Senior Capture Manager

Job Title:  Senior Capture Manager

Global Grade:  GG14

Location:   Farnborough or Malvern - 3 days per week on-site

Role Type:  Permanent – Full Time

Role ID:  20454

Salary: Up to £90k depending on experience + car allowance + bonus

Role Purpose

Lead important capture opportunities that are designed to deliver new business in the short to medium-term (up to three years). Ensure QinetiQ engage effectively with our customers develop our understanding of their needs and that they recognise the value of our offer and differentiation. Develop competitive strategies to position QinetiQ for success within qualified opportunities. Lead opportunities from early shaping through to deal closure by orchestrating a multi-functional team of specialists, 

Key Accountabilities

1. Strategy:  Develop the capture win strategy and achieve approval from the Sector and/or Growth Leadership Team, including associated Business Development investments.
2. Customer relationships: Build and maintain relationships at senior management level, and provide support and insight to the Capture Team to drive the long term outcome and pWin.
3. Leadership: Demonstrate timely and successful delivery through strong leadership of a team that spans many areas of QinetiQ.
4. In Year Accountabilities: Ensure that the customer’s confidence is building with QinetiQ and our ability to deliver what they desire. Deliver an ever-improving pWin and a clear win strategy that is understood by the Capture Team and key stakeholders.

Key Capabilities/Knowledge

• Broad Thinking - Thinks broadly and creatively about the industry and customer landscape. Develop offers from our core capabilities and ensure that opportunities fit with QinetiQ’s strategy and deliver profitable growth. Maintain a clear strategic perspective while driving the team to engage early and focus on the key detail to improve our potential of winning.

• • Demonstrates awareness of customer, market and competitor knowledge to shape solutions 
  • Effectively works through complexities and filters stakeholder feedback to maintain a single focus on how we will win.
  • Successfully facilitates focus on the customer’s needs to develop key win themes and ensure they are shared/tested with the customer
  • Thinks in terms of value offered (like positioning and brand) rather than just features and price; encouraging the team similarly.
  • Challenge the status quo and organisation limitations appropriately.

• Relationship Building - Actively seeks to build and maintains trusting relationships with a wide network of relevant people in the industry, customer and QinetiQ, leveraging these relationships appropriately

• • Takes active steps towards building and maintaining key relationships, keeping them current 
  • Has the network to bring together a team quickly and get the best people from across the business to work on an opportunity 
  • Reads team dynamics and adapts approach accordingly 
  • Leverages different contacts and relationships to connect key people 
  • Sets a focus on ensuring relationships are built on trust and transparency 

• Customer Focus - Ensures they understand the customer’s perspective and needs - both professionally and personally - focusing on what will deliver value to them. Effectively and rapidly builds rapport and engagement of key individuals; develops and leverages a broad network across industry and QinetiQ.

• • Ensure that the solution is being aligned to the customer’s needs rather than QinetiQ’s capability Translates customer needs into bespoke solution offerings aligned to capabilities 
  • Understands the value of a differentiated Value Propositions and Win Themes and how/when to use them 
  • Ensure that the engagement plan is actioned, that supporting activities are clearly delegated and that where relationships need to be strengthened the activity is prioritised early  
  • Test the potential solution with the customer early and ofteno    Asks the difficult questions challenging the customer’s thinking whilst maintaining a tactful approach 

• Commerciality - Develops solutions and bids that raise QinetiQ's P-Win. Helps shape the deal and identify the best option of either direct award or to shape customer requirements to a ITTs/ITNs.

• • Advises on commercial decisions, evaluating pros and cons of proposed course of action 
  • Finds a balance between the customer’s needs and protecting QinetiQ’s interests
  • Develops value-based propositions 
  • Understands the risks associated with the proposed course of action 

• Personal Impact - Adapts their approach to communicate clearly, credibly and positively when engaging different stakeholders, focusing on earning trust and getting buy-in. Recognises that good Capture practice may be new to the team and wider organisation or conflicts with established ways of working.

• • Deliberately uses effective and positive non-verbal behaviours to make their case and message all the more compelling 
  • Takes complex ideas and puts them succinctly and clearly; using techniques like analogies to help people grasp complexity 
  • Keeps a bid team “on track” and dealing with changing opinions 
  • Actively motivates all parties over the duration of the opportunity 
  • Foster a safe environment where everyone can contribute 
  • Clear sense of urgency and enables progress by resolving issues quickly

• Resilience - Maintains a positive, 'can do' approach throughout, dealing well with ambiguity and time pressures. Demonstrates endurance to ensure that the right decisions are made for the right reasons.

