UK Public Sector Bid Writer & Tender Manager

UK PUBLIC SECTOR BID WRITER & TENDER MANAGER

Remote | Part-Time (up to 20 hrs/week) | Hybrid Pay + Uncapped Rev Share

Pay Structure — Read This First
Before you read anything else, understand how this role pays. It's built for genuine specialists who want real upside, not for generalists looking for stable hourly work.

• Base pay: $8 USD per hour, up to 20 hours per week (about $640/month).
• Rev share: 5% of first year's revenue on every UK public sector contract you write that we win. No cap. Paid as we invoice.
• Instant win bonus: $500 USD paid the day a contract is awarded, before we've invoiced anything.
• Big win bonus: £2,000 GBP additional bonus for any single contract worth £250,000 or more.

Framework panel bonus: £3,000 GBP paid the day JKN is confirmed on any framework panel worth £5M+ in total value. Paid regardless of whether call-offs land later.
What that means in real numbers

• Win a £50,000 contract: $500 instant + £2,500 rev share = £2,900+ total
• Win a £150,000 contract: $500 instant + £7,500 rev share = £7,900+ total
• Win a £250,000+ contract: $500 instant + £2,000 big-win bonus + £12,500+ rev share = £15,000+ total
• Get JKN onto a £10M framework panel: £3,000 panel bonus + ongoing rev share on call-off contracts for the framework life (3-4 years). Typically £5,000-£25,000+ total over framework life

Win a framework worth £500,000 in year one: $500 instant + £3,000 framework bonus + £25,000 rev share = £28,000+ total (about $35,000
EARNINGS OUTLOOK If you're good at this and we work together for a year, you should earn between $20,000 and $50,000 USD. That's what this role is designed to deliver for the right person.

About JKN Digital

We are JKN Digital Limited, an established UK large format print and signage company based in the North of England. Founded in 1988. We currently print for multi-site retail, hospitality, and brand clients across the UK, including some of the biggest names in British business.
We're now entering the UK public sector market. Local councils, NHS trusts, universities, housing associations, and central government departments all spend millions every year on printed signage, wayfinding, POS, banners, and vehicle graphics. That's where you come in.
We already have the operational capability, the case studies, the credentials, and the samples. What we don't have is a specialist who lives and breathes UK public procurement. That's the role.

What You'll Do

• You will run our end-to-end UK public sector tendering process:
• Monitor UK tender portals daily for opportunities matching our capability.
• Filter opportunities and present a weekly shortlist of "worth bidding" tenders with clear reasoning.
• Write full bid responses end-to-end: technical, quality, social value, executive summaries.
• Manage the entire submission process on each portal, including uploads, forms, clarifications, and hitting deadlines.
• Chase post-tender debriefs on every loss and feed lessons back into future bids.
• Build and maintain our bid library, evidence files, and case studies.
• Report weekly on pipeline, submissions, wins, losses, and what we should do next.

You are the specialist. We defer to you on public sector strategy. We give you the raw materials and the sign-off. You run the process.

Our Target Contract Zone
Focus your effort where JKN can genuinely win. Not the tiny contracts, not the giant ones.

• Primary target: individual contracts between £250,000 and £1,000,000. This is JKN's sweet spot on financial covenants, operational scale, and competitive positioning.

• Highest priority: framework agreements worth £5M+ total (across all appointed suppliers). Getting JKN onto framework panels is the single most valuable outcome of your work. Framework panels generate call-off contracts for 3-4 years without further competitive bidding.

• Secondary target: multi-lot contracts with smaller lots (sub-£1M) that JKN can bid on individually.

• Do not bid on: single contracts under £50k (not worth the effort), single contracts over £2M (JKN's scale doesn't credibly compete), or specifications that are clearly written for a specific incumbent supplier.

Mandatory Experience

Read this carefully. Applications missing any of the following will be rejected without review.

• Minimum 3 years' professional experience writing UK public sector bids. Non-UK public sector experience does not qualify. Private sector bids do not qualify.

• Direct hands-on experience with at least 5 of these portals: Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, YORtender, The Chest, NEPO, Proactis, Delta eSourcing, In-Tend, ProContract, NHS Sourcing Platform.

• Fluent, native-standard written English at UK public sector formal register. Your writing must be indistinguishable from a UK-born writer's.

