Job summary
As Head of Blood Supply Chain Planning, you will play a critical leadership role in ensuring a safe, efficient and resilient supply of blood components to hospitals across England. Leading specialist planning teams, you will oversee demand, supply, session and stock planning activities, using data, forecasting and strategic insight to ensure the right blood products are available at the right place and time. Working closely with operational, clinical and customer stakeholders, you will drive performance, continuous improvement and innovation across the blood supply chain. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity where your expertise will help shape strategic decision making, improve service resilience and ultimately support the delivery of life-saving care for patients across the NHS.
Main duties of the job
- Provide strategic leadership across Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Session Planning and Stock Planning teams.
- Lead the development and delivery of short and long-term demand forecasts for blood components using data, analytics and forecasting techniques.
- Ensure collection, production and supply plans meet forecast demand while maintaining efficiency and resilience across the blood supply chain.
- Build strong partnerships with operational, clinical and customer stakeholders to support effective decision making and service delivery.
- Lead the Integrated Demand and Supply Planning process, facilitating cross-functional planning and consensus reviews.
- Use data analysis and performance insights to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and enhanced supply chain performance.
- Implement and optimise supply chain management systems, tools and planning processes.
- Lead annual business planning activities, supporting financial planning, blood pricing and cost improvement initiatives.
- Manage budgets and resources effectively to deliver organisational objectives and value for money.
- Champion an inclusive, collaborative culture that develops people, supports high performance and delivers excellent outcomes.
About us
It takes all types of people to deliver the kind of service that saves and improves lives. At NHS Blood and Transplant, youll join a team of more than 6,000 people who are making a genuine difference to communities, families, friends, relatives and more across the UK. We play a unique and special role in the NHS by helping people do something extraordinary- donate blood, blood products, organs, tissues, or stem cells to save someone in need. Our three core values are what set us apart. They guide and inspire everything we do. By being caring, expertly meeting the needs of our patients and our people, and accepting nothing less than the best quality, we can do extraordinary work and help our people to do something extraordinary in their career, too. Three small words, one big difference - Caring, Expert and Quality. Together we'll save and improve more lives than ever. You will join us on our journey to create an inclusive workplace and aim to reflect the diverse communities we work with, and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.
Details
- Date posted: 23 July 2026
- Pay scheme: Agenda for change
- Band: Band 8c
- Salary: £79,504 to £91,609 a year
- Contract: Fixed term
- Duration: 12 months
- Working pattern: Full-time
- Reference number: 009037
- Job locations: England, England, Bristol, BS34 7QH, United Kingdom
Job responsibilities
Our three core values are what set us apart. They guide and inspire everything we do.
By being caring, expertly meeting the needs of our patients and our people, and accepting nothing less than the best quality, we can do extraordinary work – and help our people to do something extraordinary in their career, too. Three small words, one big difference - Caring, Expert and Quality. Together we'll save and improve more lives than ever.
You will join us on our journey to create an inclusive workplace and aim to reflect the diverse communities we work with, and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applications from disabled candidates. We will talk with you to explore any adjustments that may help you during the recruitment process.
You can find more information about accessibility, our culture, and how we support applicants on the NHSBT Careers website:
- Read about our application process
- Learn more about our culture at NHSBT
To learn more, please see the job description and person specification. These can be accessed via the link below, or by clicking ‘Apply’ if you are viewing this advert on another site.
Person specification
Experience
Essential
- Extensive senior leadership experience in supply chain planning, S&OP or integrated planning within a large and complex organisation, ideally within life sciences, pharmaceuticals or FMCG.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build consensus and communicate complex information clearly to diverse audiences.
- Proven track record of leading, developing and motivating high-performing teams while fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture.
- Significant experience of using data, analytics and planning systems to improve operational performance and support strategic decision making.
- Experience of leading business improvement initiatives, implementing planning solutions and managing large budgets within a complex operational environment.
Qualifications
Essential
- Management qualification to Master's degree level, or equivalent experience.
- Commitment to continuing professional development (CPD).
- Internationally recognised supply chain qualification, such as APICS, or equivalent
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Head of Supply Chain Planning with NHS Blood and Transplant in Northway, South West, England. It is listed as a Band 8 role. The advertised salary is £79,504 to £91,609 a year. The contract type is Fixed-Term. The application deadline is 09 Aug 2026.
Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (23 Jul 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHS job search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.
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