Home » Jumbo Offshore Insights #3: The people behind the company Tender Management

After working for some of the biggest names in the offshore sector, Arthur Hellinga joined the Jumbo team in 2020. “I was looking for a small company that did cool things; that is when I crossed paths with Jumbo Offshore,” he says. Arthur is not wrong in describing Jumbo Offshore as a small company. It’s true, the Offshore Commercial team comprises of ten people. However, don’t think for one moment that small companies can only tackle small projects.

On the contrary, you only have to look at some of the projects that Jumbo has completed over the last few years to see that this is a company that wins big projects too. “Looking at our track record, there are some really impressive projects that include offshore wind installation – transition pieces and secondary steel – as well as oil and gas projects where we specialise in deep water mooring jobs,” he notes, “our offshore work is diverse; it is something that we can be proud about.”

Balancing the technical, commercial and contractual
The role of the Tender Manager in winning contracts is significant. Arthur’s job starts when a potential client issues an ‘Invitation to Tender’, after which he has a matter of weeks to deliver a comprehensive proposal to the client. “There are three aspects to a tender,” he explains. “Due to the nature of our work, our tenders are very much technical documents; our proposal must demonstrate that we can perform the job safely and effectively. It includes the technical scope, our methodology and equipment. Risk management plays a big part here, identifying, and mitigating risks to an acceptable level. There is also the commercial aspect of the tender, including the costs, duration and payment conditions, and the contractual aspect which includes the terms and conditions.”

Listening to Arthur, you can see why he describes the process of making a tender document as a ‘mini project’. He needs to understand the project inside-out. “Although, fortunately, I don’t have to be an expert on every subject – I have colleagues who are experts. So I work closely with our engineers, our planners, and our legal department to prepare the tender. You could say that, as a tender manager, I am like a spider in a web. In fact, the biggest challenge of tender management is having to complete all checks within such a short period of time.”

The contract is the ultimate goal
Once the tender receives internal approval, Arthur can send it to the client. It is at this point that the client may contact Jumbo for further clarification or negotiation. “This is generally when I have most contact with the client – sometimes on a daily basis, making sure that we are on the same wavelength.” The ideal scenario in Arthur’s job is that the client awards Jumbo the contract to perform their project. “Then I pass my work – my responsibilities – on to our project management team. This is the ultimate aim of my job.”

And even when a project moves on to its next step, Arthur is still able to contribute. “Of course, there is overlap,” he says. “I want to help the project team where needed and learn from their experiences. This is when being a smaller company really pays off – we have short lines of communication. This provides all of us at Jumbo Offshore with a feedback loop of lessons learned. This is crucial in the successful execution of a project for our clients.”