Senior Bid & Commercial Manager

Opportunity

A specialist manufacturing company based in the North East of England and operating in the defence space is seeking a Senior Bid & Commercial Manager to join its team. This is a key role focused on leading bid activity and supporting commercial operations for complex, high-value projects.

Role

You’ll be responsible for managing the full bid lifecycle, from qualification through to submission, while also contributing to contract reviews, risk assessments, and stakeholder engagement. The role involves working closely with internal teams and external partners to ensure bids are competitive, compliant, and aligned with strategic goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate bids for defence clients including MoD, NATO, and major primes.
• Develop bid strategies and oversee the creation of high-quality documentation.
• Run bid governance processes such as gate reviews and maintain reusable content libraries.
• Support or lead contract negotiations, including terms, pricing, and SLAs.
• Advise on commercial compliance (e.g. DEFCONs, ITAR, DSPCR) and manage contractual risks.
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure contract obligations are understood and met.
• Contribute to pipeline forecasting and analyse bid outcomes to improve future performance.
• Line manage the Contract Management team and mentor and develop junior bid
• or commercial staff.

Experience / Skills

Ideally you will have:

• 5+ years’ experience in bid management, commercial negotiation, or contract roles within defence, aerospace, or complex engineering.
• Strong understanding of defence procurement frameworks and commercial risk.
• Excellent project management and communication skills.
• Experience managing bids over £1M and working with public sector procurement platforms.
• Strategic mindset with attention to detail and a collaborative approach.

Security clearance will be required.