Working knowledge of UK procurement terminology: PQQ, ITT, SQ, DPS, framework agreement, sub-lot, call-off, mini-competition, PPN 06/20 social value, TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, Measures), Public Contracts Regulations, MEAT scoring.
Proof of Past Wins — Verifiable, No Exceptions
You must provide evidence of at least 3 UK public sector contracts you have personally written and won for previous clients or employers. For each, we require:

1.Winning company name (yours or the client's)

2. Contracting authority (specific council, NHS trust, university, etc.)

3. Approximate contract value

4. Year of award

Plus ONE of these three as proof for each contract:

• Copy of the award letter or contract notice from the contracting authority (redact commercial confidentiality only).

• Written reference from the winning company we can contact to verify.

• Public link to the tender award notice on Find a Tender or Contracts Finder that we can independently verify.

NO EXCEPTIONS "Confidential, cannot share" is not acceptable. We understand commercial confidentiality, but at least one verifiable case is a hard requirement. If you can't prove what you've done, this role isn't for you.
Desirable (Nice to Have)

• Bid writing for print, signage, graphics, or facilities management specifically.

• Framework and DPS applications, including Crown Commercial Service frameworks.

• Experience with G-Cloud or other national procurement frameworks.

What We Provide

• Full access to JKN's UK company documentation: financials, ISO evidence, insurance certificates, environmental and safety policies, case studies, portfolio, and physical samples.

• Direct access to the owner (Wilko) and sales manager (Hassan) for factual questions and bid sign-off.

• A JKN Digital email address so you represent us professionally.

• Payment in USD via Wise or Payoneer.

• A partner-style working relationship, not agency churn.

How We Work

• Up to 20 hours per week, flexible schedule.

• Minimum 4-hour daily overlap with UK working hours (9am to 5pm GMT/BST).

• 2-hour response window during your working hours.

• Weekly video sync with Wilko or Hassan.

Application Requirements

5. Applications missing any of the following will be rejected without review. Do not send partial applications.

6. Your CV with dates, employers, and specific detail on UK public sector bid writing experience.

7. Your list of 3+ verifiable UK public sector wins (as described above).

8. Names and current work email s of 2 UK-based references we can contact (managers, clients, or contracting authority contacts).

A 400-word writing sample answering this question:

WRITING SAMPLE QUESTION "Please describe your organisation's approach to quality management on multi-site UK-wide print rollouts, including how you ensure brand consistency across
geographically dispersed sites and how you handle production issues without impacting client deadlines. Structure your answer for a formal UK public sector bid response. 400 words maximum."

9. Do not use AI to write this. We run every sample through GPTZero and Originality.ai. AI-detected writing means immediate rejection.

Written confirmation that you accept the hybrid pay structure, 20 hours per week availability, 4-hour daily UK overlap, and 2-hour response window.

Assessment Process

10. Application review (5 days): We check your application against the mandatory requirements. Missing anything means rejection.

11. Reference calls (3 days): We contact your 2 UK references before proceeding.

12. Independent verification (3 days): We verify at least one of your named past wins independently.

13. Paid trial task (5 days): We pay you $75 USD to complete a real 3-hour task: assess a live UK tender we choose, write a bid/no-bid recommendation with reasoning, and draft a 500-word technical response for that specific tender. This is where we see your actual work.

14. Video interview (1 day): 45 minutes with Wilko. Discussion of past wins, approach, and how we'll work together.

15. Contract offer: 30-day trial period at full pay structure. Rev share applies to any contract won during the trial.
Who Shouldn't Apply

You've never written a UK public sector bid but are willing to learn. This is a specialist role, not a training opportunity.

You've written private sector bids only. Public sector is a completely different discipline.

You can't verify your past wins. We won't accept "trust me."

You use AI or ChatGPT to write bid responses.

You want stable salaried work with no volatility. This role has modest base pay and high upside by design.

Why This Role, Why Now

You've probably worked at a UK bid consultancy or as a subcontractor to one. You've written winning bids that other people got credit for. You've watched account managers collect commissions on deals you won for them.
This role is different. Your name goes on the win. Your rev share reflects the value you create. And if we grow this pipeline together, you grow with it.

We're not looking for cheap labour. We're looking for a partner who wants to build something over the next few years.

How to Apply

Send everything in one email to [YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS].
Subject line: UK Bid Writ