Senior Business Development Manager
Joining Arup
Arup’s purpose, shared values and collaborative approach has set us apart for over 75 years, guiding how we shape a better world.
Arup is the creative force at the heart of many of the world’s most prominent projects in the built and natural environment. Working in more than 140 countries, the firm’s designers, engineers, architects, planners, consultants, and technical specialists work with our clients on innovative projects of the highest quality and impact. As a wholly independent organisation, we are owned in trust for the benefit of our employees and their dependants: with no shareholders or external investors we determine our own business priorities and direction.
The Opportunity
The Work Winning Manager oversees pursuit and bid support needs in the Climate and Sustainability Services Portfolio in the UKIMEA region, while also partnering with Portfolio Leads to shape and implement long-term work winning strategies. The role blends tactical bid delivery with strategic pipeline development, client engagement, and performance insight and analysis.
The Work Winning Manager will coordinate and input to pursuits, develop bids with proposal teams, and support client-specific BD activities. They will also work closely with Portfolio and Business Development leadership to design and embed work winning frameworks, knowledge management, upskilling, and client-centric strategies that increase win rates and operational confidence.
Key responsibilities:
Proposal management
• Primary point of contact for pursuit, bid and business development support across the CSS team in UKIMEA
• Proactive management of tender processes of varying scale and complexity, including bid scheduling, compliance, and document production
• Guide proposal development, liaising with technical teams, schedulers, project managers and other contributors to meet internal and external deadlines
• Coordinate with MCBD colleagues (other work winning staff, writers, editors, designers, client managers) to strengthen Arup’s winning strategy
• Champion go/ no-go and triaging conversations to qualify priority pursuits aligned to growth strategy
• Contribute to improvements in bidding process and success rates, including lessons learned feedback loops and performance review
• Support the development of high-quality bid submissions by aligning team roles, deliverables, and strategic fit with client priorities
• Embed knowledge management, analysis and insights reporting to inform future pursuits and strengthen portfolio resilience
Market and Client Focus
• Deep understanding of local and portfolio-specific markets, clients, partners and competitors
Pro-active development of pursuit pipeline, collaborating with portfolio leaders to implement capture and pre-bid activities for critical pursuit items.
• Support and facilitate win strategy development, including win themes and “colour team” reviews
• Lead client engagement planning and pre-positioning efforts for strategic major opportunities
• Champion evaluator empathy and structured feedback processes to refine future bids
• Work closely with Marketing and Communications to align messaging and positioning with strategic pursuits
• Partner with Portfolio Leads to sustain and grow business in the medium and long term, ensuring alignment with dynamic market conditions
CRM and Systems
• Promote structured use of CRM and bid lifecycle tools to ensure data integrity and pipeline visibility
• Drive adoption of best practice tools and resources to enhance pursuit effectiveness and efficiency
• Own work winning reporting and insights generation for leadership review and strategic planning
Team Management
• Supervise team members and promote continuous improvement and best practice
• Provide people leadership for direct reports, including training, feedback, and development
• Collaborate with Head of Business Development and technical teams to build talent pipeline and succession planning
• Input to hiring and capability planning for future strategic bidding needs
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive culture that reflects Arup’s values and supports high performance
Is this role right for you?
We seek professionals with the following skills and experience:
You’re excited by the opportunity to shape strategic work winning across a dynamic portfolio at the centre of emerging technologies and you thrive in environments where collaboration, clarity and client impact are paramount.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, such as Marketing, Communications, or similar
• Certification with APMP desirable
• Experience in pursuits, bids, and strategic work winning in engineering or environmental consulting sectors
• Proven ability to manage high-performing pursuit teams across geographies and disciplines
• Experience in pre-positioning, bidding lifecycle, and strategic pipeline development
• Strong stakeholder engagement and ability to build trusted relationships with senior leaders
• Familiarity with public and private procurement practices and regulations
• Understanding of services and propositions relevant to portfolio delivery
• Ability to identify and communicate work winning priorities, risks, and opportunities
• Strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills
• Proficiency in marketing and BD technologies and systems
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Strong time and people management skills
• Inclusive leadership style with high integrity and professionalism
• Commitment to exemplifying Arup’s aims, particularly those of being a ‘humane organisation’, maintaining ‘quality of work’, and ‘straight and honourable dealings’
What we offer you
At Arup, we care about each member’s success, so we can grow together.
Guided by our values, we provide an attractive total reward package that recognises the contribution of each of our members to our shared success. As well as competitive, fair and equitable pay, we offer a career in which all of our members can belong, grow and thrive – through benefits that support health and wellbeing, a wide range of learning opportunities and many possibilities to have an impact through the work they do.
We are owned in trust on behalf of our members, giving us the freedom, with personal responsibility, to set our own direction and choose work that aligns with our purpose and adds to Arup’s legacy. Our members collaborate on ambitious projects to deliver remarkable outcomes for our clients and communities. Profit Share is a key part of our reward, enabling members to share in the results of our collective efforts.
We also provide Private medical insurance, Life assurance, Accident insurance and Income protection cover. In addition, you’ll have access to flexible benefits to help you look after all aspects of your wellbeing and give you the freedom and flexibility to find the best solutions for you, your family, and your individual needs.
Different people, shared values
Arup is an equal opportunity employer that actively promotes and nurtures a diverse and inclusive workforce. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of age (within legal limits), gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, neurotype or mental health, race or ethnicity, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and whether you’re pregnant or on family leave. We are an open environment that embraces diverse experiences, perspectives, and ideas – this drives our excellence.
Guided by our values and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we create and contribute to equitable spaces and systems, while cultivating a sense of belonging for all. Our internal employee networks support our inclusive culture: from race, ethnicity and cross-cultural working to gender equity and LGBTQ+ and disability inclusion – we aim to create a space for you to express yourself and make a positive difference. Discover more about life at Arup at www.arup.com/careers/your-life-at-arup.
We are committed to making our recruitment process and workplaces accessible to all candidates. Please contact lia.wiltsher@arup.com to let us know if you need any assistance or reasonable adjustments throughout your application or interview process, and/or to perform the essential functions of the role. We will do everything we can to support you.
Our Application Process
To understand what to expect next, please visit https://www.arup.com/careers/recruitment-process/
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