Role Summary

The Senior Proposal Manager is responsible and accountable for the proposal and sales key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as the development, quality assurance, and tracking of proposals in the sales pipeline to ensure FIECON achieves its company business development goals.

The senior proposal manager will have built on the operational components of the proposal manager role, leveraging their direct working experiences (both internally and with customers) to introduce strategic improvements which make the proposal process elegant (easy to navigate) and efficient (fast) and deliver the strongest possible proposals articulating FIECON’s value proposition.

Working closely with, and reporting directly to, the Head of Business Development, the Senior Proposal Manager will execute and iterate the proposal development process, ensuring the timely delivery of written proposals, converting proposals to SOW’s following wins, and facilitating the handover to the operations team for project kick-off.

Role Responsibilities & Requirements

• Meeting and exceeding proposal KPI targets for all business (new and recurring): Collaborate closely with the Head of BD to lead the proposal development process for all BD activity (new and recurring).

• Own proposal and sales KPI targets for recurring business: Lead and advise Executive Directors and other operations personnel on recurring revenue opportunities and associated proposal processes; be accountable to meet and exceed recurring revenue business targets.

• Proposal development: Own the proposal development process, introduce process improvements and be accountable for the deliverables, specifically:

• Attend client calls to ensure FIECON understands the objectives, measures and gains for a specific business opportunity

• Develop high-quality proposals aligned to the sales process in Word and PowerPoint

• Support and quality check proposals developed by the operations team (i.e. coordinate the team, implement internal timelines and ensure proposals are delivered on time).

• Work closely with the Executive Directors to ensure capacity aligns with project needs.

• Introduce and maintain proposal automations via macro-driven proposal templates, costing calculators, and other proposal collateral.

• Quality assurance: Implement quality assurance standards to ensure proposals meet FIECON’s rigorously high standards across typographical, structural, and content related quality measures.

• Reporting: Ensure RFPs, proposals, and presentations are stored in their appropriate file locations on the company server and categorized appropriately and accurately in the customer relationship management (CRM) and sales tracking systems which FIECON employs. Run weekly, monthly and quarterly reports to inform the BD process and promote continual improvement. Specific reports include the proposal rationale report, the ED monthly report, and BD sales analytics reports, on a regular cadence.

Essential Traits & Skills

• Vision and values: Alignment with, and passionate about, FIECON’s vision and values.

• Leadership: Effectively lead a team so that it is successful in achieving its goals, communicate vision and values and role model desired behaviours at FIECON.

• Ownership and accountability: Take complete ownership for the success and failures of proposal development process, taking accountability for the goals and targets related to proposal development and holding others to account where appropriate

• Decision making: Strong decision-making skills, ability to analyse business needs and take swift and appropriate actions.

• Industry application: Capable of applying industry experiences and insights to improve processes and work product.

• Tech savvy: Responsible for reconciling differences between the company CRM, the project management system, and other internal platforms which facilitate the conversion of sales to work in progress at FIECON.

• Research-driven: Ability to cull insights from competitive intelligence sites and incorporate learnings into written proposals

• Communication: Excellent oral and written communication skills; ability to communicate complex information in a clear and concise manner and distil key company messages, ensuring alignment with the company’s vision and values.

• Self-motivated: Highly self-motivated in overcoming obstacles.

• Motivator: Ability to motivate, coach/mentor and develop team members, leading by example with enthusiasm and positivity.

• Target-driven and dedicated: Passionate about meeting and exceeding targets and dedicated to ensuring company success.

• Analytical: Excellent analytical, methodological and research skills, ensuring team performance is evaluated through data-driven activities.

• Presentation: Excellent presentation skills.

• Client contact: Ability to build strong relationships with clients and manage expectations.

• Prioritisation: Strong capability in juggling priorities and meeting deadlines, while retaining consistently high-quality outcomes.

• Interpersonal: Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with others in and across the organization to accomplish team goals.

• Problem-solving: Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to generate ideas.

• IT: Excellent IT skills including proficiency in Excel, Word and PowerPoint

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Experience in pharmaceutical and/or medical device development, preferably in FIECON’s key service areas (https://fiecon.com/services/)

• Experience writing proposals (word documents), developing presentations (PowerPoint decks) and collaborating with subject matter experts to incorporate key methodologies

• Experience developing and implementing standards & processes designed to improve and optimise the proposal development process

• A BSc in Science, Economics, Business or a related field

• Excellent IT and numerical skills including proficiency in Excel, Word and PowerPoint

• Demonstrated experience of working closely with clients at all levels and building and maintaining lasting relationships

Desirable

• ‘A’ levels (or equivalent) in mathematical and scientific subjects

• Previous experience working in a consulting environment

Logistics

• Must be eligible to work in the UK or Europe

• Permanent, full-time role,

• Flexible working

• Hybrid work model, Role based in London, occasional travel may be required

• Basic pay + incentive based variable compensation for achievement of recurring revenue targets quarterly and annually