Bid Specialist

We are looking for someone with a passion for managing, writing, and editing compelling bid responses. You will be working in a highly regarded and experienced bid team, comprising a Senior Bid Manager and Bid Lead, and in close partnership with our legal, finance, marketing, and knowledge teams. This is a highly visible role, where you will support Directors and Partners to create compliant and compelling tender responses. We typically respond to at least four tenders a month and our win rate is consistently around 60%.

Our Team are proud to have played a pivotal role in securing many high-profile and strategically important contracts for Newton. As our business continues to rapidly grow, driven by a strong pipeline and a strategic push into international markets, the Bids Team play an increasingly critical role, supporting a growing volume of opportunities with greater complexity, diversity, and strategic impact.

With support from the Senior Bid Manager and the Bid Lead, this role will see you;

• Manage our central tenders inbox; working with the Bids team to identify and appraise new business opportunities, then engaging with Partners and Directors to review and qualify
• Provide end-to-end bid management capability; developing bid plans, overseeing completion of mandatory and compliance aspects, ensuring adherence to internal governance, and liaising with external partners, specialists and sub-contractors
• Understand and communicate the exact requirements of all bids (including deadlines, response structures, word counts and presentation styles), to ensure fully compliant responses
• Assist bid teams to develop win themes, then guide response structures and storyboards that best convey how Newton will deliver results
• Work with consultants at all levels of the business to draft prose, often translating complex information into concise, engaging plain English text. Conveying technical detail and context, but avoiding the overuse of ‘business jargon’ and ‘consultancy speak’
• Build networks with subject matter experts across the business to translate their knowledge, passion and experience into solutions for our clients
• Work with the bid team to oversee the delivery of all bid materials, including technical responses, executive summaries, social value proposals, CVs and case studies
• Review, proof read and edit drafts for grammatical and style excellence; ensuring Newton brand and messaging are embedded,consistent and tailored.
• Understand knowledge capture, including security, client preference, and permissions to retrieve and disseminate information to the right people
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of our bid processes through lessons learned capture, win/loss feedback reviews and AI/Technology adoptation.
• Gather market intelligence on prospective clients to understand buying trends and competitor landscapes to help our sector teams shape our propositions; or developing your understanding of public sector procurement and routes to market.

This role is based at our Head Office in Kingston Bagpuize, Oxfordshire, with a minimum one day per week in the office and occasional travel for in-person bid working and company events.

Requirements

This is an ideal role for a junior bid manager, bid coordinator, copywriter, proposal specialist, bid or tender writer looking to develop their career in an ambitious, growing organisation.

Newton is a demanding, yet highly rewarding, environment within which to work. You will require a positive attitude and high levels of personal drive to succeed as part of an exceptional and dynamic group of peers.

We’ll be looking for similar characteristics in you, including:

• A pleasure to work with
• Output driven and solutions minded
• Experience in copywriting, proposal, tender or bid writing and familiar with end-to-end tendering process
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and influencing skills, with the confidence to build networks across the business, especially with subject matter experts at senior levels
• Confident in translating technical and complex information into concise, engaging and persuasive written answers
• Ability to digest, interpret and summarise client requirements, sometimes deciphering ambiguous, complex or contradictory information
• Creative and flexible, able to adapt your style based on both the needs of our prospective clients and the demands of our business
• Organised and thorough in meeting requests and deadlines, with excellent time management; able to work on multiple deadlines simultaneously within a fast-paced team, sometimes in pressurised situations
• Keen eye for detail with a relentless focus on delivering high-quality work; skilled in maintaining style and language, and a comprehensive proof reader
• Proactive and inquisitive, with a natural curiosity for understanding the work that Newton does and identifying ways to contribute to business growth 
• An interest in how the use of AI tools could be used to enhance bid processes; some experience of hands-on experimentation with AI tools in any setting is an advantage
• Commercially aware; familiarity with UK public sector procurement and basic understanding of frameworks is an advantage

Benefits

Newton maximises the potential of our people, whether in client-based consulting roles, or in head office functions. The prospects for career and personal development in this role are no exception. Our business continues to grow, through our historically effective organic recruitment model and our recent acquisitions and commitment to international expansion. This business growth, and our continual striving to add more value from every function of the business, creates significant opportunities for those with the right capabilities and attitudes.

Supporting you starts from day one. New joiners often highlight the Newton energy and support they first encounter in the recruitment process and that continues through into their time at Newton. Once in role, you’ll get support from several sources – from stretching projects, on-the-job feedback, and developmental guidance from senior leaders. You’ll have a dedicated and consistent Development Manager to support your career progression. You’ll receive regular appraisals and annual pay reviews. To support your own professional development and enable you to contribute industry best practice to Newton, the Bid Specialist will have the opportunity to work towards APMP (or equivalent) certifications.

We offer a highly competitive salary (£45,000 - £50,000) and our generous benefits package includes Life Assurance, Income Protection, pension contributions, and 27 days holiday (not including bank holidays). We also operate a profit share scheme so that our people share in the success of the business. The profit share bonus is based on company performance and typically paid out in March and September.

Joining us also brings many social benefits. We have a full social calendar with Spring activity days, Christmas events, a 2-day Summer event, Ski trip, and 5 Newton-sponsored weekends a year.