Lead Bid Manager

Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom

Thales people architect solutions that are relied upon to deliver operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for land, sea, and air. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short-range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle-space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Job title: Lead Bid Manager

Location: Glasgow, or Crawley / Reading with regular travel to Glasgow - hybrid working arrangement – 3 days per week on site

Are you ready to take ownership of delivering a key portfolio of bids within our Optronics and Missile Electronics (OME) UK team? We are seeking a dedicated professional to be accountable for managing bid and claim submission dates, contract award timelines, bid costs, and bid cost recovery. As an integral member of the Programme Manager’s first line, you will maintain a comprehensive understanding of the programme context, dependencies and connections between bids, claims, programme execution, and commercial protections, risks, and opportunities. You will also gain a full understanding of the customer context, through active engagement and participation in essential meetings and activities. If you thrive in a dynamic environment and have the drive to deliver successful outcomes, this role could be the perfect fit for you.

Core Benefits:

On offer is a competitive salary and benefits package, which includes;

• Performance-related bonus

• Car cash allowance

• Half day every Friday, usually finishing around 13:00

• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) plus opportunity to buy up to 40 hours/year (pro rata)

• 24 hours volunteering paid for

• Private healthcare

• Pension scheme

• Life cover

• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app

• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers

• Gym membership discounts

Key responsibilities:

• Build, lead, and manage an integrated bid team, scaling resources to deliver on the Master Bid Schedule and resolving resource or priority conflicts.

• Lead and oversee end-to-end bid activities (OME/ISR/UWS), ensuring efficient and effective bid processes, clear strategies, timely proposal delivery, and maintained governance.

• Champion a pragmatic, commercial, and programme-focused bid culture, promoting continuous improvement, collaboration, and practical best practices across the team.

About you:

• A proven track record of delivering successful bids in contexts relevant to Thales, working in a complex, multidisciplinary, multi-site organisation.

• Full business lifecycle management, including capture, qualification and developing capture plans and winning strategies

• Extensive client and stakeholder management

• Comprehensive understanding of generic processes and techniques used to schedule bid management activities.

• Comprehensive experience and understanding of the Bid Management process (including Change Control, Risk Management and Information Management).

• Comprehensive experience and knowledge of the bid life cycle

• Experience of working across boundaries, including knowledge of commercial management, finance functions.

• Has as a minimum a working knowledge of industry standard approaches to bid management (such as Shipley Capture Bench).

Security Clearance statement:

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires Security Clearance (SC). It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance.

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

#LI-DNI

In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

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