MERITUS are recruiting for a Bid Manager specialising within the manufacturing industry to join our client within the defence industry. The company hiring, are one of the defining, world-leaders within defence and has frequently featured in the top 25 places to work over the last decade.

BID MANAGER - INSIDE IR35 - £33 PER HOUR - BOLTON - 12 MONTHS - UNDERGO SC CLEARANCE - SINGLE STAGE INTERVIEW PROCESS

We're currently supporting a prestigious defence engineering organisation in the search for a Bid Manager to join their forward-thinking and high-performing manufacturing team. This is a brilliant opportunity for a commercially savvy and detail-driven professional to shape cost proposals for complex, high-value engineering programmes.

You'll play a key role in producing competitive, fully costed manufacturing proposals - ensuring alignment with business strategy, financial governance, and operational capability.

• Leading the development of manufacturing bids in collaboration with cross-functional teams.

• Generating detailed cost models in Excel for materials, direct/indirect labour, and other manufacturing-associated costs.

• Producing high-quality bid presentations and cost brochures in PowerPoint for review and approval by senior stakeholders.

• Interpreting bid directives and ensuring proposals align with manufacturing industrial policy and business goals.

• Analysing data to produce accurate, evidence-backed 3-point estimates.

• Reviewing risks, assumptions, and compliance to ensure commercially sound and competitive submissions.

• Collaborating with stakeholders across Engineering, Procurement, Finance, and Programmes to ensure bid readiness throughout the life cycle.

• Championing continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and feeding into the evolution of bid strategy and cost methodology.

• Supporting the identification of new business opportunities and contributing to win strategies.

• Strong experience in managing or coordinating bids within an engineering or production environment.

• Solid understanding of manufacturing processes - from procurement through to delivery.

• Proficient in developing cost models and working with commercial data.

• Clear communicator, confident presenting to senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams.

• Skilled in data analysis and logical reasoning, with an eye for detail.

• Comfortable working to tight deadlines and managing multiple bids simultaneously.

• Proactive, enthusiastic, and able to work independently or as part of a collaborative team.

• Knowledge of bid governance and evidence-based cost estimation is highly desirable.

• Experience with PowerPoint and Excel is essential; SAP knowledge would be a plus.