Congratulations to our 2026 APMP ANZ award finalists
Our Chapter recognises the achievements and contributions of our members in their careers and their contribution to the proposal industry.
Judges assessed multiple nominations to unanimously agree our 2026 award finalists. Award winners will be announced at the 2026 BId Winning Conference’s Gala Dinner on Wednesday 6th May.
Finalists
Emerging Professional Award
The Emerging Professional Award recognises an individual who is new (3 years or less) to the proposal profession and has already made a significant impact.
Jithin Joseph
Bid Manager, Alstom Transport
Recognised for his analytical approach, attention to detail, and ability to remain calm and collaborative under tight deadlines.
Jithin is building a strong foundation as a future leader in the rail industry, contributing to safe, reliable, and sustainable transport solutions for communities across Australia and New Zealand.
“I was impressed by Jithin’s calm, disciplined leader-ship on complex rail bids, including his role on a first‑of‑kind tender in New Zealand. He demonstrates a strong ability to translate complex operational and risk information into clear, credible, client‑focused proposals, which shows a level of maturity beyond what you’d typically expect at this stage of a proposal career.”
Zachary Rose
Senior Bid Coordinator, WSP
Zachary plays a pivotal role in supporting and leading complex, high value submissions across the Defence sector — a space known for its stringent compliance, nuanced narrative expectations, and high stakes.
His client centred mindset, and commitment to continuous improvement exemplify the qualities celebrated by this award.
“Zach has an outstanding “emerging” profile, with rapid progression, leading Defence bids within [his] first year, strong internal validation (multiple senior testimonials + MVP awards), and clear, measurable team impact. The pace of his develop-ment really stands out. The feedback shows he has consistently earned the trust of senior stakeholders and that hie is deeply appreciated for the value he brings to his team.”
Kirsten Faulkner
Marketing and Communications Coordinator, ConnellGriffin
Kristen plays a key role within the Business Development, Bids and Marketing team.
Since moving into the proposal space, she has quickly become a trusted and relied-upon member of the bid team. As an emerging professional, she has already made a meaningful and lasting contribution to ConnellGriffin's approach to bids.
“... Kirsten has lifted the quality and effectiveness of bids through practical, well‑designed systems and visual communication. Her ability to turn complex information into clear, evaluator‑friendly content, and to embed reusable tools that improve consistency and efficiency across the business, really stood out for an emerging proposal professional.”
Proposal Team or Collaboration Award
For cohesive, effective proposal team that demonstrates industry best practices, thought leadership, and a commitment to the professional development of its members.
WSP Australia Manila Work Winning Team
“WW Team”
Their blended approach combines Australian strategic leadership with Manila’s expanding specialist skills, supported by aligned training pathways, APMP accreditation programs, and shared development goals. This partnership has created a culture of trust, transparency, and continuous improvement, lifting quality, consistency, and performance across both regions.
“This team has made a cross-regional model actually work in practice. Collaboration is embedded in how they operate every day. The scale of delivery, combined with impressive metrics (900 bids with a 67% win rate and $1B in sales!) and a clear focus on development, shows a mature, well-led team.”
Kuta JV (Aurecon – WSP)
for Urban Utilities
The name Kuta, drawn from the native bees of Mt Coot-tha, Brisbane, was deliberately chosen to represent how we would operate as one unified hive. The leadership of both organisations committed to genuinely integrating our proposed personnel as ‘one team’ to best serve the client. This bid was a testament to collaboration and what happens when two organisations come together to pursue a shared purpose.
“An amazing achievement to create a unified team, bringing together two traditional competitors to work together to win a major opportunity. The Kuta (“one hive”) name may have been selected to represent how the execution team would work together as the JV, but it was clearly applicable to the proposal approach as well. Great work!”
CPB UGL JV
for Sydney Metro West
More than 247 internal CPB–UGL JV resources and 200+ external contributors were coordinated through common governance rhythms, shared platforms and disciplined information manage-ment. The proposal team operated with maturity, intent and discipline. Collaboration was not treated as an aspiration but as a designed system; leader-ship was visible and values led; and effectiveness was demonstrated through the team’s ability to sustain quality, momentum and cohesion across a demanding, long duration tender.
“… the CPB–UGL JV treated collaboration as a deliberately designed system rather than an aspiration. Their disciplined, delivery‑led approach was clearly understood by the client and differentiated the proposal in a highly complex, multi‑package environment.”
“The ANZ chapter should be truly proud of the amazing work that’s going on in your region. All the entrants should feel incredibly proud. Collectively, they show such remarkable work in the ANZ region, and so many examples of global thought leadership in our profession.”
- Jon Williams, Managing Director, Strategic Proposals (2026 Judging panel)
High Impact Award
For an individual proposal professional who has made an excellent contribution to the outcome of a specific bid, or the outcome of an initiative that enhances your organisation’s bid capabilities.
Natasha Kentwell
Bid Manager, WSP
Natasha, a Bid Manager turned knowledge manager, has fundamentally transformed how WSP’s Australian Work Winning community develops bids through her innovative application of AI, her leadership in rebuilding the Knowledge Library, and her design of bespoke AI Bid Assistant agents. Her contributions reflect deep curiosity, strategic thinking, and a strong commitment to empowering others, making her a standout changemaker within WSP.
