About Matthew Syed Consulting

Matthew Syed Consulting (MSC) is a boutique psychology-based consulting company, specialising in leadership development focused on developing growth mindsets and diverse thinking. We work with leaders at all levels within organisations, across a range of industries, to develop growth mindsets, diverse thinking, and learning cultures.

Matthew Syed, co-founder of the company, is an author and journalist who works with The Times, the BBC, and Sky News. His books include Rebel Ideas, Black Box Thinking, and Bounce amongst others. His podcasts – Sideways and Talent Takes Practice – also expand on the concepts of growth mindset and diverse thinking.

We work with an impressive list of both private and public sectors organisations, helping their leaders to change how they think, and what they say and do to change cultures and increase performance as individuals and for their teams. We help them tackle real-world challenges, using current research-based practices to create change.

We are a growing team with a start-up mindset. Successful applicants must be comfortable working in a pacey, results-focused environment, where there is constant learning, and products and services evolve over time.

The Role

We are looking for a motivated and detail-oriented Bids & Tenders Graduate to join our business development team. This is an excellent opportunity for a recent graduate to develop core skills in procurement frameworks, tender research, bid writing, proposal management, graphical visualisation of solutions and commercial strategy within a fast-paced, high-growth consultancy environment.

You will support the development of compelling, high-quality bids and proposals across both public and private sector opportunities, helping to articulate our value proposition to different NLP and seniority styles, ensure compliant bid responses and win new business.

This role reports into the Marketing Manager within Matthew Syed Consulting.
This is a hands-on “doing” role rather than a process management role. Our goal is that this role owns the end-to-end production and coherence of the winning response despite the many opinions and contributions that surround pitches.

Key Responsibilities

  • Identify RFP and tender portals, setup alerts, AI agents and scan the market for new opportunities
  • Register the business for frameworks, track and enact renewals for frameworks
  • Manage the pipeline of tenders and bids, coordinate early engagement and lead nurturing so that MSC is well briefed and positioned ahead of formal bid processes
  • Draft, edit, proofread and format high-quality, consistently-branded written and graphical responses for tenders, frameworks, and proposals in both the public and private sector
  • Conduct research into clients, competitors, and market trends to inform bid strategy
  • Collaborate with subject matter experts within the team in order to gather content and translate technical input into clear, persuasive writing and graphics
  • Maintain and develop the internal bid content library and knowledge base
  • Manage the bid processes and internal engagement & solution meetings
  • Ensure all submissions are compliant with client requirements and deadlines. i.e. answer in the way the client wants and ensure every overt or latent question is specifically covered
  • Assist in reviewing feedback from submitted bids to support continuous improvement. Support our wider marketing efforts by maintaining, developing and updating our broader sales collateral library using your precis, ICP / personal and writing & visualisation skills (maximum 1 day per week)
  • Support our wider marketing efforts by maintaining, developing and updating our broader sales collateral library using your precis, ICP / personal and writing & visualisation skills (maximum 1 day per week) – this is a secondary priority

Skills and Experience

  • A strong academic background (2:1 or above) in a relevant subject such as English, Journalism, Business, Marketing, Politics or similar
  • Analytical reading and problem solving with an ability to digest verbose documents and accurately extract key takeaways and nuances
  • Excellent written English with strong attention to detail with proven capability of distilling complex information into compelling narratives
  • Excellent visualisation eye, able to tell a story with visuals
  • Ability to structure clear, concise, and persuasive content – both written and graphical
  • Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and coordinate multiple people’s contributions
  • A strong ability to interpret strict evaluation criteria and understand, mirror and score points against it
  • Proficiency in tools for writing and visualisation

Desirable

  • Internship or experience in bid writing, grant writing, compliance checking, sales, or professional services
  • Comfort with (or an interest in learning) advanced document layout, formatting, and structuring to ensure long proposals are highly scannable and visually engaging
  • Familiarity with public sector procurement processes (e.g. frameworks, ITTs)
  • Interest in behaviour and culture change based on psychological research and psychometrics

What We Offer

  • The ability to develop bid writing and consulting skills in a highly-commercial environment
  • Exposure to senior stakeholders and high-profile client opportunities
  • A supportive and collaborative team environment
  • Flexible working arrangements

Person Requirements

We are looking for someone with the following background, knowledge, skills and competencies:

Educational Qualifications/ Experience and personal skills
  • Graduate level or equivalent experience.
  • Analytical reading and problem solving with an ability to digest verbose documents and accurately extract key takeaways and nuances.
  • A strong ability to interpret strict evaluation criteria and understand, mirror and score points against it.
  • Ability to craft compelling, well-structured product messaging and narrative.
  • Excellent writing, precis and visualisation skills.
  • Strong relationship building and communication skills.
  • Self-motivated and proactive with demonstrated problem-solving skills.
  • Responsive and customer focused.
  • The ability to analyse relevant information and make informed decisions.
  • The ability to prioritise tasks and responsibilities across projects
  • Organised and methodical with good attention to detail.
Competencies
  • Deciding and Initiating Action: Takes responsibility for actions, projects and people. Takes initiative, acts with confidence and works under own direction. Initiates and generates activity.
  • Working with People: Demonstrates an interest in and understanding of others. Adapts to the team and builds team spirit. Recognises and rewards the contribution of others. Listens, consults others and communicates proactively. Supports and cares for others. Develops and openly communicates self-insight, such as an awareness of own strengths and weaknesses.
  • Relating and Networking: Establishes good relationships with customers and staff. Builds wide and effective networks of contacts inside and outside the organization. Relates well to people at all levels. Manages conflict. Uses humour appropriately to enhance relationships with others.
  • Planning and Organising: Sets clearly defined objectives. Plans activities and projects well in advance and takes account of possible changing circumstances. Manages time effectively. Identifies and organises resources needed to accomplish tasks. Monitors performance against deadlines and milestones.
  • Delivering Results and Meeting Customer Expectations: Focuses on customer needs and satisfaction. Sets high standards for and monitors and maintains quality and productivity. Works in a systematic, methodical and orderly way. Consistently achieves project goals.
  • Adapting and Responding to Change: Adapts to changing circumstances. Accepts new ideas and change initiatives. Adapts interpersonal style to suit different people or situations. Shows respect and sensitivity towards cultural and religious differences. Deals with ambiguity, making positive use of the opportunities it presents.

The Application Process

If you are interested in the position and would like to apply, please submit your application using the link below.

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