Senior Bids Executive

Shakespeare Martineau is a Top 50 law firm that combines creativity, commerciality and clarity. We work with blue-chip companies, leading organisations, high street brands and individuals across the country.

As enterprising and original thinkers, we’re driven to create exceptional experiences for our clients and our people. We handle personal and business-critical issues and game-changing deals across many dynamic sectors. It’s stimulating and rewarding.

We’re hardworking and deeply ambitious about creating opportunities for our employees; to move forward and achieve our ambition together. We provide an environment in which you’re supported to reach your potential.

Our people have a blend of excellent technical and business skills with the talent to do things differently.

Here you’ll find top quality work, cutting edge training, high profile clients, and supportive colleagues. We think it could be time you joined us.

To provide truly outstanding client service we work as one team.  Our Business Operations Group is made up of business professionals who work with our legal professionals to provide market leading expertise to our clients.  The Groups include; Finance, Operations, HR, Marketing, IT, Risk and the Executive Leadership team.

Our Sales & Marketing team play a crucial role in helping the firm achieve its ambitious growth plans. The team is aligned to the business, shaping, embedding and delivering against the strategy, helping to retain and attract new clients whilst putting the client at the heart of everything we do.

The team of around 20 is based in Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham. They are multi-disciplined, offering a range of services including client & business development, growth-led marketing, PR and communications and event planning for the firm. They pride themselves on understanding the changing marketplace, clients, legal groups and the sectors in which the firm operate to offer specialist knowledge and expertise.

The role:

We are looking for a Senior Bids Executive to work closely with the Bids Manager and team to embed bid methodologies; help to coordinate and project manage proposals, including RFPs/TTs, pitches, tenders and final stage presentations to support the firm’s ambitious growth plans.

The Senior Bids Executive will support the Bids Manager in working with teams across the firm to develop winning strategies tailored for each client / prospect opportunity. This involves reviewing opportunities as part of the bid: no bid process, advising on best strategy, facilitating kick-off meetings, copywriting and project managing the timely delivery of the documentation.  

A strong attention to detail, robust approach and exceptional stakeholder management are necessary to ensure the timely production of high quality documents or presentations. You will also work closely with the sales and legal teams when tenders are won to ensure a sales plan is in place to make sure the opportunity is maximised.

This is a full-time opportunity within our Birmingham office, with the flexibility to travel to our other offices nationally, when required.

Your key duties will be:

• supporting the Bid Manager, Bid team and wider Sales & Marketing team to assist partners with bid activity

• researching best practice across other professional services firms, and work with the Bid Manager to critically review the approach to pitching, and develop and implement improvements in process and approach

• assist with project managing bids, or elements of bids.This includes:

  • facilitating and coordinating meetings

  • contributing to the strategy and messaging

  • copywriting and reviewing content

• supporting the maintenance of the central repository / bids library of information, which can be accessed by others areas of the firm, and proactively adding to it after each pitch to improve the knowledge base

• ensuring all proposal and tender opportunities are tracked from opportunity, to delivery, through to post review feedback

• doing conversion analysis, including the production of a detailed outcomes analysis and yearly trends insight on a practice as well as work stream basis

• proactively supporting the Bid Manager in de-briefs following tender submissions regardless of whether successful or not, and ensuring feedback is shared with the pitch teams and Sales & Marketing team

• helping to turn tender submission feedback into action plans to continuously improve performance and, where feasible, conduct debrief interviews

• reviewing bid templates, structures and content on an on-going basis, to ensure consistency and best practice

• working with the wider Sales & Marketing team on projects where bid history can contribute e.g. legal directories

Essential skills and experience you will have:

• a minimum of two years’ experience in a similar role, with ideally 12 months in professional services

• strong project-management skills with the ability to multitask

• a confident and articulate communicator with the natural ability to build and maintain good working relationships with all stakeholders

• the ability to demonstrate creativity and innovation through the production of bespoke client documentation

• excellent attention to detail

• solid project-management skills with the ability to multitask

• a proven track record of influencing others

Key competencies you will need:

• self-motivation and energy with a “can-do” personality to make things happen

• to be confident, dynamic and inspiring, with an outgoing personality

• to be enthusiastic and proactive, with an optimistic approach

• to be committed to delivering excellent levels of service to internal and external clients at all times

• to be flexible, with the ability to react to change and prioritise accordingly

• the willingness to work flexible hours, and additional hours as necessary to fulfil the role

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.