“Natasha has transformed WSP’s approach to bidding through her leadership in AI innovation, rebuilding the Knowledge Library, and designing bespoke Bid Assistant agents that uplift quality, consistency, and efficiency across the business. Her work has reshaped how teams create proposal content, driving national capability uplift and inspiring confident, responsible adoption of AI across Work Winning.”
Russell Whitford
Submissions Lead, BVN
Since joining BVN, Russel has led a firm-wide uplift in bid governance and capability through his ‘Bid Better’ initiative, which involved a comprehensive review of the firm’s bid lifecycle and a prioritised action plan to strengthen the bid process and help the company win better work. A key outcome has been the development of a firm-wide submissions roadmap and the launch of BVN’s Proposal Portal – a central knowledge hub that equips teams across the practice with the tools and guidance needed to confidently deliver high-quality bids.
“I was impressed by Russel’s structured and consultative approach to lifting bid capability across the business. His work demonstrates how disciplined governance, leadership engagement, and practical tools can embed best practice and strengthen how teams approach winning work.”
Lily Truong
Senior Pursuits, Strategy and Winning Work Manager, Aurecon
Lily has built a reputation as a sharp strategic thinker and trusted pursuit leader with a collaborative working style. Specialising in the Water industry, Lily also brings extensive expertise across Resources, Energy and Transport, giving her a uniquely broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing engineering clients across ANZ. Among her most significant achievements, Lily has played an instrumental role in securing several critical long-term partnerships in the Water sector, including Unitywater BBT and Urban Utilities NG4D.
“Lily demonstrates outstanding real-world impact on major, complex JV bids with clear, high-value outcomes ($B landmark wins). She sets a benchmark for how high-performing bid teams operate in complex, high-pressure environments with evident understanding of the capture (pursuit) and proposal lifecycle, best practices, and leadership principles.”
Proposal Industry Contributor Award
For an individual or team who has/have made a significant contribution or impact towards promoting and advancing the proposal profession.
Samantha MacMillan
Bid Manager, ConnellGriffin | Vice Chair, APMP ANZ
In addition to balancing to her career and APMP ANZ commitments, Sam also leads the Intentional Career Path (ICP) Task Force, supporting early-career outreach and stronger entry pathways into the profession. She also launched the APMP ANZ Certification Sponsorship Program to reduce barriers to APMP certification and expand access to professional development. She contributes to member experience improvements through chapter communications and digital initiatives, including involvement in the APMP ANZ Value Proposition working group and support for the Chapter website refresh and launch, aligning messaging and user experience to member needs across ANZ.
“Samantha stands out for her ability to turn insight into structured, scalable action that genuinely improves accessibility, capability and continuity within the profession. Her leadership of the Intentional Career Path initiative, expansion of the certification sponsorship program, and commitment to building volunteer capability demonstrate a thoughtful, long-term approach to growing the talent pipeline.”
Jacqui Pike
Manager, Content Team, Bentley Systems
Jacqui’s contributions include a decade of service to the APMP ANZ Chapter committee from 2014 to 2024, where she has held multiple Chapter roles, often concurrently, and regularly stepped into gaps where support was urgently needed. Her leadership of the Intentional Career Path (ICP) initiative addressed a long-standing gap in the profession: the lack of visibility of proposal management as a deliberate and credible career choice, and is arguably the most important initiative facing the profession. A dedicated, proactive and resilient individual, and during a signifi-cant personal health battle, Jacqui quietly but profoundly shaped the generational future of the proposal profession in Australia.
“Jacqui’s decade of service seems to reflect a rare blend of professionalism, humility, and genuine commitment to uplifting the proposal community. Her quiet accountability, depth of expertise, and commitment to developing others set her apart.”
Tania Field
Principal Tender Specialist, Tender Plus | Chair, APMP ANZ
Tania shapes bid strategies and formulates winning submissions on multi-million and multi-billion-dollar tenders. She expertly manages the demands of timelines, evolving scopes, and needs of vastly diverse stakeholders to ensure alignment with client and tender requirements. At Tender Plus, Tania has led high-value and complex tenders across Property Development, Transport, Design & Construction, Social Infrastructure, Professional Services, and Renewables in NSW, nationally, and overseas. She is an exceptional mentor, providing guidance and leadership to her team, and the wider National team, and to the APMP ANZ Chapter.
“Tania has a strong emphasis on creating opportunities for others, whether that’s through conferences, webinars, certification sponsorship, or giving volunteers a platform to contribute.
She clearly takes the responsibility of the role seriously and is strengthening the profession internally through exceptional leadership.”
There are many ways APMP recognises its members
APMP Fellows
This is our association’s highest individual honour. The Fellows award recognises individual contribution throughout a career in the bid and proposal industry, and who have held membership for more than five years.
APMP Certification Scholarships
The Charlie Divine APMP Certification Scholarship aims to give every member a chance to apply for help in their pursuit of a APMP Certification. We will offer 2x Foundation and 2x Practitioner scholarships. Details coming soon.
APMP CPD Tracker
Your CPD tracker is located in your account page. You add all webinars, events, and committees you attend to accumulate the necessary points you need to maintain your certification over a two year period.