• • Aware of and deals well with pressure and management of “stresses” within BW environment.
  • Retains focus on key tasks at hand and does not get distracted by occurring pressures, driving things forward 
  • Role models positivity, a can-do attitude and enthusiasm to get things over the line  
  • Thrives in changing and demanding environments, finding ways to overcome difficulties 

• Takes Ownership - Takes accountability for organising themselves and others to deliver for the customer and QinetiQ; consistently takes the initiative and drives to achieve key outcomes for the capture activity.

• • Ensures we maintain connectivity with the customer and that others in the team remain accountable for their customer engagement
  • Drives pace across the team and understands the need to focus on wider issues; doesn’t get bogged down in detail.
  • Prioritises time effectively in the face of competing demands 
  • Retains sense of responsibility for progress of a bid through the QinetiQ system and sets clear expectations for those involved 
  • Strikes the right balance between control and influence: sets clear expectations while allowing autonomy 

• Collaborates Across Boundaries - Builds effective cross-functional teams across QinetiQ to best focus on the customer’s requirements, enhance our win strategy and alignment with broader strategy.

• • Involves functional experts early in order to arrive at right solution and encourage engagement 
  • Demonstrates flexibility and willingness to change assumptions/views when being challenged by others 
  • Successfully establishes cross-functional teams 
  • Plans interactions and meetings carefully; sets the agenda, structure and topics around mutually beneficial outcomes 
  • Improves quality of output by subjecting it to scrutiny from appropriate colleagues 
  • Identifies and then passes opportunities to colleagues and sets them up for success 

Experience & Qualifications

• Business Winning Competence: Demonstrable experience of having led several complex competitive captures within a defence or national security environment. Can critically analyse wins and losses and can explain what the recipe for success in the future is.  Understands key capture processes and associated colour reviews – and most importantly how to drive key value from each
• Leadership: Proven ability to lead teams of senior professionals that span business and functional boundaries.
• Domain Relevance: Relevant experience of winning business with customers and industrial partners in a demonstrably similar environment.
• Execution of Win Strategy: Track record of win strategy development and the execution of associated capture plans in complex, competitive environment; to underpin a reasonable win percentage.
• Deal Success: Has led, developed, negotiated and closed strategically important contracts (as a minimum that are greater than £10M in value).

Why Join QinetiQ?

As we continue to grow into new markets around the world, there’s never been a more exciting time to join QinetiQ. The formula for success is our appetite for innovation and having the courage to take on a wide variety of complex challenges.

As a QinetiQ employee, you’ll experience a unique working environment where teams from different backgrounds, disciplines and experience enjoy collaborating widely and openly as we undertake this exciting and rewarding journey. Through effective teamwork, and pulling together, you’ll get to experience what happens when we all share different perspectives, blend disciplines, and link technologies; constantly discovering new ways of solving complex problems in a diverse and inclusive environment where you can be authentic, feel valued and realise your full potential. Visit our website to read more about our diverse and inclusive workplace culture.  

Our Benefits

• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Competitive holiday allowance, with the option to purchase additional days
• Options to join Health Cash Plan, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Insurance
• Employee discount portal: Personal Accident Insurance, Travel Insurance, Restaurants, Cinema Tickets and much more
• We are proud to support the Armed Forces community by honouring the Armed Forces Covenant and maintaining our Gold Award standard in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme
• Volunteering Opportunities - helping charities and local community

Our Recruitment Process:

Please note that applications are reviewed as they are received, so we encourage early applications. This vacancy will be closed when sufficient suitable applications are received.

We want to make sure that our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible and we aspire to bring out the best in our candidates by creating an environment where everyone feels value, heard and supported.  If you have a disability or health condition that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your Recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Many roles in QinetiQ are subject to national security vetting being completed, applicants who already hold the appropriate level of vetting may be able to transfer it upon appointment. A number of roles are also subject to additional restrictions, which mean factors such as nationality or previous nationalities may affect the roles that you can be employed in.

Please note that all applicants for this role must be eligible for SC clearance, as a minimum.