0203 026 3870
Newsom Consulting
Delivering Leadership Talent
Newsom ConsultingNewsom Consulting
  • Sectors
    • Rail
    • Aviation
    • Highways
    • Power & Utilities
    • Buildings
    • Defence
    • Major Projects
    • Transport Operators
    • International
  • Our Services
    • Executive Search
    • Talent Mapping
    • Leadership Assessment
    • Outplacement
  • Opportunities
  • Testimonials
  • Insights
    • Blogs
    • Reports & Guides
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Contact Us
  • Sectors
    • Rail
    • Aviation
    • Highways
    • Power & Utilities
    • Buildings
    • Defence
    • Major Projects
    • Transport Operators
    • International
  • Our Services
    • Executive Search
    • Talent Mapping
    • Leadership Assessment
    • Outplacement
  • Opportunities
  • Testimonials
  • Insights
    • Blogs
    • Reports & Guides
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Contact Us

The Bid Recruitment Dilemma – How and Who Should You Be Recruiting?

Across the transport and infrastructure sectors, there is always a continuous flow of projects and tendering for contracts. Right now, we’re beginning to see movement on the HS2 Rail Systems bidding process with the shortlisted suppliers for Track and M&E being announced last month.

 

Another ongoing major bid is the £1.7bn A303 Stonehenge road tunnel project. The three shortlisted JV’s were announced last year, and we can expect to see the preferred bidder being announced later this year. An announcement on the Lower Thames Crossing Delivery Partner is expected next week.

 

With the continuous cycle of bidding and delivery, it is crucial to ensure you have a strong bidding team and sometimes this means having to bring in new talent with a certain type of expertise to lead the bid team to success.

 

Bid recruitment can be tough, trying to predict what type of candidate might work well with the potential client and when to start recruiting. Luckily, we have experience recruiting in this area and can help break down some of the ways you can tackle this dilemma.

 

Let’s explore some of the different ways you can approach your bid recruitment and what you should be looking for in a candidate…

 

4 ways to approach your bid recruitment

 

1. Proactive upfront recruitment

 

Recruiting in key members of staff permanently before the bid outcome is clear is a risk, but one that may be worth taking.

 

Essentially, what you need to determine is, “do we need this new person to win the bid?” and “do they need to be a permanent staff member?”

 

If timescales are tight, and the client wants to know who the Project Director will be, then yes, you will probably need this person to secure a win. Equally, if scarcity is an issue and the project is so specialised that only five people in the country have the skills to deliver it, it’s pretty critical to have one of those people signed up from the outset.

 

The downside to this tactic is that you could potentially end up with an employee that you don’t have a job for if your bid doesn’t succeed.

 

It is also harder to get a candidate on board for a project that you haven’t secured yet. From a candidate’s perspective, they will want to understand the company’s ambitions for the projects being bid for, and what the plan B will be should the bid lose.

 

One of our previous assignments for a civil engineering contractor tackled this approach by recruiting a Project Director to work across several major bids. The projects were specialised enough that they required the skillset to stand a decent chance of winning, but they minimised the risk by bringing someone to bid for multiple projects. The Director can then lead mobilisation and delivery of the successful bids.

 

2. Interims

 

Recruiting in freelance interims for the bid phase is an alternative option.

 

It can be a high cost during bidding but if you don’t win you can demobilise the team at a weeks’ notice. A disadvantage of this approach is that the interims likely won’t be around after to deliver the bid if successful, so it can lead to problems further down the line.

 

3. Conditional Offer Recruitment

 

Sometimes companies prefer to recruit in advance and make an offer before the contract award on the basis that they join if the company wins. The recruitment process is started before the bid is submitted and the candidate resigns from their current role if the bid is successful.

 

This approach requires trust from both parties.

 

From the company, you will need to share some sensitive details about your bid to ensure that the candidate is aligned with the strategies and direction you have committed to. And from the candidate’s side, they need to honour the commitment to the company – perhaps by agreeing to have their name published in the bid.

 

A financial offer will need to be negotiated and agreed and everything lined up, deal done, with the offer accepted conditional on the bid win. So, the obvious downside to this is that, if you don’t win, you’ve wasted a few weeks recruiting and managing the offer.

 

Another point to remember is that you will also have to factor in notice periods. So again, if you know the project will commence imminently after the award, then a long notice period isn’t going to be ideal.

