Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.
Hybrid working arrangement: 2 days per week on site (based on full time hours)
Thales Research and Technology UK is seeking an experienced Senior Bid Manager to lead and deliver high‑quality, strategically aligned bids that support our innovation and technology objectives. The role requires strong organisational skills, commercial acumen, and the ability to work collaboratively across multi‑disciplinary teams to produce well‑structured, compliant, and compelling proposals.
Core Benefits:
On offer is a competitive salary and benefits package, which includes;
Performance-related bonus
Half day every Friday, usually finishing around 13:00
28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) plus opportunity to buy up to 40 hours/year (pro rata)
24 hours volunteering paid for
Private healthcare (grade dependent)
Pension scheme
Life cover
24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app
Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers
Gym membership discounts
You can read about some of our other benefits here: UK benefits | Thales Group
Key responsibilities:
Provide structure, clarity, and governance across all bid management activities.
Lead the planning, development, review, and submission of high‑quality bid proposals and deliverables.
Work with Capture Leaders and technical teams to develop win themes aligned to customer requirements and organisational strengths.
Oversee cost estimation, pricing strategy, and budgeting to ensure compliance and competitiveness.
Support creation of initial project baselines, business cases, customer presentations, and negotiations.
Identify and implement improvements to bid management processes and capability
About you:
Proven track record managing multiple fast‑paced, successful bids, including research, technology, consortium or teamed environments.
Demonstrated ability to construct commercially and technically sound proposals that address market needs.
Strong organisational ability with excellent stakeholder management and team collaboration skills.
Comprehensive understanding of the bid lifecycle and bid management processes, with the ability to tailor approaches as needed.
Experience working across functions including commercial and finance.
Working knowledge of industry‑standard methodologies (e.g., Shipley Capture Bench).
Proactive approach to risk identification, mitigation and initial baseline development.
Security Clearance requirement:
Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires Security Clearance (SC). It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment.
To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.
Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels.
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At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. Read more about our benefits here.
We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring. Discover more about our programmes, employee networks, wellbeing policies, and inclusive features here.
If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities. Join the Talent Community here.
Join Thales in the UK – Innovate with us and shape the future!
Skills Required
- Proven track record managing multiple fast-paced, successful bids including research, technology, consortium or teamed environments.
- Ability to construct commercially and technically sound proposals that address market needs.
- Strong organisational ability with excellent stakeholder management and team collaboration skills.
- Comprehensive understanding of the bid lifecycle and bid management processes, with ability to tailor approaches.
- Experience working across functions including commercial and finance.
- Working knowledge of industry-standard methodologies (e.g., Shipley Capture Bench).
- Proactive approach to risk identification, mitigation and initial baseline development.
- Security Clearance (SC) — successful applicant must undergo, achieve and maintain SC prior to commencing; advantageous if currently held.
- UK residency history sufficient for SC eligibility (generally 5 years; sometimes 3 years with additional checks).
Thales Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Thales and has not been reviewed or approved by Thales.
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Retirement Support — Retirement plans with employer contributions and matches, profit sharing, and share purchase opportunities are emphasized across multiple regions. These elements are positioned as competitive components of total rewards.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO that increases with tenure, paid holidays, and paid military, maternity, and paternity leave are described. This breadth supports work–life balance across locations.
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Flexible Benefits — Hybrid work options, flexible schedules, and parental supports such as childcare benefits and leave for sick children are available in several markets. Flexibility is presented as a core part of the employee experience.
Thales Insights
What We Do
Thales is a global high technology leader investing in digital and “deep tech” innovations – connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum technology – to build a future we can all trust, which is vital to the development of our societies. The company provides solutions, services and products that help its customers – businesses, organisations and states – in the defence, aeronautics, space, transportation and digital identity and security markets to fulfil their critical missions, by placing humans at the heart of the decision-making process.
