2025
UK Bid and Proposal Salary Survey
Bid Solutions provides the definitive salary benchmarking data for the UK Bid and Proposal profession.
Our unrivalled network allows us to gather the most comprehensive and accurate salary benchmarking data available for the UK profession. By tailoring our surveys to get to the heart of what drives candidate behaviour, we help our clients, candidates and consultants make informed decisions about their recruitment strategies and careers.
The 2025 UK
Bid & Proposal Salary Survey represents the most comprehensive study ever undertaken.
Core Roles – Salary & Day Rate Fact Sheets
Bid Coordinator
Bid Writer
Proposal Manager
Bid Manager
Head of Bid Writing
Head of Proposal Management
Head of Bid Management
Key Findings – 2025 Salary Survey
Average Salary – All roles
The average salary in our profession across all permanent full-time roles is £68,940. This represents a 16.5% increase over the 2022 average (£59,163). The median salary across all roles is £65,000 (up from £55,000 in 2022).
Average Salary – Women
The average salary for women is £65,020, a 20.2% increase since 2022 (£54,085).
Average Salary – Men
The average salary for men is £74,915, a 12.5% increase since 2022 (£66,608).
Across all respondents, men on average earn 15.2% more than women. In 2022, the difference
was 23%.
Factoring inflation (RPI) into basic salary calculations, all bid and proposal roles have experienced a decrease in real monetary terms since the 2022 survey – except Bid Coordinators (2% increase). Heads of Bid Writing have experienced
the largest decrease, losing the equivalent of 21% of their basic salary. Heads of Proposal Management have lost 18%. Bid Managers and Proposal Managers have lost the equivalent of 14%. Bid Writers have lost 13%. Heads of Bid Management have lost 10%.
Heads of Bid Management are the best paid permanent staff within our profession, earning £81,101. Heads of Proposal Management are second, earning £74,341.
Bid Coordinators remain the lowest paid – but they attracted the largest salary increase of all roles (up 20.1% since 2022), earning £40,184.
Bid Managers earn £58,886 (a 1.5% increase), Proposal Managers earn £54,348 (a 1% increase) and Bid Writers earn £45,884 (a 2.6% increase).
60% of respondents aligned themselves to the Bid Solutions’ Bid Manager role description. 15% aligned to Bid Writer, 18% to Proposal Manager, 5% to Bid Coordinator, 1% to Knowledgebase Manager and 1% to Graphic Designer.
Professionals located in the South East attract the highest average basic salaries at £76,792. The North East & Cumbria once again recorded the lowest salaries at £53,615 (although this is up from £44,778 in 2018).
Those who work full time and are 100% home-based (across all UK locations) earn £65,695 (up from £58,330 in 2022).
Of the top 10 industries recorded in the survey, there is a 44% disparity between the highest (Law, with an average basic salary of £75,545) and lowest (Health & Medical, £52,481). Those seeking employment or considering long-term career planning should undertake comprehensive due diligence to identify where their skills will be most valued and ensure their salary expectations align with industry norms.
77% of respondents employed by an organisation work in large enterprises (250+ employees), 17% work in medium-sized organisations (50-249 employees) and 6% work in organisations with fewer than 50 employees.
48% of permanently employed respondents worked in bid teams with fewer than five professionals. 38% worked in teams with between 6 and 20 colleagues and 13% worked in bid teams with 21 or more team members.
Only 10% of respondents were extremely concerned about their career progression in 2025 if their employer did not adopt the latest generative AI technology. 24% stated that their organisations failure to keep up with the latest AI over the next 12 months would have no impact on their career progression. 24% were undecided.
66% stated Capture Manager wasn’t a clearly defined role in their organisation. 12% stated it sat within a Bid Manager’s role and a further 12% stated it sat within Sales/ Business Development. Only 10% stated it was a defined role with its own title and job description.
70% of respondents believe their career aspirations could be better met with a dedicated, transparently funded, UK-focussed professional body that specifically champions the needs of Capture, Bid and Proposal Management Professionals.
Only 42% of respondents (down from 49% in 2022) said their organisations published gender pay gap statistics to all staff.
On average, the best paid contractors are Proposal Managers, earning £784 per day (a 12% increase since 2022). Bid Managers earn an average of £659 per day (a 7% increase). Average day rates for Bid Writers are £602 per day, up 11%. Bid Coordinators earn £475 per day.
Respondents working as Consultants reported a wide range of total annual contract earnings – from £15,000 to £300,000. The median total contract earnings for Consultants with a minimum 95% utilisation (five weeks of holiday or less) is £110,000, with the average being £113,310 (a 33% increase on 2022).
Only 16% of Consultants (down from 25% in 2022) felt that IR35 Rules had negatively impacted their business.
90% of respondents have A-Levels or higher. 74% of those hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (unchanged from 2022). 1% have achieved Doctorate status and 1% are currently on an Apprenticeship.
74% of the profession regularly work more than their contracted hours (down from 86% in 2022). 27% of these work at least one hour above their contracted hours each day and 11% work at least two extra hours (or more) each day and regularly work weekends.
51% of those working extra hours are not compensated. Only 4% receive extra pay. 19% receive time off in lieu equivalent to the overtime worked.
45% of respondents have no personal development/training plan (down from 56.8% in 2022). This increases to 64% for self-employed/Consultants.
Unemployment within the survey sample is at 2% (up from 0.75% in 2022). Permanent employees make up 86% of the workforce (88.62% in 2022). Self- employed and temporary staff comprise only 12%.
60% of respondents are either ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ with their current role (down from 68% in 2022). 10% are not satisfied.
59% of respondents are ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ with their current basic salary/ day rate (down from 61% in 2022).
47% of those surveyed chose work-life balance as most important to them. 24% stated feeling valued was the most important factor and only 16% stated financial reward as their main driver. 13% felt progressing their career/consultancy business was most important.
283 different job titles were recorded in the survey (down from 420 in 2022).
The average age of all professionals surveyed is 44 (42 in 2022). The average man in our profession is 46 and the average woman is 42.
82% of respondents (down from 89% in 2022) still expect to build a long-term career in bid and proposal management. Only 5% (the same as in 2022) don’t have the same expectation.
Balancing all relevant individual, company, and market factors, 23% of respondents feel ‘Extremely Positive’ about securing a pay rise in 2025. 3% feel ‘Extremely Negative’ and expect a pay cut.
Contact Us
If you manage a Bid, Proposal or Work-Winning Team and require bespoke salary benchmarking data, or if you require specific salary guidance for a role you are recruiting, please book a meeting with one of the Bid Solutions team.
