnel.