Head of Presales — Talan

Full description

The Head of Presales leads Talan Suisse's presales function. They define the common working framework, size capacity, develop the teams' tools and skills, and monitor the function's performance. The role remains directly involved in Strategic opportunities when the situation requires it.

Your mission

• Define, document and evolve the presales process and governance, including the Basic, Standard and Strategic levels, and the associated roles and rituals.
• Manage the capacity of the Bid Manager 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 Bid Managers, Solution Leads and Opportunity Owners.
• Personally act as a Solution Lead or Bid Manager on Strategic opportunities as needed.

Presales function management

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

Resource planning and bench management

• Maintain a rolling three- to six-month resource forecast, aligned with the pipeline and strategic priorities.
• Balance utilization rate targets with the capacity required for business development and practice development.
• Lead resource allocation throughout the presales process
• Identify resource constraints and shortfalls and recommend hiring, upskilling initiatives or external support.
• Coordinate practice leads and delivery teams to optimize resource deployment.

Utilization forecasting and analysis

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

Skills and references management

• Maintain an enterprise-wide skills map by practice, level, geography, specialty, and language.
• Conduct regular assessments and identify capability gaps.
• Provide data useful for recruitment, training, talent development, and staffing decisions.
• Maintain a centralized, searchable database of up-to-date CVs and references, compliant with company standards.
• Organize regular CV updates and enable their rapid adaptation to calls for tender and client requests.
• Ensure the confidentiality and governance of associated data.

Certification and accreditation tracking

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

Expected skills

• Strong experience in presales and bid management for complex opportunities.
• Ability to influence and secure buy-in without direct line authority.
• Proficiency in data-driven management, particularly capacity, workload, ratios, and utilization rate.
• Skills in coaching, team support, and team development.
• Ability to combine cross-functional management with operational involvement in Strategic opportunities.

Your profile

• At least eight to ten years of experience in presales, bid management, or complex solutions sales.
• Experience managing pursuit processes across an organization.
• Experience collaborating with multiple Business Lines, practices, or business sectors.
• Comfort with resource planning, profitability, and sales performance issues.
• Professional proficiency in 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 governance and pre-sales tools by the Business Lines.
• Coverage of the workload related to framework agreements and listings.
• Quality of resource forecasts and control of variances between capacity, pipeline and delivery.
• Recency and coverage of skills, CV and certification data.

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