Location
Weybridge, Southampton or Dartford offices, Southern region, United Kingdom. Hybrid working supported with three days in the office and two days working from home each week, depending on team needs.

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Negotiable

About the Role
We are seeking a Preconstruction Manager to join our Southern regional team, reporting to the Head of Preconstruction. In this pivotal leadership role, you will secure future work for the business by leading high-performing preconstruction teams to develop winning solutions and deliver profitable, high-quality bids. You will provide strategic direction across regional work-winning activities, ensuring opportunities are appropriately resourced, governed, and positioned for success.

You will oversee multiple preconstruction opportunities across sectors including Education, Leisure, Health, Blue Light, Defence, Transport, and Science & Technology. Your role will ensure projects are strategically positioned, commercially robust, and aligned with customer requirements. Working closely with customers, consultants, operational leaders, and supply chain partners, you will foster an environment where successful bids are developed and converted into secured projects.

This highly influential role combines strategic leadership, commercial acumen, and stakeholder engagement to drive second stage bid success, strengthen customer relationships, and support the continued growth of our Southern business.

Key Responsibilities:
- Lead and oversee multiple preconstruction opportunities, ensuring bids are delivered on time, to the highest quality, and aligned with business objectives.
- Establish and drive winning bid strategies that respond to customer priorities while protecting commercial outcomes.
- Ensure effective governance throughout the preconstruction process, including board approvals and key decision gateways.
- Champion innovation, value engineering, and customer-focused solutions that differentiate our offer in the market.
- Lead, inspire, and develop multidisciplinary preconstruction teams, providing coaching and support to Project Managers, Design Managers, Estimators, Planners, and wider bid teams.
- Foster a collaborative, high-performing culture focused on continuous improvement, learning, and success.
- Support succession planning and development of future preconstruction talent.
- Ensure effective resource planning and allocation across the preconstruction portfolio.
- Ensure second stage bids are commercially robust, accurately costed, and aligned with profitability expectations.
- Oversee project risk identification, mitigation strategies, and opportunity management throughout preconstruction.
- Contribute to regional business planning through pipeline management, resource forecasting, and strategic work-winning activities.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, consultants, design partners, and supply chain organisations.
- Act as a trusted advisor throughout the preconstruction process, collaborating with operational, commercial, and technical teams to ensure seamless transition into delivery.
- Represent Willmott Dixon professionally across customer meetings, interviews, and industry engagements.

Experience
- Proven experience leading and managing preconstruction activities within a main contractor environment.
- Strong knowledge of two-stage negotiated tender processes.
- Solid experience securing work and delivering successful bid outcomes.
- Experience leading, developing, and coordinating multidisciplinary teams.
- Strong commercial awareness with the ability to balance customer priorities, programme requirements, and project profitability.
- Excellent stakeholder management and customer-facing skills.
- Strong understanding of construction methodologies, risk management, and design development processes.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills.

About You
Degree qualified in a construction-related discipline or equivalent industry experience. You are a strategic leader with commercial acumen, able to inspire and develop teams while building strong customer relationships. You thrive in a collaborative environment and are committed to continuous improvement and innovation.

Qualifications
- Degree in a construction-related discipline or equivalent industry experience.
- Membership of MCIOB, RICS, APM, or a similar professional body is desirable.
- Experience managing multiple concurrent preconstruction opportunities is advantageous.
- Understanding of sustainability, social value, and modern methods of construction within the preconstruction process is desirable.