Head of Bids & New Business

Department: Policy Research Centre

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: London (Hybrid)

Reporting To: Joy Mhonda

Description

• 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)

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.

Job Benefits

• 25 days holiday (plus 8 bank holidays) rising to 30 days after 3 years of service.
• Flexible working
• Generous company pension scheme
• Life insurance and health cash plan
• Cycle to Work scheme and season ticket loan