Bid Manager & Tender Specialist

Job Objective

• The Bid Manager & Tender Specialist plays a critical strategic role within the WIOCC Group, supporting customer satisfaction and revenue growth through high-quality, commercially viable proposals. The role manages the full contract and tender lifecycle, from lead generation and qualification through to purchase order processing.
• A key focus is the qualification of non-standard product requests. You will lead a rigorous productisation assessment to determine bid viability. Where the company proceeds, you will determine whether to productise the offering for wider market demand or operationalise it as a bespoke, one-off solution for a strategic client. This requires exceptional project management skills to align cross-functional teams, obtain essential technical and commercial input, and make timely bid qualification decisions.
• This role requires adaptability. During periods of lower bidding activity, you will lead critical product initiatives and undertake responsibilities typically associated with a Product Manager, ensuring continued momentum and effective use of resources.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Manage the full lifecycle of commercial contracts and tender submissions, from initiation to termination or renewal
• Assume Product Manager responsibilities during quieter bidding cycles, leading critical product projects, market capability assessments and lifecycle management activities
• Manage the drafting, review, negotiation and finalisation of contracts, ensuring legal, organisational and regulatory compliance
• Lead the preparation, formatting and submission of high-quality tender documents, requests for proposals (RFPs) and requests for quotations (RFQs)
• Act as a pricing control point, working with stakeholders to make data-driven pricing decisions, protect margins and apply the Price Waterfall
• Maintain a central, accurate repository of contracts and standard tender packs, ensuring that compliance documents, company profiles and accreditation certificates remain current
• Establish and monitor KPIs and SLAs to ensure vendor and organisational compliance with contractual obligations
• Lead customer workshops, demonstrations and proof-of-concept engagements in support of business development
• Analyse market trends, customer needs and competitor activity to inform solution packaging, pricing and positioning
• Create and maintain sales tools, including presentations, proposals and competitive battle cards
• Maintain the company tender register, tracking briefing dates, clarification deadlines, submission deadlines and requirements to ensure that no opportunities are missed

How You Will Make an Impact:

• Lead the qualification of non-standard product requests, assessing each opportunity against WIOCC's strategic and financial objectives
• Determine whether successful non-standard bids should be productised for wider market demand or operationalised as one-off strategic solutions
• During quieter tender periods, lead critical product initiatives and advance the department's strategic roadmaps
• Coordinate Sales, Technical, Operations, Delivery and Finance teams to obtain essential input and make timely, well-informed bid decisions
• Ensure the effective end-to-end execution of tender processes across all WIOCC Group companies and subsidiaries
• Monitor and deliver against key performance indicators, including revenue, cash flow, margin protection, on-time delivery and customer satisfaction
• Identify commercial and technical risks, resolve escalated issues and negotiate terms that protect the company's interests
• Conduct post-tender reviews of successful and unsuccessful bids to improve processes, content and commercial policy
• Work with Sales and Business Development teams to define value propositions for WIOCC offerings and develop compelling customer-facing messages

Minimum Qualifications :

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, engineering, or a related discipline

Experience & Skills:

• At least five years' experience in the telecommunications, IT or infrastructure sectors, with a focus on bid management and, ideally, experience in solution sales, product management or commercial presales
• Strong enterprise or telecommunications IT background, with exposure to data centre technologies, virtualisation and cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, Huawei Cloud and Google Cloud Platform
• Familiarity with telecommunications infrastructure, data centres, big data platforms, AI and machine-learning use cases, and mapping or planning tools
• Proven experience of complex tender processes, product lifecycles, commercial contracts and pricing governance, ideally within African markets
• Experience of NetSuite or a similar ERP or business development platform is highly desirable
• Exceptional project management skills, with the ability to plan, monitor and control proposal and product activities across scope, time and cost
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders, lead cross-cultural teams and guide productisation or operationalisation decisions
• An analytical, problem-solving mindset and close attention to detail, ensuring accuracy in project deliverables and pricing structures
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and switch between tender execution and product management tasks under tight deadlines without compromising quality