What is a Bid Writer?

If you search “bid writer” online you’ll find job ads, freelance profiles and even AI tools claiming to do the role. Yet the professional definition is more precise.

Industry Definitions

• APMP: "A proposal professional responsible for translating win themes and solution data into a persuasive, compliant written response to an RFP or ITT. "

• CIPS: "A specialist who drafts supplier responses to formal buyer documentation, ensuring alignment with evaluation criteria. "

• UK Gov. ‘Outsourcing Playbook’ Glossary: "An individual tasked with producing narrative and evidence sections of a supplier response, distinct from pricing or project planning."

A bid writer is not simply a “copywriter”; their work sits at the junction of compliance, solution architecture and sales messaging.

Core Responsibilities

A Bid Writer will be expected to have responsibility for at least the following activities. In a small business, their scope may be much wider.

• Requirement Analysis - Break down each question, weighting and word-count limit; build a compliance matrix.

• Content Planning - Map out win themes, evidence blocks, case studies and graphics.

• Drafting & Iteration - Produce clear, evaluator-focused narrative; iterate through Pink/Red/Gold reviews.

• Stakeholder Extraction - Interview subject-matter experts for technical input and proof points.

• Quality & Consistency Checks - Apply style guides, tone, and brand language; validate against scoring guide.

• Submission Support - Final formatting, portal upload and clarification management

Skill Set

A Bid Writer needs the following skills. Some of these requirements evolve constantly as technology grows and the industry matures, and other skills have remained a constant in the profession.

• Plain-English writing: Evaluators skim hundreds of pages, clarity wins.

• Regulation literacy: Understanding of industry-specific regulations to avoid compliance pitfalls.

• Structured thinking: Quickly convert client benefits into evaluator scoring language.

• Interviewing & facilitation: Extract tacit knowledge from engineers, ops and finance.

• Time & risk management: Deadlines are immovable; omissions cost marks.

Modern bid writers often add AI-tool proficiency to accelerate compliance checks without sacrificing nuance.

Comparison of Similar Roles

Bid Writer: Produce narrative answers and evidence.

Proposal / Bid Manager: Owns overall strategy, schedule, governance and submission.

Bid Coordinator: Administers portals, logistics, version control.

In SMEs a single person may wear all three hats, but larger suppliers split responsibilities to deepen expertise

Why SMEs Need Dedicated Bid Writers

Improved win-rates: APMP benchmarking shows organisations with trained writers achieve 18-22% higher quality scores.

Faster turnaround: A maintained bid library and professional writer can cut drafting time by half.

Risk reduction: Compliance matrices catch missing policies and outdated certificates before submission.

Evaluator empathy: Writers trained in procurement language translate technical features into scored benefits.

How Bid Capture Adds Value

Bid Capture’s writers are APMP-certified and follow an ISO 9001 Red-Gold review cycle strengthened by our custom compliance engine. Whether you need a single response polished or a full bid team, we supply:

• A dedicated writer familiar with your sector

• AI-assisted first drafts and compliance scanning

• Social-value and ESG narrative specialists

• Export-ready documentation for overseas bids

Conclusion

A bid writer is the linchpin between raw technical capability and contract-winning narrative. Investing in professional bid writing, whether in-house or outsourced, pays back through higher scores, fewer rejections and a repeatable process your whole organisation can trust. If you’d like to explore how Bid Capture’s writers can lift your next submission, book a free 30-minute consultation today.