Where Engineering Meets Commercial Strategy

Are you an experienced engineer who enjoys looking beyond the technical solution to understand how projects are scoped, priced, negotiated and ultimately won?

At Varley Defence, we’re looking for someone who can bring together engineering expertise, commercial thinking and strong stakeholder skills to help shape complex Defence opportunities from the outset.

You’ll work across technical requirements, estimating, tenders, contracts and customer negotiations, collaborating with Engineering, Projects, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Commercial and Legal to develop solutions that are technically sound, commercially considered and positioned to succeed.

This isn’t a traditional bid-writing role. It’s an opportunity to use your engineering background in a broader, commercially focused position where you can influence opportunities before they become projects.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Bid Manager, you’ll work across complex Defence and Prime Contractor opportunities from early assessment through tender development, negotiation and submission.

You’ll help interrogate customer requirements, coordinate technical solutions, contribute to estimates and pricing, understand contractual obligations and identify commercial risks.

You’ll be comfortable reading and working with contracts and negotiating commercial positions, while having the judgement to recognise when a matter requires specialist advice from our Legal or Commercial teams.

This is a role for someone who asks the right questions, challenges assumptions and takes ownership of getting the information needed to move an opportunity forward.

And because Defence tendering has natural peaks and troughs, you’ll also have the initiative to use quieter periods productively, improving estimating information, bid content, processes, templates and lessons learned so we’re better prepared for the next opportunity.

What You’ll Be Doing

- Lead and support complex Defence and Prime Contractor tender responses
- Review technical requirements, specifications, scopes and customer documentation
- Work with Engineering and other technical SMEs to develop robust technical solutions
- Coordinate inputs across Projects, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality and Commercial




- Support development and validation of labour, material and subcontract cost estimates
- Ensure assumptions, exclusions, risks and commercial positions are clearly captured
- Review contractual requirements and identify commercial and delivery risks
- Support customer and supplier negotiations within appropriate commercial authority
- Work closely with Commercial and Legal where contractual interpretation or specialist advice is required
- Develop technical and commercial proposal content that is clear, credible and persuasive
- Manage tender requirements, compliance, schedules and submission milestones
- Identify opportunities to improve bid processes, estimating data, templates and reusable content
- Support tender clarifications, negotiations and post-submission activities

What We’re Looking For

First and foremost, we’re looking for an engineer who thinks commercially.

You could currently be a Project Engineer, Proposal Engineer, Tendering Engineer, Commercial Engineer, Applications Engineer or Senior Engineer who has increasingly become involved in customers, contracts, estimating, quotations or tenders.

Ideally, you’ll bring:

- A qualification and strong professional background in Engineering
- Exposure to complex engineered products, projects or manufacturing environments
- Experience supporting or developing tenders, bids, proposals, RFQs or quotations
- Commercial awareness, including pricing, estimating, assumptions and risk
- Experience reading and working with customer contracts and commercial terms
- Confidence participating in commercial and contractual negotiations
- The judgement to recognise when contractual matters require escalation to Legal
- Strong stakeholder skills and the confidence to work across technical and commercial teams
- Ability to interpret technical requirements and turn them into practical solutions
- Robust written communication skills and attention to detail




- A proactive approach and willingness to take ownership

Experience within Defence, Defence Primes, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, rail, mining, heavy engineering or another highly regulated technical environment would be highly regarded.

Previous exposure to ASDEFCON, Defence procurement, Basis of Estimate development or government contracting would be advantageous, but I would not make all of these essential.

Australian Citizenship and eligibility to obtain an NV1 Security Clearance are essential.

Why Join Varley Defence?

You’ll have the opportunity to influence projects before they’re won, working alongside experienced engineering, manufacturing, project and commercial professionals on complex Defence opportunities.

At Varley Defence, you’ll receive:

- Exposure to significant Defence and sovereign capability programs
- The opportunity to combine technical engineering with commercial strategy
- Direct involvement in tenders, customer negotiations and major pursuits
- Access to experienced Engineering, Commercial and Legal specialists
- Genuine scope to influence how opportunities are developed and delivered
- Variety across technical, commercial, estimating and proposal activities
- Career development within an established Australian Defence organisation
- Competitive salary package commensurate with experience
- Fitness Passport, providing access to discounted memberships across participating fitness facilities
- Confidential Employee Assistance Program (EAP) support for you and your immediate family
- Employee recognition initiatives
- A supportive and collaborative team environment
- Long-term career opportunities within a respected Australian-owned business

Location

This position is based at our Tomago, NSW facility and is 100% onsite.

If you’re currently located outside the Newcastle/Hunter region but are genuinely considering relocation, we’d still be interested in hearing from you.

Ready for Something Different?

If you’re an engineer who enjoys the commercial side of engineering, likes understanding how opportunities come together and wants greater exposure to tenders, contracts, customers and Defence pursuits, we’d like to hear from you.

Click Apply Now and tell us what you could bring to Varley Defence.

📌 Senior Bid Writer / Tender Specialist – Defence (Tomago)
🏢 Varley Group
📍 Tomago