Bid Advisor

Mills & Reeve is a national law firm recognised for its people culture. As a result of a successful growth plan and several high-profile panel appointments, we have experienced a marked increase in tender activity. Therefore, the firm is looking for an additional Bid Advisor to join the established Bid Team of seven to manage bid activity and help maintain the firm’s high win rate.  The team is led by a Head of Bids who really champions the growth and development of the Bid Team and has actively supported progression and promotion of various team members over the last few years.

**What does the role involve? **You will be responsible for the production of tenders across the firm ensuring bid best practice and providing practical support on all aspects the bid process.  The role encompasses both managing the bid process and actually drafting the material, so skills in both areas are essential.

Within this specialist role, you will project manage the bid process, utilise the firm’s bid automated system to create and produce content, and support the legal team through to presentation and debrief. This role requires someone who has had significant bids experience, preferably in a professional services environment.

You must have managed the bid process as well as implemented new ideas to develop winning strategies. You will need to be able to liaise confidently with internal stakeholders, advising and guiding them through both private and public sector bids process. You must also possess strong writing, proofreading /editing skills and a keen attention to detail. You will need to have good IT knowledge / tender portal skills, proven project management and communications skills. The successful candidate will be proactive self-starter who is motivated to contribute on a strategic and operational level.

As a member of the Bid Team, you will work across the entire range of sectors covered by this leading national law firm, producing business-winning tenders. You will interpret the requirements for bids, advise legal teams on approach, and prepare, coach and mentor them for presentations and pitches to clients. The Bid Team has thrived on a culture of individual and team development. There will be opportunities to support strategic projects and input into the continuous development of systems and tender best practice.

Who will you be working with?

You will be expected to manage your own workload but draw upon the support and guidance of the Head of Bids and assistance of the Bid Managers, Bid Advisers and Bid Assistants. At various points of the tender process it is likely you will work with members of the wider Marketing Team including the Head of Client Care, Head of Business Development and various members of the Business Development Team, as well as a range of partners, lawyers and business support specialists.

Why Mills & Reeve?

Mills & Reeve is a UK law firm with global reach and a reputation for excellence and innovation. We are recognised for investment in our people, our culture of diversity and inclusion, our sustainability initiatives, and our pro bono and volunteering work. But what makes Mills & Reeve different from other national law firms and why should you consider joining us?

• Culture: We are proud to have been named for a record 20 years running in the Best 100 Companies to Work For list by Best Companies, an employee engagement specialist. We received the highest three star ‘world class’ accreditation by Best Companies, which is a fantastic achievement and a reflection of our unstinting dedication to create a supportive environment where our people can develop and thrive.  We are ranked in the top four of RollOnFriday’s best law firms to work at for the last seven years (winners in 2018, 2019 and 2020) and has been awarded Platinum in Investors in People status 2023. And in our latest staff survey, 97% of our people said they’d recommend us as a good place to work.
• Recognition: The Bid Team is highly respected within the firm and recognised for the important part we play winning and retaining clients. Together we have achieved a record turnover of £147 million in 2022/23, beating an ambitious planned growth target of 11.4%. One of the benefits of working at Mills & Reeve is the equal all staff bonus based on the firm’s financial performance. In 2023, the bonus pool increased to £2.4 million. This reflects our great performance and the role that everyone played in winning work, being a leader in client experience and pushing the business forward.
• Aspiration: Our motto, “Achieve more. Together.”, reflects our belief that by building connections with our clients, our people and the communities we work in, we can all do great things. We have a strong sector and market expertise that helps it to understand clients’ issues and provide tailored solutions. We also use technology and innovations to help clients and our employees achieve more with less effort.

The person

Given this role, it is likely that your background and experience will include bids experience within professional services environment.

The role additionally requires someone who has:

• Commercial acumen: understanding of our business and clients / prospective targets businesses and their industries
• Ideally a marketing qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing
• Client focus and the development of relevant ‘sales’ messages
• Project management
• A proactive self-starter who is motivated to contribute on a strategic and operational level.
• Ability to work under pressure whilst keeping your sense of humour
• Delegation and communication skills
• Flexibility
• Ability to draft in compelling, plain English style
• Research and analysis skills
• Balancing a demanding workload
• Ability to influence and persuade key stakeholders
• Confidence to talk to clients

We have a firm wide Business Services career structure and a published career progression framework.  Within the firm wide career structure there are five career levels.  Further information on the firm’s Business Services career structure is available from the HR team.

The package

As you would expect, the firm offers a generous salary and benefits.  The firm’s standard benefits are detailed in the following link:

https://www.mills-reeve.com/careers/benefits

Pre-employment screening

Please note that, in the event that we make an offer for a role, we will conduct pre-employment screening that includes, but is not limited to, a basic DBS check, right to work check, any disciplinary history recorded with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and a self-declaration to assess your character and suitability for the role.  A full policy of the screening the firm undertakes is available on request.

The firm

What really sets Mills & Reeve apart from other law firms is the way we work with our clients. We understand that clients, in the 21st century, no longer want a traditional law firm – they want one that embraces forward thinking approaches to service, billing, commercial know-how, innovation, people management and community engagement.

And finally

Mills & Reeve is committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment. We are happy to consider flexible working arrangements and endeavour to achieve the right balance for both our people and the business. This attitude to flexible working ensures we continue to provide outstanding service to our clients, whilst allowing our people to develop their careers in the knowledge that personal priorities will remain just that.

Mills & Reeve is committed to promoting equality, diversity and to providing an inclusive and supportive environment. Please click the link below to find further information regarding our diversity policy.

https://www.mills-reeve.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion 

If you would like any more information about Mills & Reeve, you can visit our website by clicking on the following link:

http://www.mills-reeve.com/