Pursuit Manager

Job description / Role

Pursuit Manager - Pursuit & Proposals team, Clients & Markets

Line of Service
Internal Firm Services

Specialism
IFS - Clients & Markets

Management Level
Manager

Job Description & Summary
PwC Global Overview

At PwC, we measure success by our ability to create the value that our clients and our people are looking for. Our reputation lies in building lasting relationships with our clients and a focus on delivering value in all we do. We're a network of firms in 156 countries with more than 295,000 people who are committed to delivering world-class capabilities and quality in assurance, tax and advisory services.

PwC Middle East Overview

Established in the region for over 40 years, PwC Middle East employs around 7,000 people across 12 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates. Complementing our depth of industry expertise and breadth of skills is our sound knowledge of local business environments across the Middle East region. Our tailored solutions help our clients meet the challenges and opportunities of doing business in the Middle East market, and beyond.

Line of Service Overview

Internal Firm Services (IFS), is a network of specialist support professionals and includes Clients & Markets (Pursuit & Proposals, Business Development and Marketing), Recruitment, Human Capital, Finance, Technology, Learning and Development and Procurement, to name but a few. Each team plays a vital role in making sure we have all the right resources, services and technology across our business.

Business Unit Overview - Middle East Pursuit team

We are a regional team of Pursuit and Proposal specialists and Coaches, providing end-to-end management and coaching through the bid process. We use tried and tested Pursuit methodologies - embedding
innovation and technology to drive client centricity and support the firm in winning work.

The successful candidate will be part of the Clients & Markets Middle East Pursuit team, supporting the business across all our lines of service - and you will be contributing to securing the firm's most important and high profile opportunities across a range of industries.

The role requires you to be at the forefront of our most important opportunities across all our Lines of Service - supporting the Partners and Engagement Teams to project manage and provide support by driving the Pursuit process - helping the firm win work and generate revenue.

You will be required to lead and manage the pursuit of the firm's most strategic opportunities by offering pursuit advice throughout the opportunity lifecycle, including proposal development and management and pitch coaching, as well as lead the firm's formal Pursuit framework training and development programme. You will be responsible for bringing the best of the firm together in order to ensure we focus on the right market opportunities and to help improve the win rate. 

You will be required to collaborate with multiple regional teams - and global teams when necessary - to execute the Pursuit process which will include coordination of the proposal responses as well as draft key content. This will also require working with cross-functional teams to coordinate content development and facilitate resource needs across opportunities. As one piece of the ecosystem, the Pursuit Manager will drive opportunities from pre-RFP to proposal submission and client oral presentations.

The successful candidate will have strong analytical and problem solving skills, and written communication skills will be key. You will ensure that the team is driving the correct messaging in proposals, as well as be familiar with how Big 4 firms are structured (preferred, but not essential), their offerings, and their operating model.

You will work with colleagues from across the Middle East firm and will be encouraged to work with specialists from across the PwC Network to leverage best practice and share knowledge to bring the best of the firm to the proposals to this account.

Key responsibilities

- The role requires you to be proactive and at the forefront of the firm's most important opportunities - effectively supporting the Business Development team, our Partners and Engagement teams to pursue must win opportunities  
- Coach teams on Pursuit; the firm's global framework for creating opportunities and winning work
- Collaborate across all key functions to develop proposals and the content, project manage, innovate and drive the overall Proposal process from RFP stage to client orals
- Ability to develop a comprehensive pursuit and proposal response plan from scratch and implement - as well as develop the overall pursuit strategy for specific opportunities 
- Consistently lead and manage concurrently large, strategic pursuits and proposal submissions, including leveraging the knowledge of a professional services firm's operations, internal processes, tools, and support services 
- Demonstrate thorough understanding of key elements, terms, and processes found within a Consulting or professional services proposal 
- Build and sustain relationships with key account team members, industry leaders, and Directors and Partners through high quality support on their opportunities 
- Support engagement teams on drafting compelling executive summaries and value propositions, manage proposal resources and prepare and/or coordinate complex written and verbal materials 
- Present options for innovation within our proposals documents (for example, using digital assets) to enhance the client experience
- Think strategically about the opportunity and the client to ensure dynamic win themes are developed and presented throughout the proposal document 
- Ability to organise and collaborate with individuals at all levels of seniority across multiple territories, where required
- Coordinate resources (designers, document production, technical subject matter specialists, etc.) to drive the efficient development proposals
- Ability to be creative and flexible in thinking and problem solving. Marrying this with the ability to bring experience and knowledge from prior experience to each new opportunity
- Contribute to practice process development and documentation, specific to coordination and collaboration with entities such as Finance, Risk & Quality, Cross Border Facilitation etc

Requirements

Requirements: 

- The candidate will be a highly motivated and a high performing individual with the ability to be flexible and adaptive on a daily basis
- Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent
- Years of experience: 5+ years in a proposals role - preferably within a professional services environment
- Fluency in spoken and written English (and Arabic is an advantage)
- Previous experience in strategy consulting or management consulting is a plus

Knowledge and Skills:

- Strong problem solving and analytical skills
- Excellent communication (verbal and written) skills
- Working experience of the Middle East Market and a strong understand of the market nuances
- Excellent organisational, time management, quality management, and project management skills with the ability to prioritise workload, work with senior stakeholders and perform under pressure
- Knowledge of the Professional Services Industry
- Strong PowerPoint and/or Google Slides skills, as well as more generally, being proficient in Microsoft office and G-Suite
- Proficiency in Salesforce is an advantage
- Proficiency in PowerBi and Alteryx is an advantage

About the Company

At PwC Middle East, we've set out an ambitious purpose and strive to live it everyday: to solve important problems and build trust in society.

We're a community of solvers that come together in unexpected ways to build trust and create sustained outcomes. We solve important problems, support one another as we grow, develop and build fulfilling careers.

PwC provides industry-focused services for public and private clients across Assurance and Audit, Deals, Consulting, Tax and Legal. We draw on our development legacy that brings together the collective experience of over 7,000 people in our region with offices across 12 countries to solve for tomorrow.

We're striving to consistently deliver innovative work that builds trust and delivers sustained outcomes. And we're proud of the strength that comes from all our different backgrounds and experiences and we value everyone's uniqueness. We thrive in uncertainty, operate with integrity and leverage the diverse perspectives of our teams.

If you're looking for a place that fuels your ambition to make a difference, that matches your curiosity with continuous learning opportunities and reimagines ways of working to enable you to lead a more balanced life, then you're a future PwCer.