Assistant Manager - Bids & Estimation

Job Purpose

To manage bid management, techno-commercial estimation, costing and proposal preparation for Aerospace & Defence manufacturing programs, ensuring accurate, competitive and timely submission of customer quotations and tenders.

Key Responsibilities

• Review RFQs, RFPs, tenders, customer specifications, drawings and SOWs for Aerospace & Defence programs.
• Prepare cost estimates and techno-commercial quotations covering material, labour, machining/fabrication, tooling, testing, inspection, overheads and other program costs.
• Develop BOM-based costing, should-cost estimates, cost models and pricing proposals.
• Coordinate with Engineering, Production, Quality, SCM, Finance and Program Management teams for bid inputs.
• Obtain and analyse material, process, tooling and subcontracting costs from suppliers and internal functions.
• Prepare Make/Buy analysis, cost breakdowns and commercial assumptions.
• Identify cost drivers, risks, exclusions, assumptions and deviations in customer requirements.
• Support preparation of technical and commercial bid proposals and ensure compliance with RFQ requirements.
• Participate in bid review meetings, negotiations and clarification discussions with customers.
• Maintain a database of historical costing, supplier quotations, process rates and benchmark costs for future bids.
• Track submitted bids, revisions, customer queries and bid-to-order conversion.
• Support management in pricing strategy, cost reduction and margin analysis for new Aerospace & Defence opportunities.

Desired Skills

• Aerospace / Defence bid management and estimation
• RFQ / RFP / Tender analysis
• Should-costing & cost modelling
• BOM costing and pricing
• Manufacturing process costing
• Sheet metal / machining / fabrication / assembly costing
• Tooling and NRE costing
• Supplier quotation analysis
• Excel / MS Office; ERP/SAP knowledge preferred
• Strong analytical, commercial and negotiation skills
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings and technical specifications

Preferred Industry Exposure

Candidates from Aerospace, Defence, Aviation, Precision Engineering, Automotive, Railways or High-Value Engineering Manufacturing industries with experience in Bids, Estimation, Costing, Quotation or Proposal Management would be relevant.

Key Performance Indicators

• Accuracy and timeliness of quotations
• Bid submission turnaround time
• Costing accuracy and margin adherence
• Bid-to-order conversion
• Cost competitiveness
• Compliance with customer RFQ/tender requirements
• Effective cross-functional coordination