Proposals and Contracts Lead, Perceptive Discovery

What can we offer you?

Apart from job satisfaction, we can offer you:

YOURSELF

• 25 days’ holiday (with the option to buy more)

HEALTH

• Private Healthcare

• Optional dental insurance, health assessments and health cash plans

• Cycle to Work scheme

WEALTH

• Company Pension Scheme, matching contributions up to 5% of salary

• Life assurance

• Annual staff bonus scheme

• Season ticket loans

Job Purpose

In response to business growth, we're seeking an experienced professional to join us as a Proposals and Contracts Lead.

Based on-site in Hammersmith, West London or working remotely, in this role you’ll enjoy a great deal of autonomy, writing compelling client proposals, including drafting and strategically evaluating proposal budgets.

Partnering closely with a range of business stakeholders, as part of a highly collaborative, supportive team, you'll also be responsible for ensuring consistent management of contracts, steering these effectively through the contract management process, developing account specific standards and handling all related-documentation and negotiations.

Key Accountabilities

Proposal Development

• Working closely with Scientific Leads, Solutions Deployment, Operations, and Business Development to perform appropriate research on previous client experience to support proposal development.

• Participating in discussions directly with clients as needed to discuss timelines, questions, expectations, deliverables, etc.

• Leading, facilitating and adding value to strategy meetings to identify issues and client requirements, identifying key strategy team members, recommending proposal and study conduct strategy, and internal resourcing, based on experience.

• Leading senior management and multi-disciplinary discussions to assure full and high-quality input. Establishing agreement on timelines and deliverables from the strategy meeting, and follow-up to ensure adherence.

• Writing and creating client specific proposal text to accurately reflect strategy discussions, meeting company and client needs/expectations, assuring accuracy and appropriateness of text and attachments.

• Ensuring information relating to proposals is uploaded/incorporated into and maintained in relevant databases.

• Participating in client calls relating to Requests for Proposals (RFP), budget discussions, Requests for Information (RFI), etc., as needed.

• Participating in proposal defence meetings with clients.

Budgets and Pricing

• Drafting budgets to reflect both company and client needs, including first-run strategic output, ensuring accuracy, consistency and competitiveness of budgets, facilitating pricing discussions with appropriately identified key decision makers, ensuring appropriate and accurate mapping to client budget specifications, providing quality client deliverable to strict deadlines.

• Supporting client rate card initiatives, as needed.

Contracts Management

• Overall management responsibility for the contract process for specific proposals, including coordination of Operations, Project Management, Legal, Business Development and Finance to prepare, review and negotiate contracts.

• Creating, negotiating and finalising contractual documents, including Start-up Agreements, Work Orders and Change in Scopes.

• Serving as primary client contact during the negotiation phase.

• Developing account specific standards for contracts, including presentation of budget, payment terms, standard contract language, etc., and discussion/negotiation with client as appropriate.

• On-going proactive involvement with project management in reviewing project status, including review of contractual status to ensure compliance with contractual terms and milestones and identification of Change in Scopes in contracts.

• Ensuring information relating to contractual documents is processed into and maintained in relevant databases.

Operations Management/ Continuous Improvement

• Participating in the development and testing of tools, procedures and processes

• Leading/participating in ‘Lessons Learned’ meetings, as needed.

• Providing training / mentoring to more junior / business colleagues.

• Providing QC/peer review of Change in Scopes on an ‘as-needed’ basis on approved contract templates.

What we’re looking for

Functional Competencies (Technical knowledge/Skills)

• A self-starter and able to work under own initiative. 

• Committed to delivering a client-focused approach to work. 

• Excellent analytical and proven problem-solving skills  

• Excellent interpersonal skills and verbal and written communication skills 

• Able to display initiative and self-confidence, comfortable leading internal strategy meetings, and demonstrating adaptability and the ability to cope with changing priorities.

• Ability to act professionally and with a high degree of maturity in dealing with confidential and sensitive information.

• Ability to manage multiple and varied tasks with enthusiasm and prioritise your workload effectively, displaying a flexible attitude with respect to work assignments.

• Ability to work methodically in a fast-paced, time-sensitive environment, displaying attention to detail and the ability to apply critical thinking to problems and tasks. 

• Ability to identify and implement process improvements and committed to proactively participating in skills improvement training.

Knowledge and Experience

• Demonstrable experience in Proposals and Contracts Management / Contracts Administration or Pricing Development or related fields

• Experience of working in and knowledge of the Pharmaceutical/Life Sciences industry

• Knowledge of working in a fast-paced matrix organization 

• Experience of working within a diverse, multicultural environment with colleagues / business stakeholders from different backgrounds dispersed across multiple countries and time zones. 

• Proficient in the use of relevant proprietary proposals and contracts software (e.g., Salesforce or similar) and common office software (e.g., MS office). 

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a life sciences, business or a related area of study or equivalent business-related experience

• English: Fluent