Every international project bidding process is different. For company external international projects, you might have to pass successfully the technical bid phase first and then you are allowed to bid the business phase. During the business phase of the bidding, your company might have to excel in several financial metrics, such as cash flow, debt-to-sales ratio, historical performance, etc., before being let in. During the technical phase of bidding, your company might be audited for manufacturing capacity, engineering strength and depth, environmental and safety, ISO procedures, etc., before the bidding.

As an international engineering project manager, you might get involved heavily with the technical proposal preparation and have a little to say on the business phase of the bid. Sometimes the whole bid package is prepared by your sales people. If it is a winning proposal, you might get the project ownership from the start. Sometimes you might be given a project in the middle if the present project manager runs into issues and he or she is removed from an ongoing project by upper management. So, there are many ways to take the reigns of an international project.