The biggest mistake many companies make is to hiring a junior person as their first bid manager that doesnt have the confidence to build strong internal relationships and have a clear understanding of the complexity of the bid process required to win big deals. 

Instead, they should be hiring someone more experienced like a Bid Director who at first can step in as an individual contributor to respond to RFPs but then has the expertise to set up the processes and content needed to help the sales team drive predictable growth.

Typically some of the key skills needed for the role include:

• Excellent writing skills with the ability to write clearly, persuasivley and concisley
• Strong listening skills and the ability to ask the right questions to gather the information you need
• A relationship builder that can be seen as both credible by the client and as a leader within the business 
• Strong organisational skills – including the ability to build a content library. 

Some good screening criteria to use when interviewing candidates include:

• Their confidence over the phone and during the interview – can you immagine them persuading senior stakeholders at the client and internally
• The amount of bids that they currently manage per month 
• Their success rate in their current position – ask for example of bids they have helped close 
• Their knowledge of key frameworks that would be relevant to your industry (like G-Cloud)
• The strength of their relationships within their key accounts and at other partners organisations (like consulting firms that may introduce them to new bids)

In relation to domain experience you shouldn’t discount candidates that don’t have experience in your particular sector as it’s common for bid managers to have worked for a variety of different companies. When hiring within the technology or SaaS market, where there can be quite complex technological requirements around data privacy and security, candidates should demonstrate a strong desire and ability to learn.