Start with a specialist recruiter, a focused job-board search and the career pages of employers whose work you understand. Search several relevant titles, then shortlist by responsibilities, location and working arrangements. That gives you a more useful result than collecting every advert labelled “remote”.
Below are direct UK and US search routes, the terms and filters to try, and a worked example of deciding whether a role fits. Use the original advert for current availability and application details.
Define the work and location you can actually accept
Before searching, write down the responsibilities you want, where you can work, the hours you can offer and your travel limits. Decide whether you want employment or a freelance engagement so you can compare suitable opportunities.
Try related searches such as “remote bid writer”, “remote proposal writer”, “bid coordinator”, “proposal coordinator” and “proposal manager”. Add an industry or market when it reflects your experience. “RFP writer” can also produce work preparing a buyer’s request rather than answering it; read the duties before assuming it is the same job.
The bid, proposal and capture role guide helps you compare duties across titles. Add your sector or procurement experience to a search when it helps narrow the results.
Three direct routes to start your search
Start with the route that matches your market. These are search destinations, so the useful habit is to check the current advert rather than rely on a copied job description.
| Destination | What to do when you get there |
|---|---|
| Reed: remote bid-writer search | UK job-board route. Start with the linked search, then check Remote/On-site → Remote. Use Job type to separate Permanent, Contract or Temporary work, and Date posted to focus on recent adverts. The Hide controls include jobs without salary displayed. Repeat with “bid manager” or “proposal writer” in the What field if those duties fit you. |
| Bid Solutions: latest bid jobs | Specialist recruitment route. Start at its bid/proposal jobs page and look for writing, coordination or management work. Read the advert’s location and employment details. If the client or remote arrangement is unclear, ask the recruiter before preparing a substantial application. |
| Leidos: proposal careers | US employer route. Open the Proposal category and use Remote Potential → Remote. Open a suitable role and check its Location, Clearance and Req Number, alongside responsibilities and experience. This is one employer’s search, so use it as part of a wider search rather than a picture of the whole market. |
On other employer career sites, try “proposal writer”, “proposal coordinator”, “proposal manager” and, where relevant, “capture”. For UK searches, also try “bid writer” and “bid manager”. Search one title at a time so you can see which terms the employer uses. Add sector terms such as construction, technology or healthcare only when they reflect the work you want.
If an external advert names the employer, find the company’s career site and match the job reference. For a recruiter-managed role, use the recruiter’s stated route and clarify any missing details. Keep one record per opportunity when the same role appears in several places.
Read beyond the word “remote”
Before investing heavily in an application, check:
- Work location: from which country, state or region may the work be performed? Is relocation required, and is any sponsorship or eligibility condition stated?
- Attendance: are there office days, client visits, training, bid events or travel expectations? How frequent, where and at whose expense?
- Hours: what working-day overlap, time zone and response expectations apply? Are deadline peaks or out-of-hours work discussed?
- Engagement: is this permanent employment, a fixed-term role, an agency assignment or a freelance scope? Who is the employer or contracting party?
- Duties: does the work involve writing, coordination, capture, full response management or several of these? Who owns technical and commercial decisions?
- Tools and information: which systems are approved, what equipment is provided and how do remote staff obtain the evidence and reviews they need?
- Offer: what pay, benefits, leave, support and expenses are actually included? Which terms remain to be confirmed in writing?
A remote filter narrows the working arrangement, not your legal eligibility or permitted work country. Confirm those conditions with the employer, alongside any sponsorship, clearance or attendance requirements relevant to the role.
A worked shortlisting example
Hypothetical example: Sam is a proposal writer living in Spain, wants an employed role and can offer a defined overlap with UK working hours. Sam sees two fictional adverts:
- Advert A: “Remote bid writer — UK based”, with quarterly attendance at a named UK office.
- Advert B: “Remote proposal writer”, with no permitted work country, employment entity or attendance detail stated.
A has an explicit UK-based condition and travel expectation, so it does not fit Sam’s stated location unless the employer confirms a suitable alternative. B needs clarification: an omitted country is a question to resolve, not evidence of worldwide eligibility.
A focused clarification for B could be:
I am based in Spain and am looking for an employed proposal-writing role. Does this position permit working from Spain, and through which employing arrangement? Please also confirm required working-hour overlap, any office or client attendance, and whether those conditions apply throughout employment.
If B’s employer confirms a suitable arrangement, Sam can move on to the duties, compensation and application. If it cannot support work from Spain, Sam can focus on better-fitting roles. Location is an early shortlisting decision, saving time for both sides.
Keep a small evidence record for each opportunity
Keep a simple record that helps you compare roles and follow up:
- Source, original advert URL, employer/recruiter and job reference.
- Date you checked it, stated posting or closing date, and whether the role is still accepting applications.
- Actual duties, experience requirements and what interests you about the work.
- Stated location, working hours, attendance and engagement type; mark missing terms as unknown.
- Application route, material requested, permission to share any examples and your next action.
- Clarifications and answers received, plus the date and person or channel that confirmed them.
Reopen the original advert before applying or interviewing. Check the job reference, closing information and application route again, especially when you first found it through an aggregator.
Use an independently located official channel to check an unfamiliar recruiter or an inconsistent application request. Share work samples only when you have permission; a wholly fictional exercise is a useful alternative to confidential client material.
Tailor the application to the remote role
A useful application shows how you help a distributed team work together. Choose a permitted example of clear written communication, reliable coordination or a well-organised review. Explain your contribution and how it helped the work progress.
For a writing role, that might be an answer you improved after interviewing a specialist. For a coordinator, it could be a clear plan that helped contributors meet their dates. For a manager, explain how you organised the team across locations and made progress visible.
Ask how the team communicates across working hours, handles urgent questions and supports remote staff. These details tell you more about daily working life than the names of its collaboration tools.
For beginner practice, use the career-entry guide and completed examples. If technology expectations are part of the role, the AI and proposal-career guide helps you think through the skills to develop.
Compare the offer, not just the working-location label
Ask how the team allocates simultaneous bids, supplies specialist input and handles deadline peaks. Find out who you will report to, how feedback works and what development support is available.
Use the salary benchmarks and offer-comparison example to compare the actual terms. It separates employee pay and benefits from freelance revenue and expenses.
Choose one search route, try the titles that fit your experience and shortlist a few roles against your location and working requirements. Then spend your application time on the ones where the work—and the arrangement—make sense.
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