Head of Bids & New Business
Full TimeJob Overview
Head of Bids & New Business
Competitive salary (depending on experience)
London | Hybrid
Full time | Permanent
Role details
- Location: London (Hybrid – 3 days in the London office, 2 days from home)
- Reporting to: Director, Policy Research Centre
- Team: Lead a small New Business team (Bid Manager + Administrator)
The National Centre for Social Research are hiring a senior bid leader to take ownership of their new business and bidding function.
You’ll bring structure, pace and consistently high standards to how NatCen shape opportunities and deliver bids, working closely with Directors and research leaders.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the bid function end-to-end — set the standard, shape how we work, and make sure bids are planned, written and submitted with confidence and consistency.
- Lead high-stakes bids — steer complex, high-value submissions, bring clarity to the story, and apply rigorous quality checks before anything goes out of the door.
- Bring pace and accountability — run kick-offs and check-ins, lock timelines, unblock teams and keep everyone aligned, so bids don’t drift.
- Improve how NatCen shows up to commissioners — strengthen messaging, positioning and ‘why us’ so bids read clearly and reflect NatCen’s credibility.
- Build a repeatable ‘bid playbook’ — templates, strong examples, and a shared approach so teams can produce high-quality bids.
- Drive smarter ways of working — embed learning from outcomes, improve turnaround time and consistency, and introduce AI/automation where it genuinely reduces manual effort and raises quality.
- Strengthen collaboration — partner closely with Directors and Research Directors and help shape partnerships that make bids stronger and more competitive.
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
- Proven track record of winning competitive public‑sector bids/tenders and leading proposal writing.
- Good understanding of the research/policy commissioning landscape and what strong bids look like.
- Confident, collaborative style, able to influence senior stakeholders and hold high standards.
- Comfortable owning the function (not just facilitating) and improving processes that teams will actually use.
- A research background is helpful (social research ideal), but not essential if you’ve led bids in a similar environment.
- If you’re a bid leader who enjoys improving quality, strengthening ways of working and helping teams win the right work, we’d love to hear from you.