Senior Manager, Major Bids

An excellent opportunity is available for a Senior Manager, Major Bids to join the Grants and Major Bids Department at Australia's pre-eminent biomedical research institute.

About the Position

The Senior Manager, Major Bids is a strategic role leading the uplift of our major bids process-establishing a structured, coordinated, and high-impact approach to securing complex, high-value funding. This role will be undertaken with high-level direction from the Head, Grants and Major Bids, to ensure alignment with broader team activities and WEHI's target operating model, and contributes to WEHI achieving strategic outcomes.

This fixed-term role will be responsible for delivering both support for active major bids and implement long-term improvements to how WEHI manages strategic funding opportunities. The successful candidate will shape and embed a fit-for-purpose major bid process, through consultation with key stakeholders and consideration of the goals of WEHI's target operating model and trends across the medical research funding landscape. Through overseeing and managing live bids, the Senior Manager will embed new ways of working and build internal capability across stakeholder groups.

This is a hands-on role requiring research development and bid management expertise, strong stakeholder engagement skills, and process design experience within a complex and collaborative environment.

Selection Criteria

Knowledge and Skills:

• A tertiary qualification in a relevant field, preferably biomedical or health science, with advanced degrees and experience in research and academic settings.
• Extensive experience managing complex bids and sponsored research activity including Government and Philanthropic research grants.
• Ability to align research proposals with the priorities and strategic goals of funding agencies.
• Strong background in strategic research partnerships, with a demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Innovative and strategic thinking with the ability to turn broad objectives into actionable, achievable plans.
• Demonstrated experience designing or improving processes in a complex organisational environment.

Personal Qualities:

• Strong project management skills, including the creation and management of detailed timelines, budget development, and leading collaborative research teams, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Excellent communication skills (written, visual and verbal) for translating complex scientific ideas into compelling proposals.
• Demonstrated ability to foster strong relationships with internal teams, external stakeholders, and senior leadership.
• Ability to maintain high degree of integrity and confidentiality.
• Expertise in identifying problems, analysing root causes, and developing solutions that are sustainable and scalable.

​​​​​​​Terms of Appointment

This position is available for 12 months in a full time capacity. Salary is Professional Services Employee Level 10 ($171,493 - $185,628). Up to 17% superannuation and very attractive salary packaging options are available.

General enquiries can be directed to

A position description is available here.

How to Apply

Please apply by uploading your CV, cover letter and a document addressing the key selection criteria in pdf format.

Application Closing Date: Sunday 2 November 2025

WEHI - Brighter together

WEHI is where the world's brightest minds collaborate and innovate to make discoveries that will help us to live healthier for longer. Our medical researchers have been serving the community for more than 100 years. We bring together people with different skills and experience who are committed to long-term discovery. Our teams of researchers are committed to solving the most complex health problems, making transformative discoveries for cancer, infectious and immune diseases, developmental disorders and healthy ageing.

WEHI is a place where people are able to shine. People who are inquisitive, who are committed, who are passionate. People who want to make a difference. And we are committed to ensuring they have the tools to flourish, personally and professionally. We are a community of researchers, students and professional service staff who work towards achieving discoveries that improve human health. We are driven by collaboration, curiosity and creativity. We are committed to making a positive difference to the lives of people in Australia and around the world. We are WEHI. We are brighter together.

WEHI's commitment to diversity and inclusion

At WEHI we strive to foster a flexible working environment that encourages individual differences and promotes collaboration and creativity. We recognise that talent does not sit within a single identifiable group in our society and that WEHI's ability to shape contemporary scientific thinking and deliver leading professional services relies on a diversity of thought within our organisation. Our action to promote gender equality has been recognised with an Athena SWAN Bronze Award from Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) and we offer a range of support for women researchers.

Our commitment to celebrating diversity and addressing inequities is further demonstrated through our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, Gender Action Plan, Reconciliation Action Plan and our WE-Pride network for LGBTQIA+ staff and students. We actively encourage applications from, people with a disability, culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse people and people with diverse genders and sexualities. Should you require support during the recruitment process due to special needs or consideration, please contact the People and Culture team.

WEHI's commitment to Indigenous employment

WEHI is working to create a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will be engaged at the scientific frontier, making exciting discoveries and decisions about the future of health in this country, and part of a leading professional services workforce supporting the realisation of these discoveries. We are committed to creating a culturally safe workplace and offering career development and leadership opportunities to First Nations staff and students. We strongly encourage any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to apply.