Bid Manager

Bid Manager — Street Lighting Projects

Department:  Sales

Direcy reports to:  Sales Support Leader

Indirect reports to: Chief Commercial Officer

Location:  Brasov — Hybrid can be discussed

Contract:  Full-time, permanent

Key Person in orchestrating Flashnet’s response to Tender & Solutions. The Bid Manager brings support to opportunity leaders as per Customer Project Process.

He is also acting as the tender opportunity leader, for every opportunity pulled out of Databases subscribed to by Flashnet, and where therefore propose is Flashnet’s entry point in the business.

He works hand in hand with the other departments, during the tender cycle for customer solutions projects: qualifying then developing  the opportunity, eventually yielding a technical and a commercial proposal, that fits customer criteria and Flashnet management approved boundary conditions, within a price and risk framework for further negotiation and winning. 

He is the single point of accountability for every submission — the person who makes sure nothing is missed, nothing is late, and every requirement in the tender book has a traceable answer in the offer. 

• Monitor e-procurement platforms, public buyer portals and client channels for relevant street lighting, road lighting and urban infrastructure tenders, within the assigned list of platforms by CCO

• Selection of opportunities that need no sales person, or allocation of the opportunity to the account manager / regional sales manager when develop is required

• Analyze the opportunity’s complexity matrix’ outcome, the opportunity leader has completed

• Implement Customer Project Process on opportunities the matrix says he must support

• Manage his workload and define his engagement model with the 0pportunity leader: None, Coach, Orchestrator, Resource

• Read and dissect tender documentation (instructions to bidders, technical specifications, bills of quantities, draft contract, award criteria) and produce a clear internal summary: scope, deadlines, eligibility, guarantees, penalties and risks.

• With opportunity leader, prepares bid/no-bid decision with management as per Customer Project Process: assess winning factors technical – commercial – terms & conditions - timings,
  clarifies scope FN can deliver, must partner for, must take risk for to fill gaps
  assess right to play and how to win factoring in maturity of customer and ecosystem, lock-ins, relationship
  costing estimates, risk costing / pricing, needed provisions for risk, needed price room for negociation, needed working capital
  Golden Rules deviations

• Build and maintain the customer’s “criteria compliance” matrix — every requirement mapped to the document, section and person responsible for answering it.

• Flag unclear, restrictive or contradictory specifications early and draft formal clarification questions to the contracting authority.

• Identify points to bring into the technical and/or commercial offer and/or response to tender and/or cover letter, for further iterations of proposals with better margin – reduced risk – more favourable price

• Act as the main interface between the commercial team and the solution designers, translating tender requirements into a clear design brief – that regional sales will use with specifiers and designers

• Review design output for compliance in respective domain – Lighting, Networking, Sensors, Digital interfaces based on solution scope and domains

• Work with designers and suppliers on luminaire / sensors / network / system selection to cover the various domains of the solution

• Organize consultation to vendors of constituents of the solution that Flashnet does not provide, obtain documentation, pricing and back-to-back terms.& conditions, favourbale payment conditions to reduce cash curve

• Challenge and validate quantities in the bill of quantities against the design, and reconcile discrepancies with the technical and estimating teams, across domains

• Support the preparation of technical narratives: proposed solution, methodology, execution plan, maintenance concept, warranties and energy savings.

• Own the bid calendar: internal milestones, review gates, clarification deadlines and the submission date – Align to the standard stage gate decision meetings, and the cadence defined in Flashnet for Solutions team and R&D teams planning

• Collect, verify, reconcile into appropriate document all administrative documents — company certificates, financial statements, ISO certifications, licences, declarations, powers of attorney, references and CVs of key personnel.

• Manage documents from vendors, subcontractors, consortium partners and suppliers, including agreements, letters of support and product datasheets.

• Coordinate bid bonds/guarantees, insurance certificates and any required financial instruments with finance.

• Ensure every document is correctly signed, stamped, dated, translated and paginated according to the tender instructions.

• Prepare and upload the submission on the relevant electronic procurement platform, or assemble sealed physical packages where required, well ahead of deadline.

• Maintain a controlled, versioned archive of every submitted bid and all supporting material.

• Respond to clarification requests from the contracting authority within the stated deadlines.

• Monitor evaluation, prepare supporting arguments for challenges or appeals when required, and coordinate with legal counsel.

• Run win/loss reviews, track competitor pricing and positioning, and feed findings back into future bids.

• Build and maintain a reusable content library: standard texts, references, CVs, certifications and technical descriptions.

• Hand over won projects to the execution team with a complete briefing on scope, obligations and commitments made in the offer.

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, civil engineering, construction management or a related technical field. Equivalent experience will be considered.

• 3+ years of experience in bid/tender management, preferably in public procurement.

• Demonstrable track record of submitted and won tenders in lighting, electrical installations or infrastructure works.

• Working understanding of IoT systems for smart cities: street lighting systems (luminaires, poles, cabling, internal bus, distribution panels, earthing), energy efficiency solutions, adaptative lighting solutions, work order management

• Ability to read electrical, civil and networking drawings, single-line diagrams and site layouts.

• Understanding of public procurement rules, award criteria, qualification requirements and appeal procedures.

• Comfortable working under time pressure, with many stakeholders

• Comfortable working with bills of quantities, unit pricing and cost build-ups in cooperation with estimating.

• Fluent English is mandatory — written and spoken, including the ability to draft technical and contractual text.

• German, Dutch or Italian is a significant advantage.

• Strong document discipline — precise, methodical, version-aware, deadline-driven.

• Able to work with AI tools for high quality document production and fast turn around, yet verified content

• Able to run a cross-functional bid team without direct authority: designers, estimators, finance, legal, suppliers.

• Clear technical writing and the ability to structure a persuasive, compliant offer.

• Advanced Excel; confident with Word, PDF tooling and e-procurement platforms. Exposure to DIALux/Relux and AutoCAD is a strong advantage.

• Calm and organised under deadline pressure; consistently double-checks rather than assumes.

• Experience with energy performance contracts, ESCO models or street lighting modernisation and concession projects.

• Experience managing consortium or joint-venture bids.

• Exposure to EU-funded projects and their reporting requirements.

Responsibilities:
1) Data Collection and Analysis: Collate and analyze data using preset tools, methods, and formats. Involves working independently.
2) Brand Strategy and Effectiveness: Assist in the management of brand(s) by implementing brand plans and guidelines and measuring effectiveness.
3) Market Analysis: Collect and analyze market data and intelligence to inform marketing and sales plans.
4) Marketing Campaign Development: Carry out supplier and contract management tasks to support advertising, promotion, and other marketing campaigns.
5) Information and Business Advice: Resolve queries from internal or external customers or suppliers by providing information on complex processes and the related policies, referring issues to others where necessary for interpretation of policy.
6) Insights and Reporting: Contribute to the preparation of various data and analytics reports.
7) Marketing: Use the marketing system and protocols to deliver mostly routine support services.
8) Marketing Impact Assessment: Support the collection of customer and market data that contributes to the review of marketing activities.
9) Internal Communications: Help others get the most out of internal communications systems by offering support and advice.
10) Personal Capability Building: Develop own capabilities by participating in assessment and development planning activities as well as formal and informal training and coaching. Develop and maintain an understanding of relevant technology, external regulation, and industry best practices through ongoing education, attending conferences, and reading specialist media.

Educational Requirements: Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent Level
General Experience Requirement: Sound experience and understanding of straightforward procedures or systems (7 to 12 months)
Managerial Experience Requirement: Very limited (0 to 3 months)