What is a bid writer?

A bid writer plays a crucial role in securing contracts for a business by crafting compelling, well-structured, and persuasive proposals in response to tender opportunities. This in turn helps businesses increase their growth and development. Bid writers may be in-house, bid writing for one specific company, or they could work for a specialist consultancy providing bid writing services and manage bids on behalf of clients across a breadth of industries. At Executive Compass, we fall into the latter category, completing thousands of tenders for a variety of businesses in the last 12 months with an 85% success rate.

What do bid writers do?

Bid writers are responsible for responding to PQQ, bid, or tender documents, which an organisation is required to complete when bidding for a contract.

This includes researching client requirements, gathering relevant company information, and expressing a clear and competitive case for why their organisation is the best fit for the tender contract, balancing technical accuracy with engaging storytelling. A competent bid writer is capable of collaborating with subject matter experts, adhering to strict deadlines and ensuring compliance with tender specifications and any procurement legislation. Strong attention to detail, strategic thinking, and excellent writing skills are essential in this role, as their work directly influences a company’s ability to win new business and expand its market presence. Bid writers can work in either the private or public sector, tailoring responses to meet specific industry and buyer requirements.

External bid writers usually manage the entire bid process. This includes bid preparation, capture management, and information gathering—such as the initial client contact, interviews, and follow-ups—alongside writing the tender responses and overseeing the final submission. Alternatively, interim bid writers may be brought in to support during holiday cover or managing high-pressure deadlines. Some organisations may also choose to utilise a critical friend or a bid review service, providing an additional layer of quality assurance and strategic input to strengthen their submission.

This procurement process frequently takes place within a tight and immovable timeframe as determined by the buyer’s firm submission deadline. Within the public sector, this tends to be around 4–6 weeks. A bid writer’s role is therefore multifaceted and complex, requiring a high level of organisation, attention to detail and dedication to navigating the public sector procurement landscape effectively.

Analyse the bid and identify key requirements

Before starting a bid response, it is important to analyse the ITT documents thoroughly. This helps in understanding the public sector specification requirements and buyer expectations. The bid should be structured and tailored accordingly. A competent bid writer will then compile a checklist of required documentation, accreditations, and compliance elements such as word count and formatting rules to avoid disqualification. As part of the analysis, a bid writer will also compile a list of all required documentation and accreditations, along with any major points that need special attention. This can include word count, format, font size, etc.—anything that is a requirement and could cause the submission to fail. Data sections and any ‘tick box’ exercises can easily be completed once all the information is gathered.

Develop a strong answer plan

Bid writers start by carefully reviewing the ITT documents. They also conduct wider research on the buyer and sector. After this, they create an answer plan which breaks down the key points and requirements for each tender question.

This preparation ensures they can ask the right questions when collaborating with the wider team. For external bid writers, this stage is particularly important, as it helps bridge any knowledge gaps and ensures the bid accurately reflects the client’s expertise, experience, and service delivery.

Collaborate with experts

For internal, in-house bid writers, crafting a strong, persuasive bid relies on leveraging the expertise in their organisation. Engaging with technical leads, service specialists, and operational staff is essential. These subject matter experts help ensure responses accurately reflect the organisation’s capabilities. This also highlights unique selling points (USPs) and the benefits the organisation will deliver.

If not directly involved in service delivery, bid writers might interview those who are – such as frontline operatives – to gain deeper insights and real-world examples. As expert bid writers, we know that this collaborative approach strengthens bid responses, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and a well-rounded submission.

External bid writers, like Executive Compass, will follow a similar process, working closely with their client teams to gather technical information, company specifics and evidence, often through structured client interviews. Follow-ups may be necessary to refine responses and enhance competitiveness, ensuring the bid fully aligns with buyer requirements.

Write a persuasive and competitive bid

Once a bid writer has all the required information and data for the bid, the writing will begin. Responses should be clear, concise, highly detailed, and persuasive, reflecting the competitive nature of the tender process. To achieve this, the bid writer will use the information gathered from subject matter experts or the client, alongside the wider research. Additionally, they consider recommendations based on industry best practice, and competitive themes in tendering.

Evidence will be used throughout to substantiate key points, reassuring the evaluator of the bidder organisation’s competency and experience.

In cases where an external bid writer is used, each response will typically go through a rigorous quality assurance process. Expert bid writers like Executive Compass follow structured quality management systems, such as UKAS ISO 9001:2015 certification. This involves an in-depth review and assessment by our quality review team or the most senior members of our bid writing team, ensuring the content aligns with specification requirements and the question is fully answered.

Compile the documents

When all sections are completed, the bid writer will compile all the documents. This includes all necessary policies and procedures, accreditations, pricing information, and any supporting documents required.

Procurement legislation dictates most of the tender process and requires a contracting authority to be rigorous in its evaluation, which includes various documentation and policies to be submitted by a bidder. The significance of this stage is not to be underestimated: bids that fail to submit any mandatory documents can be deemed non-compliant and result in a failed submission. Being a successful bid writer consequently covers numerous key stages: designing, writing, editing, and then checking the bid documents fully. This process may also involve the placing of responses into a template or custom-designed format. Once completed, the bid can finally be submitted to the authority; typically, this is done via an online portal.

Finalise and submit the bid

Once all sections are complete and the bid writer has compiled the document with the necessary policies, procedures, and accreditations to ensure correct formatting and full compliance, it is time to submit the bid. Submission is typically done via an online portal, where including all mandatory documents is essential to avoid disqualification.

While the submission process may seem straightforward, it can often be complex. Some buyers allow direct email submissions, but most require bids to be uploaded through official portals—each with its own unique navigation and submission process. Mistakes such as accidental overwrites or incomplete uploads can jeopardise an otherwise strong bid, and unfamiliarity with these systems can lead to costly errors. It is also important to leave enough time to submit your bid via the online portal to minimise any IT issues or errors close to the deadline.

Using external bid writers can help avoid this, as most bid writing firms have specialists experienced in handling the online portals. Their expertise ensures that bids are submitted correctly and on time, reducing the risk of technical errors, accidental uploads, or submission failures.

How to become a bid writer?

Although bid writing is becoming increasingly recognised, it remains quite a niche career. At Executive Compass, our team of bid writers come from a variety of backgrounds and careers. The ‘golden thread’ that unites us all is our writing abilities, and typical qualifications include English Literature at A Level and a writing-based degree (e.g. English, history, politics, or law).

This is not exclusive: we have bid writers with a background in economics, for example. The individual may also have worked in a specific industry sector, such as engineering or construction, relevant to the tenders that we complete. Our recruitment process is therefore open to all with a degree or higher. Applicants go through multiple stages, including a CV review, a writing test, and interviews. These stages give individuals a chance to demonstrate their suitability for a bid writing career in a professional bid writing firm.

For in-house bid writers, it is common for someone in an administrative role in an organisation to work as a bid coordinator or junior bid writer. As their knowledge of the organisation and subsequent skills develop—or if they already have operational knowledge—they may transfer to a bid team, drawing on their technical knowledge and subject matter expertise. Any organisation with a desire to work with the public sector or to secure contracts over a certain threshold must engage with the tender process. As a result, most organisations require this role. It can also be an ideal career path in terms of growth and progression.

At Executive Compass, our win rates speak for themselves. We employ professional bid writers and bid managers who have all been trained internally to meet our high standards. Using our professional bid writing services will guarantee your company a submission of the highest possible quality. Whether you require full bid management or simply need help with bid writing, our expertise will ensure a competitive and compliant submission.