During Your Programme

These web pages aim to provide a handy access point for information that you will need during your apprenticeship programme.

On this page:

Your Tutors & Coaches

The full team involved in teaching and coaching for the Bid and Proposal Apprenticeship.

Angela Denise
Tutor & Coach

Gemma Waring
Tutor

Paula Wakelin

Paula Waklin
Progress Adviser

Bee Dalrymple
Coach & Progress Adviser

Explaining the Roles

There are three key roles in the team which will support your apprenticeship. Some members of staff cover more than one of these.

Your tutor will lead you through your workshops or seminars and deliver a large proportion of the knowledge elements of your apprenticeship with you.

Your coach will meet with you each month to help develop and evidence your skills and behaviours within the workplace. Your line manager will attend part of this session. They will help you gather evidence to demonstrate your overall competency.

Your learner progress adviser will help provide additional support where needed and monitor your progress. You will meet with them, and your line manager, every three months.

Your E-Portfolio: OneFile

We use OneFile as our e-portfolio system. This is where your assignments will be set, you will submit your work and you will log your off-the-job training.

Your regular reviews will be stored on here as will some resources for your course. You will complete a learning journal, be able to monitor your progress towards your Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours and refer to your workplace training plan.

Our training video covers all the key features of OneFile you need to know. Visit the Support and FAQs page if you have questions or issues.

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours

During your Bid & Proposal Coordinator apprenticeship you will learn to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Knowledge

Understanding the sales life cycle and how it all fits together; from opportunity tracking/pipeline, customer engagement, capture planning, competitive tendering, presentations, negotiations, contract award, implementation and delivery

  • Understand and follow a detailed proposal process from opportunity qualification/Request for Information (RFI) stage, solution development, bid resource allocation, proposal writing and development, production and submission
  • Understand when to use appropriate supporting templates and procedures, ensuring necessary steps, reviews and signatories are planned prior to proposal submissions

  • Know how to use bid software to compile electronic submissions and understand how e-portals work, including how and where electronic tenders are handled
  • Understand how to assist in the dissection of a bid and identify the customer’s key requirements
  • Understand the relevant customer key issues and win strategy for individual proposals/bids
  • Understand a range of tools and methods to analyse a proposal e.g. SWOT analysis
  • Awareness of commercial and pricing positioning and frameworks – to best describe value versus cost
  • Understand the importance of contract management and the key areas for risk and mitigation of contracts
  • Awareness of the importance of handling data, confidentiality, data protection, competition law and relevant business commercial policy

  • The importance of relevant, high quality and up to date content including case studies and evidence
  • Know-how and when to use sensitive and confidential information
  • Maintaining relevant certificates for registrations, accreditations memberships, frameworks, records and subscriptions

  • Understand the roles and responsibilities required for each bid and proposal lifecycle, including bid managers, proposal management, writers, document managers, graphics and knowledge base managers

Skills

  • Excellent organisational and time management skills to manage multiple activities simultaneously and prioritise own and others’ workloads
  • Ability to meet defined deadlines and set own milestones to manage workload
  • Ability to create and utilise a bid plan timetable and responsibility matrix, supporting virtual team adherence to process
  • Contribute to proposal project timetable including the timely collection of data from various parties including sub-contractors, consultants and internal subject experts
  • Ability to meet bid submission deadlines according to guidelines / instructions
  • Logging and capture of all proposal data in central repository
  • Able to maintain a healthy work life balance and understand the reasons why it is important to do so
  • Maintain compliance matrices to ensure compliance to all questions Capable of managing multiple projects and deadlines

  • Ability to proofread with an eye for detail
  • Good creative writing skills and good grammar/authoring
  • Collate proposal documents using library/information stores, search engines/corporate directories
  • Ability to use a range of tools, methods and search engines, to analyse and assimilate data, such as competitor analysis or customer research

  • Good verbal and written communication skills, and ability to communicate professionally with colleagues at all levels of the business
  • Liaise with sales/legal/finance teams and other virtual team members as necessary

  • The importance of putting the customer first and tailoring bid documents to their needs, wants and requirements

  • Work and engage with colleagues and virtual teams, leveraging relationships and networks to support information gathering and writing
  • Build relationships with colleagues and subject matter experts across the business, learning the ‘go to’ people and how to manage their input
  • Build rapport and trust

Behaviours

  • A self-starter, with a desire to succeed
  • Uses initiative to ensure effective workload management, deadlines and co-ordination of activities

  • Willing to work flexibly to ensure that workload is managed effectively and deadlines are achieved

  • Awareness of self and impact on others
  • Able to work across large and virtual teams

  • A drive to win
  • A desire to go the extra mile to deliver winning bids

  • Always acts professionally and ethically, protecting the confidentiality of the organisation and customers.

  • Willingness to continuously look for new and better ways of working, whilst considering the underlining best practice processes

Off-the-Job Training

You will need to dedicate around 20% of your working hours to your learning and development, which equates to around one day a week.

How Can I Evidence My Learning?

Your coach and tutor will work with you to best gather evidence of your training. This can take various forms.

Functional Skills

Each Apprenticeship standard requires you to hold a certificate to at least a Level 2 in Math and English. If you do not have copies of your certificates, or if they are not held on the learner record service, then you will need to undertake the Functional Skills course.

Helpful Tips, Tricks & Techniques

We’ve compiled resources to supercharge your apprenticeship journey. Delve into our “Helpful Tips, Tricks & Techniques” guide, covering everything from polished business documents to expert minute-taking. Level up your skills for ensure your success.

Completing Your Apprenticeship

End Point Assessment (EPA) is the process at the end of your programme for you to demonstrate to a third party assessor that you have acquired the knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the apprenticeship standard. This will only happen once yourself, your line manager and Skills Coach have agreed that you are ready.

Safeguarding, Prevent, Welfare & British Values

Paula Wakelin
Paula WakelinSafeguarding & Prevent Officer
There is nothing more important than keeping you safe. If you or someone you know is at risk, click on the button below to raise your concerns.

We are strongly committed to practices that protect you from the risk of abuse, neglect or significant harm. Our staff recognise and accept their responsibility to develop an awareness of the risks and issues involved in safeguarding. All staff and learners should have zero tolerance for abuse, bullying, neglect and violence.

Prevent is about safeguarding people and communities from the threat of terrorism. At the heart of Prevent is safeguarding children and adults and providing early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.

We provide expert support to help you on your apprenticeship journey. This includes mental health and neurodiversity, careers guidance and academic and financial challenges.

We want to help you achieve your full potential. We offer careers consultancy to ensure you have impartial and constructive information and guidance to help you decide and then to action your career decisions.

We aim to create an equal, diverse, inclusive and respectful culture. All of us contribute towards this culture through our actions and words. JGA aims to address any barriers to equality in our systems, policies and decision making as well as in our behaviour and ways of working.

The Fundamental British Values underpin what it is to be a citizen in a modern and diverse United Kingdom, valuing our community and celebrating diversity.

There is a code of conduct which applies to you and all learners on our programmes. This lays out the expectations for your behaviour whilst on the apprenticeship.