Clients and Markets: Pursuit and Proposal Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

Purpose of Job

The Pursuit & Proposals Manager leads a team of specialists providing strategic and tactical support to help the firm acquire and win new business. He/she actively participates in the proposal management process and co-authors content for proposals, oral presentations, and other collateral associated with PwC’s global Pursuit sales methodology. The Pursuit & Proposals Manager works with Client Executives, client service professionals and other Pursuits Strategists within the EMEA region.

This is a highly networked role that requires an ability to work under pressure and to meet challenging deadlines. It requires strong people management and commercial skills to effectively manage and coordinate proposal and tender related systems, processes, resources and initiatives for the firm. 

The Pursuit & Proposals Manager oversees relevant data that contributes to value reporting. By measuring the value and impact of that data and department activity, the Pursuit & Proposals Manager can help increase client loyalty and referrals, brand awareness and positioning.

Pursuit & Proposals services will be accessed through the Africa Traffic Controller and the Africa CMD team’s work management system and so the Pursuit & Proposals Manager must work closely with the Digital Presence, Integrated Content, Brand & Creative and other Client Experience teams to deliver a quality experience for Africa CMD’s clients.

This role supports the PwC Africa territory of firms and CMD teams at those firms. As the largest firm in the PwC Africa territory, this role also directly supports PwC South Africa and the PwC South Africa CMD team.

Role Description

Responsibilities:

• Primarily responsible for the overall management of the firm's Pursuit, proposals and bid office team, processes and systems

• Lead best practices in bid and proposal processes, methodologies and tools

• Manage the tender notification process, subscriptions and research: Receive and distribute opportunity information to relevant stakeholders firm-wide
   

• Proposals and tenders:

• Drive the strategic communications process on the firm’s largest and strategically significant Pursuits

• Research, write and edit standard and customized proposal content

• Actively drive Pursuits as part of the proposal management process which includes the coordination of information from contributors and follow-up on action items to achieve a coordinated team effort

• Contribute and/or facilitate meetings with bid response team members

• Monitor the progress of all Pursuit activities for adherence to deadlines and quality standards

• Build and leverage relationships within the Business Development community at PwC Africa, and EMEA and global teams

• Manage multiple proposals/priorities simultaneously

• Review final Pursuit collateral for quality, format and content for adherence to the firm’s brand standards

• Working through the Africa Traffic Controller and other CMD departments, serve as a liaison between the proposal response team and other support functions

• Share leading practices with Pursuit teams

• Manage virtual bid teams and inputs from a variety of stakeholders, typically involving contributions from sales, marketing, product teams, finance, commercial, legal and delivery

• Prepare and review the commercial aspects of the bid, ensuring all services are included in the final price to the client

• Risk tracking and management throughout the bid process

• Manage the bid budget
   

• Working through Pursuit & Proposals team, manage:

• Proposal Hub: 

• Compile, maintain and manage the Proposal Hub

• Source and update standard and related proposal/tender information

• Manage maintenance of the Master Record Index (MRI) reflecting the content on Proposal Hub

• Proposal tracking: Track and record proposal activity for the firm

• Training: Train teams on how best to approach and compile proposals/tenders
   

• Collaborating with the Client Feedback specialist:

• Ensure post decision reviews are completed and logged in the client feedback portal
   

Resources and Accountabilities

Geographical span

PwC Africa

Number of direct reports

6+

Budget (Capital/Operational Costs)

Capital Cost:

Operational Cost:

Key Competencies and Attributes

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Passion for business development

• Excellent managerial skills

• Excellent communication skills, with an ability to interact with practitioners at various levels of seniority within the organisation

• Good time management and the ability to complete tasks within tight deadlines

• Attention to quality and detail

• Exceptional writing and editing skills

• Strong business acumen

• Organized, detail-oriented and highly deadline-driven

• Strong project management skills, the ability to establish priorities, set and manage schedules, and coordinate multiple projects at one time

• Client service oriented

• High level of self-direction, problem solving and decision making
   

Qualification & Experience

Requirements

• Honours preferred; post graduate qualification an advantage

• 8-10 years business development, proposal management, sales and/or direct marketing experience

• Experience working in a cross-border, multi-cultural environment

• Experience in professional services (e.g., accounting, management consulting, architectural, engineering) highly preferred