Bids Manager

Bids Manager, Singapore

The Bids Manager role is a permanent role within the Marketing & Business Development (MBD) function and the Europe, Middle East, & Asia-Pacific (EMEAPAC) region at Norton Rose Fulbright.

You will work on transactional bids as well as high value strategic bids including Asia-led panel bids, you will also contribute to multi-jurisdictional strategic panels, many of which will run at any one time, requiring outstanding organisation skills. You must be able to manage stakeholders at all levels and have exceptional attention to detail.

The role

This role sits in our Singapore office and forms part of the business development team for Asia. This role works alongside our lawyers and business services colleagues to win and retain the firm’s most important mandates, contributing to the strategic growth of the region. The role reports into the Senior Business Development Manager, Singapore and will work as an integral part of the Singapore BD team as well as working closely with our teams in London and Australia across strategic bids, client and business development and pricing.

This is a busy, complex role in a fast paced environment requiring the ability to juggle multiple competing deadlines.

Key responsibilities

Bid ownership, execution & leadership

• Own the end-to-end bid process for Singapore and Asia-led transactional and strategic bids, with a particular focus on Energy, Infrastructure and Natural Resources projects bids, including qualification through to submission and post-bid follow-up – delivering client-focused, high-quality proposals.

• Facilitate scoping/kick-off calls and running all aspects of bid response: planning, structure, format, content, messaging, proofing submission and feedback.

• Provide project management/document control for all areas of the bid.

• Working with the regional leadership and business development team to focus on strategic bid opportunities.

• Build trusted relationships with partners and lawyers at all levels.

• Provide coaching and guidance to fee earners and their supporting staff regarding client engagement throughout the bid lifecycle.

• Work with lead partners, BD colleagues and the client relationship team to develop an appropriate response strategy and ensure a bespoke solution.

• Have an understanding of the market and develop relationships with key partners across the relevant teams.

• Engage and matrix manage all contributing functions including: pricing, compliance, business development, secretarial and knowledge.

• Update bid systems, ensuring accurate reporting and capturing region-specific content for future bids.

• Embed best practice throughout the bid process and provide training and ad hoc coaching to business development, secretarial and legal colleagues to develop bid management skills as appropriate.

• Acting as a key point of contact and ambassador for the bids team and BD team with the wider business, MBD and other key stakeholders.

Skills

Our primary requirement is that you have experience in managing complex bid responses across multiple practice areas. You will need to be an excellent project manager with absolute attention to detail.

• Experience as a bid manager working on Asia-led bids and proposals

• Attention to detail

• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines with excellent project management skills

• Ability to liaise confidently and build relationships with people of all levels

• Strong written English language skills for drafting, editing and proofing

• Agile approach to workload and demonstration of flexibility to meet the demands of a diverse global law firm

Work and experience

• Experience of bids and bidding in a professional services environment is essential

• Also essential is the experience of bid managing multiple bid responses at one time