Strategist, Bids & Business Development

The Role

The UK is making a wholesale shift to AI: government, from the AI Opportunities Action Plan through to the tools the Incubator for AI is putting in front of civil servants, and enterprises racing to put AI to work. Scale wants to play a foundational role in building the reliable AI applications both will run on. Our work spans building custom AI applications that reach millions of users, generating high-quality training data for custom LLMs, and providing upskilling and AI advisory services. We're building our UK business from a standing start, and we need someone with a lot of energy to help it move.

As a Strategist, you'll help grow Scale's UK business, partnering with technical stakeholders to identify and win opportunities across public sector (central government and defence & security) and enterprise. Public sector is the main focus, but we're a small UK team and you'll flex onto enterprise opportunities where they matter. The role is UK-focussed to start, with scope to extend into Europe and the Middle East as the team grows. You'll sit at the centre of our go-to-market effort, combining business development groundwork with the bids and tender work that turns an opportunity into a contract. You'll work in a dynamic and often unstructured environment, and you'll learn how big AI programmes get sold and delivered into government and large organisations, working right next to the people doing it.

This is a technical, commercially minded role. It's a good fit if you're curious about AI and data, can explain technical ideas in simple, precise language, and want real responsibility early.

What you'll do

• Work with the UK Public Sector Lead, UK leadership, government relations and the wider team on go-to-market strategy across central government, defence & security, and enterprise
• Research target departments and enterprise accounts, map who matters, and build target lists, outreach and pipeline
• Break into UK enterprise: pick the sectors and accounts worth going after, get in front of commercial buyers, and run deals that sit outside public procurement
• Build relationships and partnerships that open routes to new opportunities, from government and ecosystem partners to delivery and channel partners
• Help customers across government and enterprise find impactful AI use cases and shape their vision for AI
• Run framework applications and tenders end to end (PQQs, RFIs, RFPs), and get to know UK public sector procurement properly (G-Cloud, the Digital Marketplace, the main CCS frameworks)
• Develop pitches, proposals and executive-level documents backed by clear business cases, and adapt how we pitch and contract for enterprise, where buyers and cycles look very different from government
• Sit in on customer meetings, answer questions as they come up, and turn them into clear next steps that move an opportunity towards a signed deal
• Take on whatever the market needs. Roles are loose when a team is this small.

What we're looking for

• At least 5 years in business development, bids, consulting, strategy or advisory, ideally with some 0-to-1 or market-entry exposure. Public sector experience is a plus, not a must.
• A real interest in AI and data, and the ability to explain technical concepts clearly to non-technical audiences
• Someone who knows how to use AI tooling well to move faster and work more efficiently across research, analysis and drafting, without compromising on quality
• Seriously organised, good with detail, and able to keep several things moving at once
• Excellent writing, especially to a deadline, including executive-level materials
• Good commercial instincts: you can uncover a customer's challenge and help build the case for how AI addresses it
• The ability to earn trust and build strong working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
• Plenty of energy, comfort with ambiguity and pace, and no job feels beneath you
• You care about what AI could do for government, public services and industry

Nice to have

• UK public sector procurement, frameworks or tenders
• Experience selling or supporting AI products or services
• Comfortable with CRM and performance reporting tools
• A technical or analytical background

Why join

You'd be in at the very start of Scale's UK business, as a founding member of the team. You'll learn how frontier AI is sold and delivered into government and enterprise, work directly with senior people, and get real responsibility fast. It's a strong base for a career in strategy, commercial, product or delivery.

PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst& Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status. 

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at [email protected]. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision. 

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