Bid and Proposal Manager

AXA Insurance Plc; Ipswich; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading insurance provider in Ipswich seeks a Bid and Proposal Manager to lead responses for Retail Intermediary partnerships. The successful candidate will manage proposals ensuring compliance and quality. Responsibilities include coordinating bid activity and collaborating with various teams. Qualifications include strong organizational and relationship management skills, as well as relevant educational background. The role offers a competitive salary and benefits, with flexibility for remote work arrangements.

Benefits

Competitive annual salary

Annual company performance-based bonus

Contributory pension scheme

Life Assurance

Private medical cover

25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays

Wellbeing services

Qualifications

• Experience in building successful long-term relationships.
• Ability to present information clearly and effectively.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements relevant to the role.

Responsibilities

• Lead responses to formal proposals and RFIs/RFPs.
• Collaborate with multiple stakeholders for high-quality submissions.
• Coordinate bid activity and manage timelines.

Skills

Excellent organisational skills

Strong relationship management skills

Negotiation and influencing skills

Sound numeracy skills

Education

Degree or similar qualification

ACII or progress towards a relevant professional qualification

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Access

Job description

Description

Join AXA Retail as a Bid and Proposal Manager and play a pivotal role in winning new Retail Intermediary partnerships. You’ll lead AXA Retail’s responses to formal proposals, ensuring submissions are accurate, compliant, commercially compelling, and delivered on time. Working across multiple teams including Distribution and Pricing, you’ll craft consistent responses that align with AXA’s strategic objectives and support the conversion of qualified opportunities into successful partnerships.

Working arrangement

At AXA we work smart, empowering our people to balance their time between home and the office in a way that works best for them, their team and our customers. You’ll work at least two days a week (40%) away from home, moving to three days a week (60%) in the future. Away from home means either attendance at one of our office locations, visiting clients or attending industry events. We’re also happy to consider flexible working arrangements, which you can discuss with Talent Acquisition.

What you’ll be doing:

• Coordinate and manage AXA Retail Intermediary responses to RFIs, RFPs, and structured business development proposals
• Serve as the central point of control for bid activity, managing timelines, inputs, dependencies, and approvals
• Collaborate with stakeholders across AXA to produce high‑quality written submissions and presentations
• Ensure submissions meet internal governance, regulatory, legal, and approval requirements
• Manage NDAs and data‑sharing arrangements throughout the bid process
• Support senior stakeholders during bid presentations, clarification stages, and partner meetings
• Maintain bid templates, content libraries, and supporting materials to drive consistency and efficiency
• Capture lessons learned from bids to continuously improve future submissions
• Work closely with the Business Development Lead and Delivery teams to ensure smooth handover into delivery and onboarding

Due to the number of applications, we reserve the right to close this advert earlier than the listed closing date to ensure we’re able to effectively manage interest. Therefore, if you’re interested in joining us at AXA, please don’t hesitate to apply.

We know that some candidates may be discouraged from applying if they don't meet every requirement. If you’re excited by this job and the prospect of working at AXA but you’re not sure you tick every box, we’d still encourage you to apply.

What you’ll bring:

• Excellent organisational skills to effectively manage multiple tasks and deadlines
• Strong relationship management skills with experience in building successful, mutually beneficial long‑term relationships both internally and externally
• Knowledge of the Personal Lines Intermediary market is advantageous
• Degree or similar qualification, and/or ACII or progress towards a relevant professional qualification is preferred
• Sound numeracy skills, with the ability to present information clearly and effectively
• Excellent negotiation and influencing skills to engage stakeholders and drive outcomes
• Experience liaising with trading teams and senior management to coordinate activities and communicate effectively
• Understand regulatory requirements relevant to the role
• Proficient in IT tools including Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint

As a precondition of employment for this role, you must be eligible and authorised to work in the United Kingdom.

What we offer:

At AXA UK, we’re appreciative of the people who work for us and our rewards package is reviewed regularly to reflect that. You can expect to receive:

• Competitive annual salary of up to £45,000
• Annual company & performance‑based bonus
• Contributory pension scheme (up to 12% employer contributions)
• Life Assurance (up to 10 x annual salary)
• Private medical cover
• 25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
• Opportunity to buy up to 5 extra days leave or sell up to 5 days leave
• Wellbeing services & resources
• AXA employee discounts

We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and don’t discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. If you have a long‑term condition or disability and require adjustments during the application or interview process, we’re proud to offer access to the AXA Accessibility Concierge. Please send an email to [e-mail].

Who we are:

AXA Retail helps people live the life they love, knowing we’ve got their back, at home and on the road. Our people are vital to us becoming more digital, faster and easier to access. We’re a dynamic team of experts completely committed to making sure our customers ‘get back to the good stuff’ when the unexpected happens.