Bid Manager

Location: Cheadle, United Kingdom

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

Location: - Cheadle (Greater Manchester) or Templecombe (Somerset) - hybrid working arrangement 3 days per week in the office vs. home

We are looking for a Bid Manager. In this role you will be responsible for leading the delivery of high‑quality, strategically important bids within our Underwater Systems (UWS) domain. As part of a rapidly growing area of the business, you will coordinate multi‑disciplinary teams, shape robust bid strategies and ensure the creation of compelling, competitive proposals. This is an exciting opportunity to support transformational programmes and contribute directly to the long‑term success of Thales UK.

Core Benefits:

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

• Performance-related bonus
• 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 (grade dependent)
• 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
• You can read about some of our other benefits here: UK benefits | Thales Group

Under Water Systems (UWS)

Our purpose is to be the leading provider of underwater sensors and decision superiority, helping navies across the world keep our friends, families and all of us safe. We cover four sectors: Mine Counter Measures, Anti-Submarine warfare, Services and Future Capabilities.

Main Responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate multi‑disciplinary bid teams, ensuring a structured, well‑governed and timely bid process.
• Create and control bid schedules, requirements baselines and resource plans to support high‑quality deliverables.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, partners, suppliers and customer representatives.
• Ensure cross‑functional alignment across all bid artefacts, including estimates, compliance, commercial terms and the initial project baseline.
• Lead the preparation of PQQ responses, proposal development and governance reviews to produce winning submissions.

Ideal Experience & Skills:

• Proven experience supporting or leading successful bids and/or projects in complex engineering or defence environments.
• Strong leadership and coordination skills, with the ability to work across multi‑disciplinary and multi‑site teams.
• Excellent stakeholder, customer and supplier relationship management capability.
• Strong commercial awareness, analytical skills and understanding of bid lifecycles, assumptions and risk management.
• Highly effective communication skills (written and verbal), with resilience and the ability to manage change.

Security Clearance Requirement:

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.

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.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels.

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At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. Read more about our benefits here.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring. Discover more about our programmes, employee networks, wellbeing policies, and inclusive features here.

If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities. Join the Talent Community here.

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