Bid Manager (Commercial) full_time

Astroscale is seeking to employ a motivated Bid Manager at our new state of the art UK office, based in the Harwell Space Cluster.

This is an exciting and unique opportunity to join a dynamic company seeking to make a positive contribution to the growing problem of orbital debris that endangers humanity’s continued use of space. 

You will report to the Head of Business Development and Product Strategy within the BD team and work with us to develop bids and secure funding for Astroscale UK. You will have the opportunity to support in a number of BD-related areas including proposal production and capture management for commercial sales.

Astroscale’s work environment is fast-paced and dynamic, with plenty of opportunities to learn and contribute. This role would suit someone with past experience in bids, ideally in the spacecraft sector or in complex engineering services or products, who wishes to grow responsibility in the end-to-end delivery of bids.

Responsibilities 

Bid capture management

• Maintain or support customer facing discussions regarding commercial services, from initial engagements, through bid production and negotiations.
• Take responsibility for managing and coordinating entire bids, or parts of bids as required, through the bid process from call opening all the way to bid submission (leading or supporting negotiation as needed).
• Control overall production of the bid volumes to ensure delivery on schedule.
• Draw on other relevant teams in Astroscale (as needed for larger bids), including: projects, engineering, procurement & contractual, finance, business analysis teams.
• Ensure bid execution according to bid PA/QA philosophy; conduct bid/no bid reviews and later stage bid reviews (e.g. gold / red team) as appropriate, conduct win-theme analysis.
• Control bid finances, working with finance team and with external partners on multi-partner / consortium-style to assign / control finances.
• Support business analysis team to evolve customer and competitor analyses.

Sales Support

• Develop and maintain commercial bid documentation and artefacts.
• Support sales team with sales pipeline and capture planning development.
• Support sales team with proposal production for commercial opportunities.

Essential Skills

• Minimum 2 – 4 years’ experience working in bid management in the space industry, with a preference for those with experience of the full lifecycle of commercial space bids.
• Experience of working on bids of various different sizes, from 1 to 2 pager propositions for expressions of interest, to small R&D bids, to larger mission / service proposals of hundreds of pages.
• Experience of delivering / compiling all the key volumes for bids: technical, commercial, financial, implementation, management, contractual, risk.
• An excellent “sales / marketing style” in bid production which can be used to convey the selling points of the business, and to construct competitive but deliverable bids.
• Self-motivated, proactive, and willing to take initiative.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and written/verbal communication skills including to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong understanding of the space industry and ecosystem.
• Passionate about space with knowledge of the space environment and space debris.

Desirable skills

• Postgraduate degree (in engineering where possible).
• Experience of bidding into the following technical domains: in-orbit servicing, active debris removal, space situational awareness. Space segment bid capacity desirable, ground segment bid capacity also useful but not essential.
• Strong commercial awareness.
• Understanding of project management of space programmes, or some past experience in this area.
• An understanding of the UKSA or ESA ecosystem and bidding into UKSA or ESA calls.
• Experience of working in a satellite business development or satellite sales environment.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary
• Opportunity to work with a highly talented, diverse & dynamic international team with cutting edge technology
• Flexible working around core hours in a friendly and supportive environment
• Hybrid working available (dependent on individual role requirements)
• 25 days holiday (increasing yearly up to a maximum of 28 days) + 8 days Bank Holiday
• Life insurance and long-term sick pay
• Private healthcare (taxable benefit)
• Relocation allowance
• Visa sponsorship for employees considered
• New state of the art office and cleanroom facility
• Regular social events 

Location

Astroscale UK (Harwell) with potential for international conferences and Astroscale subsidiary visits.

About Astroscale

We aim to deliver cutting edge technologies that will become part of routine commercial space operations by 2030.

Astroscale is the first private company with a vision to secure the safe and sustainable development of space for the benefit of future generations, and the only company dedicated to in-orbit servicing across all orbits. Founded in 2013, we are developing innovative and scalable solutions across the spectrum of in-orbit servicing missions, including End of Life services, Active Debris Removal, In-situ Space Situational Awareness and Life Extension Services, to create sustainable space systems and mitigate against the hazardous build-up of debris in space.

Astroscale is an Equal Opportunities employer and embraces a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants, including minorities, women and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Note to recruitment agencies: Astroscale operates a preferred Supplier List, and we do not accept unsolicited agency approaches. Please do not forward candidate CVs or details in response to this advert, or to any Astroscale employee.