Hippo is seeking an accomplished and proactive Head of Bids to drive performance and lead the strategic development and transformation of bids at Hippo. We are looking for someone who enjoys working in a fast paced environment and will further mature our established bid function and organisational bid capability, enabling us to increase the volume of bids we pursue, win larger (£20m+) scale bids, and increase our overall win rate.
You will lead and manage the team of 3 Bid Managers and report to the Commercial Director. The successful candidate will drive bid management strategy, oversee bid processes, directly lead on strategic high value bids, and continually improve best practices to enhance our competitive positioning and meet the needs of our fast-paced growing company.
This is a hybrid role with travel across our offices and client locations as required.
Accountabilities
Bid transformation and continual improvement: Develop and deliver Hippo’s bid transformation plan taking us into our next phase of growth. You will be responsible for ensuring we have the skills and structure to win bids, working with our existing bid team. In addition you will work to continually improve bid outcomes, leveraging detailed market and feedback analysis, to drive action.
Frameworks: Proactively monitor and gain a comprehensive understanding of the structure and requirements of UK government procurement frameworks, ensuring compliance with all legal and commercial regulations, including new Procurement Act 2023 implementation. This also includes actively pursuing opportunities to secure positions on new frameworks, expanding our reach and potential within the public sector.
Manage the delivery of high-quality bids: Oversee the bid process, ensuring the right team with the right skills is in place for each bid by working with the wider business to identify input required, and have direct involvement in high value and strategic bids. Drive excellence in bid submissions by continually improving best practices in bid writing and presentation. Develop and leverage a deep understanding of upcoming tenders, potential buyers, and competitors to support, and challenge, business development colleagues with strategic bid triaging, win strategy and prioritisation.
Team performance: Provide leadership, performance management, and professional development to the bid team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and high-quality results. As the business expands, you will be responsible for identifying, justifying, and recruiting for additional bid roles, as well as managing and integrating these new team members effectively.
Build and develop strategic partnerships: Establish and nurture successful relationships with colleagues from across Hippo business, including Business Development, Delivery, Commercial, Legal and Executive Board, as well as with external partner companies supporting strategic relationships.
Knowledge management and process optimisation: Enhance and leverage existing systems to capture and leverage insights from successful bids, fostering continuous learning and improvement. Optimise bid processes by streamlining the handling of standard components, reducing repetitive tasks, and implementing automation through technology to increase efficiency and accuracy. Maintain and iterate a centralised repository for bid-related documents, templates, and tools, ensuring consistency and promoting collaboration. Design and deliver training for colleagues on latest bidding best practices, techniques and compliance requirements.
Reporting, bid analysis and insights: Ensure feedback is captured on all bids to understand reasons for outcomes, share insights with the wider business, and drive changes to improve bids in the future. Deliver accurate, insightful board and operational reporting, incorporating in-depth analysis to enhance decision-making.