Senior Bid Manager

About the Role

We’re looking for a driven O&M Bid Manager to lead the proposal process for our operations & maintenance (O&M) contracts. You'll coordinate complex tenders from A to Z ensuring compelling, competitive, and compliant proposals that reflect both technical excellence and commercial insight. You'll work closely with cross-functional teams across engineering, operations, finance, and legal to deliver winning bids that support our mission: Every Drop Counts.

What You’ll Do

Proposal Management

• Lead the end-to-end bid process for O&M contracts, assisting in opportunity assessment, bid/nobid decisions, proposal planning, content development, and submission.
• Coordinate cross-functional bid teams involving technical, legal, financial, operational, and commercial stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain detailed bid schedules, ensuring all deadlines are met and submission requirements are fully compliant.

Technical & Commercial Input

• Analyze tender documents (RFPs, RFQs, ITTs) and identify key risks, deliverables, and compliance requirements.
• Translate operational strategies and technical solutions into compelling written content tailored to client needs.
• Collaborate with engineering and operations teams to define staffing plans, maintenance approaches, service level agreements, and performance metrics.
• Support pre-bid client engagement and site visits, helping build relationships and understand client expectations.
• Present bid strategies and proposal outcomes to senior management for review and approval.
• Participate in post-submission negotiations, clarifications, and contract handover processes.

Costing & Financial Modelling

• Develop competitive pricing strategies and life-cycle cost models.
• Calculate O&M cost estimates, including labor, consumables, energy, chemicals, spare parts, and subcontractor costs. You are responsible to collect the required data in the different WATERLEAU teams,
• Optimize bids for cost-effectiveness while maintaining service quality and profitability targets.

Knowledge Management & Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with the WATERLEAU O&M teams in place to collect experiences, lessons learned, and continuously improve our calculation models and methods
• Maintain a library of reusable content, standard templates, and cost benchmarks for future bids.
• Conduct post-bid debriefs and lessons learned reviews to improve proposal quality and win rates.
• Monitor industry trends, competitor activities, and regulatory developments affecting O&M bids.

Services Portfolio Development

• Support the Corporate Product Officer on service innovation projects including consumables and spare parts strategies across key markets.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years in proposal or bid management, preferably in the water or industrial sector.
• Strong understanding of wastewater/water treatment technologies.
• Excellent writing and project management skills under tight deadlines.
• Proven ability to manage complex tenders (public/private, DBO, PPP, etc.).
• Proficiency with tools like SharePoint or CRM platforms.
• Degree in (bio)chemical engineering, environmental science, business, or related field.