 

4. Recruit if you win

 

Waiting to get the result of the bid first will make the recruitment process more straight forward but this could reduce your chances of winning in the first place. You will have a concrete role to sell to candidates, you won’t need a plan B and you won’t have to entrust sensitive information pre-bid.

 

However, when you consider that the search process could easily take a couple of months (potentially more if the role is highly niche) and add on to that a 3-month notice period, you could be looking at 5-6 months from the contract being awarded to the candidate starting.

 

If you know that you’ve got the time for this process, then this approach makes sense. But if this might be cutting it fine or would jeopardise the chance of winning the contract entirely, then one of the other options will be better suited.

 

Potential Backgrounds

 

Bid Directors often come from one of three backgrounds:

 

The professional Bid Director

 

Some people specialise and excel in leading purely the bid phase of projects; they love the thrill of bidding but like to pass the project over to someone else to deliver. An experienced Bid Director with a track record in winning major bids can be worth their weight in gold.

 

They may not have in depth technical knowledge of every type of work package involved but they know how to motivate a bid team, engage with a client and lead the development of a winning solution at the right price.

 

Another advantage an experienced Bid Director is they may have experience of leading joint venture (JV) bids. The ability to lead a team made up of people from diverse company cultures and manage upwards to align JV shareholders with differing priorities is an impressive skill and one that shouldn’t be overlooked.

 

The experienced Project Director in the specialism

 

Another desirable background to recruit from is a Project Director with particular expertise in that specific type of project. They may not be an expect in bidding but they will bring credibility with the client, have personal expertise on what the best technical solution will be and understanding of the risks, as well as offering continuity of leadership (if the tender is successful) from bid phase into project delivery.

 

Recruiting someone from this background is a no-brainer when you are bidding for a contract in a specialised area that your company is not renowned for.

 

The well-known client

 

The other background you should consider when recruiting for your bid team is someone who has experience overseeing relevant programmes from the client side.

 

This type of candidate will bring great understanding of the client and their needs, as well as bringing credibility and gravitas to your bid. Providing they can be supported by plenty of good people with experience in your business this solution can also work well.

Major bid recruitment is never an easy task, particularly in skills scare areas. If you want to explore what kind of talent is on the market before committing to a full search, then get in touch today to discuss how our Talent Mapping can help you prepare for your future bids.

By Jim Newsom25th January 2021

Author: Jim Newsom

Jim Newsom leads our work in construction and infrastructure having worked in executive search since 1998, recruiting for both public and private sector companies in infrastructure, transport, engineering and construction. Prior to forming Newsom Consulting, Jim spent 11 years working for the one of the UK’s largest independently owned executive recruiters and then two years at a boutique search firm. Jim is a graduate in civil engineering from Liverpool University.

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:Mergers & Acquisitions in Transport, Infrastructure & Construction – The 2020 RoundupNextNext post:Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from January 2021

Related posts

UK Major Projects Pipeline Update – May 2022
17th May 2022
3 lessons learnt from Crossrail for future Major Projects
9th May 2022
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from April 2022
3rd May 2022
Executive Search vs Recruitment Agencies – what’s the difference?
25th April 2022
5 things to consider when recruiting from industry into consulting
4th April 2022
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from March 2022
24th March 2022

To recieve our weekly blogs please fill in your details below:

Recent Posts
  • UK Major Projects Pipeline Update – May 2022
    17th May 2022
  • 3 lessons learnt from Crossrail for future Major Projects
    9th May 2022
  • Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from April 2022
    3rd May 2022
Testimonials

Thanks for supporting us in securing some of our industry’s leading talent. Your candidates are always excellent and I find you a pleasure to work with. Looking forward to furthering our partnership in the new year.

Managing Director (Transportation), Faithful+Gould

Since taking over as the CEO of Crossrail I have put a lot of effort into establishing the right leadership team to complete the project. Newsom Consulting have been a great partner in this work. Together we have worked to assemble a great new team  with the right energy and capability for one of the worlds most complex projects.

Jim and team are a real pleasure to work with; responsive and sensitive to our unique circumstances.

CEO, Crossrail

Over the last few years CAF Rolling Stock UK has worked closely with Jim and Richard of Newsom Consulting to recruit several leadership roles across the business. We have found Newsom to be effective in providing high calibre candidates. We would recommend Newsom for recruiting key leadership roles.

Chief Operating Officer, CAF Rolling Stock UK
Newsom Consulting
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Footer Menu

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Newsom Consulting
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.