About us

At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better.

You’ve probably seen the headlines. Heavy workloads, constant change, admin pressure on teachers and staff at every level… sometimes it feels like this is just part and parcel of school life today. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We passionately believe that there’s a better way to work. And it starts by giving everyone the right tools and technology for the job.

We’re building a platform and products we believe in - as well as a strong, diverse team of experienced specialists, ex-teachers and Edtech engineers passionate about making a difference to the sector.

Ultimately, we’re here to help make our schools and trusts stress a little less, and focus on what matters most - improving the lives of teachers and outcomes of students everywhere.

About the role

Our Bids function is responsible for managing the creation, writing, operations and organisation of our bids and tenders, working with both internal and external stakeholders. We are looking for someone to join us on a maternity cover from September 2023 to September 2024.

In this role as Bid Operations Manager, you will be responsible for the prioritisation of new incoming tenders, retrieving relevant documentation and information, filling in and preparing the documents within the appropriate guidelines. You will also need to have good stakeholder management, working internally to schedule relevant calendar meetings and collating additional bid information as well as working with third party frameworks.

Core responsibilities

• Manage the administration for frameworks that Arbor is on, including relationships with key external contacts

• Read all tenders and raise any apparent risks for completion with the Bid Manager.

• Make a return checklist to make sure all teams stay on task

• Fill out common or boilerplate answers and identify strategic answers for the Bid Manager to work on

• Proofread and edit documentation completed by the Bid Manager or other bid contributors.

• Maintain the bids inbox, including managing inbound notifications from tender-finding services and framework awards.

• Maintain the folder of common appendices and update appendices when they reach their expiry date.

• Calendar management: Scheduling key dates (e.g. deadlines, demos) for the Bid Manager and relevant team members when a tender begins.

• Manage tender service logins, and log in to express interest and retrieve documentation when new tenders begin.

• Creating internal communication channels for each bid and a linked folder that includes all tender documentation to refer to.

• Document any unique follow-ups or action points from bid strategy meetings.

• Submit clarification questions or procedural emails.

About you

• Good attention to detail when working with large documents and numerous pieces of information

• The ability to understand and work inline with big guidelines.

• Experience of working with multiple external stakeholders at one time.

• Proven organisational skills, working to deadlines and supporting with diary/calendar management.

• Experience of working on multiple projects or tasks at once with the ability to prioritise these in a fluid way.

• Existing knowledge of Arbor MIS or knowledge of tenders and frameworks is a bonus!

What we offer

The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work everyday. We also offer:

• Bonus may be applicable, dependant on the win rate of bids won with your influence.

• A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more!

• 32 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays). This is made up of 25 days annual leave plus 7 extra company wide days given over Easter, Summer & Christmas

• Access to services such as Calm, Bippit (financial wellbeing coaching) and Health Assured (Employee assistance programme)

• All of our roles champion flexible working and we are happy to discuss what this means to you!

• Social committees that plan team, office and company wide events to bring people together and celebrate success

• Dedicated professional development training budget (CPD courses, upskilling resources, professional memberships etc)

• Volunteer with a charity of your choice for a day each year

• Dog friendly offices!

We are committed to a fair and comfortable recruitment process, so if you require any reasonable adjustments during your application or interview process, please reach out to a member of the team at careers@arbor-education.com.

Our commitment is also backed by our partnership with Neurodiversity Consultancy, Lexxic who provide us with training, support and advice.

Arbor Education is an equal opportunities organisation

Our goal is for Arbor to be a workplace which represents, celebrates and supports people from all backgrounds, and which gives them the tools they need to thrive - whatever their ambitions may be so we support and promote diversity and equality, and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

Refer a friend: Know someone else who would be good for this role? You can refer a friend, family member or colleague, if they are offered a role with Arbor, we will say thank you with a voucher valued up to £200! Simply email: careers@arbor-education.com

Please note: We are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.