Senior Bid Manager

Our client is a globally recognized organization headquartered in Southeast Asia, specializing in aviation support services, air cargo handling, ground operations, and institutional food solutions. The company provides a wide range of services, including passenger assistance, ramp and baggage handling, aviation security, aircraft cleaning, and laundry operations for the aviation sector.

Beyond aviation services, the organization operates large-scale central kitchens and food production facilities, catering to airlines, corporate clients, and institutions across diverse cuisines and service formats. With a strong presence across Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa, the company supports global travel, trade, and logistics through an extensive international network, further strengthened by strategic acquisitions in recent years.

Role Description:

• The Senior Bid Manager will establish and develop a new deal and bid management capability, acting as the central coordinator for complex Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and tenders across EMEA and North America, with support for APAC as required.
• Based in the UK, the role will work closely with Sales, Pricing, Legal, Service Delivery, and other teams across the business to coordinate the end-to-end bid process and ensure the development of high-quality, commercially sound, and deliverable proposals.
• This is an exciting opportunity to shape a new capability and play a key role in how the business approaches and delivers complex deals globally. The Senior Bid
• Manager will bring structure and organisation to a developing function, establishing effective processes, tools, and ways of working while remaining adaptable as the business evolves.
• This is a highly hands-on role requiring a proactive self-starter who can work autonomously while thinking strategically. An AI-first mindset is essential to identify smarter, more efficient ways of working and continuously improve the deal and bid management process.

Responsibilities:

RFP Orchestration and Qualification

• Own the RFP intake register and qualification process, assessing scope, probability of winning, and resource capacity.
• Propose resource allocation to senior commercial leadership.
• Develop and manage end-to-end bid plans, including meeting schedules, stage gates, task delegation, and deadline management across all workstreams.
• Organise mandatory RFP strategy kick-off meetings and prepare decision-making packs for each stage gate.

Contract and SLA Alignment

• Build and maintain a global standard contract clause library and deviation register.
• Establish the standard contractual baseline for each RFP and consolidate regional amendments into a single position for negotiation.
• Coordinate Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with Service Delivery teams, ensuring internal approval of operational feasibility before commitments are made to customers.
• Manage contractual terms and SLAs as part of an integrated negotiation process.
• Coordinate with Legal teams on standard contractual terms.
• Refer significant contractual or SLA deviations to Pricing for financial impact assessment.
• Track contract approvals and signatures through to completion.

Proposal Excellence

• Develop compelling solution narratives and executive summaries tailored to the evaluation criteria and target audience.
• Lead internal bid reviews and quality assurance processes.
• Build and maintain a library of standard proposal content, templates, and reusable materials.
• Evaluate and implement AI-powered bid management tools, such as Loopio or similar platforms, to improve proposal quality, consistency, and turnaround times.
• Manage customer portal submissions, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and on-time delivery across relevant time zones.

Continuous Improvement

• Facilitate structured win/loss reviews following each RFP to identify lessons and improvement opportunities.
• Maintain and continuously improve bid processes, standard templates, reusable proposal content, and contractual clause libraries between live bids.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency, and commercial effectiveness through automation and AI-enabled tools.

Requirements:

Relevant Skills and Experience

• 12+ years of relevant pre-sales, bid management, or related commercial experience, with an AI-first mindset.
• Essential experience in aviation, ground handling, or air cargo handling; knowledge of the Standard Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA) is a strong advantage.
• Proven experience managing complex, multi-workstream bids and tenders against strict external deadlines.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to coordinate teams across regions, functions, and seniority levels without direct authority.
• Strong contract management knowledge and sound commercial judgement.
• Ability to work effectively in ambiguous, evolving environments and establish structure in a developing function.
• Practical experience with bid management and AI tools, such as Loopio or equivalent platforms.
• A proactive, hands-on approach with the ability to take ownership and deliver independently.
• Excellent written communication, proposal development, presentation, and executive-level communication skills.

Core Values

• Safety: Maintaining the highest standards of safety and operational responsibility.
• Customer Focus: Delivering value and creating positive customer experiences.
• Respect: Listening to, understanding, and respecting colleagues and stakeholders.
• Excellence: Pursuing high standards in every aspect of delivery.
• Teamwork: Collaborating effectively and building on the strengths of others.