Head of Presales

The Head of Presales leads the presales function of Talan Suisse. He or she defines the common working framework, sizes capacities, develops the tools and skills of the teams, and monitors the performance of the function. The role remains directly involved in Strategic opportunities when the situation requires it.

Your mission:

• Define, document, and evolve the presales process and governance, particularly the Basic, Standard, and Strategic levels, the roles, and the associated rituals.
• Manage the capacity of the Bid Managers pool and anticipate workload peaks related to opportunities and framework agreements.
• Build the repository of content, templates, and best practices used by the presales teams.
• Develop the skills of the Bid Managers, Solution Leads, and Opportunity Owners.
• Personally intervene as Solution Lead or Bid Manager on Strategic opportunities as needed.

Management of the presales function:

• Define, monitor, and share performance indicators, including coverage, success rate, and workload by role and by Business Line.
• Arbitrate capacity tensions between Business Lines and propose action plans.
• Drive the adoption of presales governance, tools, and standards across Talan Suisse.
• Ensure the continuous improvement of the operating model and its practices.

Resource planning and bench management

• Maintain a rolling forecast of resources over three to six months, aligned with the pipeline and strategic priorities.
• Balance activity rate objectives with the capacity necessary for business development and practice development.
• Manage resource allocation throughout the entire presales process.
• Identify resource tensions and shortages and recommend recruitment, upskilling actions, or external reinforcements.
• Coordinate practice leads and delivery teams to optimize resource deployment.

Forecasting and activity rate analysis:

• Build and maintain models reflecting company capacity, the commercial pipeline, and presales delivery schedules.
• Produce monthly and quarterly reports and analyze variances.
• Anticipate trends and identify risks to profitability.
• Formulate data-driven recommendations to improve capacity utilization and planning.
• Support pricing and resource allocation decisions with reliable analyses.

Skills and reference management:

• Maintain a skills map at the company scale by practice, level, geography, specialty, and language.
• Conduct regular evaluations and identify capacity gaps.
• Provide useful data for recruitment, training, talent development, and staffing decisions.
• Maintain a centralized and searchable database of up-to-date CVs and references, compliant with company standards.
• Organize the regular updating of CVs and allow for their rapid adaptation to calls for tender and client requests.
• Guarantee the confidentiality and governance of associated data.

Monitoring of certifications and accreditations:

• Maintain a complete registry of certifications, accreditations, and professional references.
• Monitor deadlines and renewals and alert employees and managers in advance.
• Ensure compliance with certification requirements from clients and regulatory authorities.
• Analyze certification coverage by practice, level, and specialty and communicate gaps to management.

Expected skills:

• Solid experience in presales and bid management on complex opportunities.
• Ability to influence and gain buy-in without direct hierarchical links.
• Mastery of data-driven management, particularly capacities, workload, ratios, and activity rates.
• Skills in coaching, support, and team development.
• Ability to combine cross-functional management and operational involvement on Strategic opportunities.

Your profile:

• Minimum eight to ten years of experience in presales, bid management, or complex solution sales.
• Experience managing pursuit processes at an organizational scale.
• Experience collaborating with several Business Lines, practices, or sectors of activity.
• Ease with resource planning, profitability, and commercial performance issues.
• Professional mastery of French and English. German is an asset.

How performance will be evaluated:

• Bid Manager capacity coverage rate relative to actual workload.
• Success rate of Standard and Strategic opportunities.
• Adoption rate of presales governance and tools by the Business Lines.
• Coverage of workload related to framework agreements and listings.
• Quality of resource forecasts and mastery of variances between capacity, pipeline, and delivery.
• Timeliness and coverage of skills, CV, and certification data.

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Talan is an international consulting and technological expertise group, which supports and accelerates the digital transformation of its clients through the levers of technology, data, and innovation.

For more than 20 years, Talan has advised and supported companies and public institutions in the definition and implementation of their transformation and innovation projects in Switzerland and internationally.

Present on 5 continents in 21 countries, the Group, certified Great Place To Work, has more than 7000 employees.

Equipped with a Research and Innovation Center, Talan puts innovation at the heart of its development and operates in the fields of technological shifts such