Director Bids

Location: Hengelo, Netherlands

About Naval NL 
Naval Netherlands develops, manufactures and integrates mission and radar solutions for the defense market. These products, solutions and services enable our customers to perform their task of keeping/making the world a safe place. 
We're experiencing significant growth in our Naval business due to the several changes within the world. This presents an exciting opportunity for us to think big, collaborate, and drive success together as per Thales slogan: Think big, Make it happen, Together.

The main location of Naval is Hengelo (NL).

About your future job
To manage such challenges, we thrive for excellence in our Bids and Projects management.

The Bid Director is in charge of coordinating the activities in our Bid Department (approx. 35 people working on approx. 250 bids per year), and will create excellence, efficiency, predictability and reliability in our processes to deliver discriminating winning and executional bids. 

The Director Bids creates a dynamic learning environment with focus on people and skill development, fostering continuous improvement and transverse collaboration. Our focus is on raising the bar in bids, setting things up so we can achieve excellence in the project execution phase.

The role of Director Bid is pivotal as we navigate through larger and more complex bids and projects, coupled with new product developments, increasing workloads and international collaborations. Building robust bid teams and establishing solid project baselines are imperative. 

You will report to the Director Bids & Projects, collaborate with senior leadership and closely cooperate with our Sales department.

Key Responsibilities
As Director Bids you will be responsible for a department with 2 teams (1 team of about 15 Bid Managers reporting directly to you and 1 team of about 20 Cost & Pricing Specialist and Proposal Managers reporting to you via a Team Manager).

Your team makes the proposals including the cost estimates and pricing for customers all over the world. Our bids range from a few to several hundreds of millions in Euros. To do so your teams collaborate with several internal Thales and external subcontractors.

Given the significant growth we have experienced/are experiencing, you as Bid Director will have to set up the bids in such a way that we can guarantee we deliver our projects on time, on cost and on quality while keeping focus on delivering compelling and competitive proposals. Besides that, you also focus on continuous improvement of our skills and ways of working so as to serve the needs of our customers as well as of our internal organization

Why you'd be a good match
We are in search for a colleague who has/is:

• A higher education, for example Business Administration

• At least 10 years of experience in a technical and commercial environment, developing an in-depth understanding of sales and bidding processes, particularly within the defense and technology sectors. Experience in project management/project execution roles besides the Bid/Sales experience, will be a strong advantage.

• An experienced executive with strong leadership and decision-making abilities and a proven track record in managing change and continuous improvement in a multinational organization

• Fluent in English, preferably Dutch, knowledge of other languages (like German) is welcome 

• Structured & stress resistant to cope with the dynamic bid environment

• Able to coach and lead a team of starting and experienced professionals

• Good interpersonal skills, is able to challenge the various stakeholders in a constructive way, performs through cooperation and manages on output. 

What's in it for you 

• A challenging job in a great team within our high-tech, innovative work environment.
  Includes the freedom for initiative and good ideas.

• Room for personal and professional growth within our organization, for example in regards to technical, commercial or international skills. 

• Valuable international collaboration with coworkers from 68 countries around the globe. 

• A comfortable work space in a modern environment, focus on flexibility and work life balance.

• This position requires on site presence in Hengelo 4 days a week to ensure optimal collaboration and accessibility.

• A good salary, fitting travel allowance, and the ability to personalize your employment conditions: for instance, you can trade days off for internet costs, our bicycle plan, company fitness and relocation costs.

• 40 days off per year (PTO).

Interested? 
Reach out for more information to our Talent Acquisition Partner Lilian Lucas, [email protected].

Apply now! Click on the button below to upload your profile and show your interest.

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