bid manager

Thales

Main missions

• Manage the complete coordination of proposals, answers to tenders, RFI (request for information) or EOI (Expression of Interest)
• Win the most potential tenders with the highest possible margin, contributing in a steady and sustainable growth of sales
• Ensure governance on the tender process through risk management (Financial, Legal, Technical...)
  
  
  

Specific Responsibilities

Proposals management

• Be accountable for the contents and the quality of the response submission: administratively, technically and financially. Delegate the technical part of the solution to the Solution Manager and Technical Delivery Consultant
• Ensure that the Bid process is followed according to the rules for each answer
• Coordinate and challenge all contributors and experts including Sales, Legal, Finance, Platform & Services Delivery, Product Management, Technical Consultant, Marketing and Operations, in order to deliver the most competitive and least risk exposed proposal possible
• As the project manager of the offer, monitor legal and commercial relations and communication with partners and customer
• Package the whole proposal and deliver it to the sales manager
• Support sales during contract negotiation phases in order to ensure that target margins are respected and risks are not increased
• Support sales when responding to RFI in order to anticipate Thales answer and positively influence the customer
• Hand-over responsibility to Platform & Services Delivery project manager when the deal is won or to the Technical Delivery Consultant / Product Manager / Supply Chain in case the deal only involves the delivery of Products
  
  
  

Gates management

• Own and manage the Bid Process, be responsible for constant improvements of the process through periodic reviews & workshops
• Update the documentation related to the process and make sure that it is correctly communicated within the Business Line
• Manage and organize the archiving and re-use of answers and references
• Organize periodic training sessions for the regions on the Bid process
  
  
  

Manage the product quotations for the tenders

• Interface with sales, marketing and product managers to define the best target price (or prices) with special focus on risk and financial assessments
  
  
  

Qualifications

Education:

Business degree with experience in a technical environment

Alternatively Engineering degree in IT or Electronics with business experience

Experience Level:

Minimum 5 years of business experience as a bid manager, sales engineer or project manager for complex solution selling within a high-tech company (computer manufacturer, networking company, software, solutions )

Competences:

Technical / Functional skills:

• Technical understanding with an interest in IT, software and network solutions, printing and security technologies
• Fluent English (written, spoken, presentation skills), French and Arabic is a plus
• Good communication skills
• Methodology/tools
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint is a must
• Working with SharePoint is an asset
• Bid Management Methodology APMP is an asset
• Project Management Methodologies (CMMI, Prince 2, PMI) is an asset
• Knowledge of Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio is an asset
• Knowledge of Thales s portfolio (products and offers) is an asset
  
  

Behavioral skills:

• Business minded
• Team worker in multi-disciplinary and cross-geographical teams
• Strong ability to lead, coordinate, pro-actively approach and challenge subject matter experts and senior management
• Self-driven with an appetite to win large and complex deals
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to understand complex businesses and sales processes
• Ability to communicate and exchange with multiple interfaces (management, regional sales, technical consultants, partners, customers, )