Commercial Bid Executive

Commercial Bids Executive

Location: Derby (Hybrid Working)

Contract: Permanent

Company: Arriva Road Transport Services (ARTS)

Who We Are

Are you a driven business development professional with a passion for creating new opportunities and building meaningful client relationships? Do you have the energy, resilience and ambition to help drive the next phase of growth for our business?

If you're looking for a role where your efforts directly influence business success, your ideas are valued, and your contributions make a genuine difference, we'd love to hear from you.

At Arriva Road Transport Services (ARTS), we exist to prove that alternative transport can be better than the journey it replaces. Every year, we deliver over 80,000 rail replacement journeys, facilitate more than 20,000 train crew taxi journeys, and provide dedicated frontline support to customers across the UK.

As we continue to grow, we're expanding into new markets and seeking a Commercial Bids Executive to help identify, develop and qualify new business opportunities across the UK's ground transport sector and beyond.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Head of Commercial Bids, you'll play a key role in generating and qualifying new business opportunities across a range of sectors. This is a predominantly new business-focused role, where you'll research markets, engage prospective clients and build a strong pipeline of opportunities that contribute to ARTS' growth ambitions.

Working closely with commercial and operational teams, you'll be responsible for identifying opportunities, arranging meetings, qualifying prospects and supporting opportunities through the early stages of the sales and tender lifecycle.

What You'll Be Doing

Business Development & Pipeline Growth

Identify and research new business opportunities across target sectors

Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of prospective clients and opportunities

Execute outbound prospecting activity through phone, email, LinkedIn and other channels

Identify key decision-makers and develop strategies to engage them

Monitor tender portals and procurement platforms for relevant opportunities

Track market trends, contract renewals and emerging opportunities that align with ARTS' growth plans

Client Engagement & Opportunity Qualification

Arrange and attend introductory meetings with prospective clients

Qualify opportunities using structured assessment criteria

Prepare clear handover notes and briefings for bid and solution development teams

Maintain engagement with prospects throughout the sales process

Support the development of long-term client relationships

Market Intelligence & CRM Management

Maintain accurate and up-to-date CRM records

Track prospect activity, pipeline progression and engagement history

Gather and share market intelligence on competitors, procurement activity and industry developments

Support the development of commercial strategies through data-driven insights

Networking & Brand Awareness

Represent ARTS at industry events, exhibitions and networking opportunities

Build relationships with procurement teams, industry stakeholders and prospective clients

Collaborate with colleagues across Arriva to support wider growth initiatives

Help raise the profile of ARTS within target markets

What We're Looking For

Experience in business development, sales, account management or lead generation

A proven track record of identifying and developing new business opportunities

Strong prospecting skills across multiple channels, including telephone, email and LinkedIn

Experience maintaining and managing CRM systems

Excellent communication and relationship-building skills

Strong commercial awareness and the ability to identify strategic opportunities

Excellent organisation and pipeline management skills

A self-motivated, resilient and proactive approach to achieving results

Experience within transport, logistics, managed services, facilities management or a regulated B2B environment would be advantageous. Knowledge of tendering processes and procurement frameworks would also be beneficial.

Why Join Arriva Road Transport Services?

At ARTS, you'll join a growing and ambitious business where you'll have the opportunity to make a direct impact on our future success.

We offer:

Competitive salary

Hybrid working

Free travel on Arriva branded rail services across the country

Arriva Village employee discounts

Employee Assistance Programme with 24-hour confidential support

Opportunities for professional development and career progression

Ready to Help Shape Our Future Growth?

If you're passionate about winning new business, building relationships and helping a growing organisation achieve its ambitions, we'd love to hear from you.