01 Apr Building the right teams: engineering expanding bidding and pursuit functions

Posted at 08:30h in Insights by Charles Handley

1 April 2019

The engineering sector is increasingly looking for high caliber pursuit and bid delivery specialists, with notable interest in candidates from consulting, legal and the Big Four.

While technical knowledge is relevant, skills such as influencing (including writing to influence), storytelling, technical writing to simplify complexity, visual communications, client centricity, innovation, design thinking for solutions and collaboration are now central to winning work.

“Intelligent and curious people who can make connections, ask the right questions, challenge and engage will be in high demand. These skills are going to become more important in the future across all firms, not just engineering.”

Zoe Steen, Australasian Bidding Lead for Transport and Resources at Arup

Drivers of change

  • We have seen a significant upturn in major Government-backed infrastructure projects around Australia
  • Design projects across Asia Pacific, including New Zealand, have grown markedly
  • Subdued hiring and cutbacks since 2009 have left many firms under-resourced ahead of this upturn, coupled with the parallel need to significantly improve the acquisition cost/win ratio
  • Firms require greater bid consistency and quality as bid numbers increase
  • The client-centric ethos is driving increased efforts to co-create opportunities with clients.

Next steps

Curious to understand whether the engineering sector is for you? Contact Dalton Handley for a confidential discussion and expert advice.