S&OP Lead

Supply Chain Corporation; Wakefield; Hybrid; GBP 66,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Annual bonus schemes

27 days holiday

In-house training & external dues

Well-being day (paid)

Generous pension scheme

Flexible Benefits Scheme

Volunteer leave

NHS discounts

Job summary

NHS Supply Chain in Wakefield is seeking an experienced S&OP Lead to roll out and govern a single, aligned Sales & Operations Planning process across the organisation. You will embed a standardised framework and coordinate across categories to ensure timely, accurate inputs and a disciplined monthly cadence.

The role focuses on continuous improvement, governance, and stakeholder engagement. This permanent position offers hybrid working with two days in the office, a starting salary of £65,920

Qualifications

• S&OP/IBP expertise – Significant experience leading or coordinating Sales & Operations Planning or Integrated Business Planning processes, including supporting implementation or transformation activity.
• Stakeholder engagement and influencing – Strong ability to build relationships and influence across functions and senior stakeholders, driving alignment without direct line management responsibility.
• Facilitation and governance – Skilled in facilitating structured, cross-functional discussions, maintaining effective governance, and ensuring delivery to agreed timelines and standards.
• Continuous improvement and process discipline – Demonstrable track record of improving process adherence, embedding best practice, and driving a culture of continuous improvement and operational maturity.
• Analytical thinking and delivery focus – Ability to apply systems thinking and structured problem-solving, translating complex issues into clear actions and ensuring accountability and follow-through.

Responsibilities

• Lead the rollout of a standardised S&OP process across all categories, embedding a consistent operating model organisation-wide
• Own and maintain the monthly S&OP cycle, ensuring all inputs, outputs and timelines are delivered with discipline and accuracy
• Monitor adherence to the S&OP framework, identifying risks and gaps and driving improvements to process reliability and predictability
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration, aligning stakeholders to a single forward-looking plan that improves service and inventory outcomes
• Drive continuous improvement by enhancing governance, KPIs, templates and team capability, reducing firefighting and strengthening accountability

Skills

S&OP/IBP

Stakeholder engagement

Facilitation and governance

Continuous improvement

Analytical thinking

Job description

Job Title: S&OP Lead

Function: Supply Chain

Location: Hybrid - Wakefield: 2 days per week office working and flexibility to travel to other sites when required based on business need

Contract type: Permanent

Salary: Offered based on a starting salary of £65,920 with the potential to increase to £77,553 over three years + additional benefits

Closing Date: Wednesday 23rd September 2026

NHS Supply Chain currently has an opportunity for a S&OP Lead to join our team during an exciting period of transformation, working to make it easier for the NHS to put patients first.

As S&OP Lead, you will act as a central coordinating and enabling leader, ensuring the successful rollout and ongoing delivery of a single, aligned Sales & Operations Planning process across NHS Supply Chain. You will embed a standardised framework across all categories, building organisational adherence and maintaining a consistent monthly cadence.

Owning and stewarding the end-to-end S&OP cycle, you will ensure all functions operate to agreed standards, timelines and governance. You will bring stakeholders together to drive alignment, support effective decision-making, and ensure the process runs with discipline and consistency.

A key focus of the role is continuous improvement—identifying opportunities to enhance the process, increase maturity and strengthen performance over time.

Every day you will …

• Lead the rollout of a standardised S&OP process across all categories, embedding a consistent operating model organisation-wide
• Own and maintain the monthly S&OP cycle, ensuring all inputs, outputs and timelines are delivered with discipline and accuracy
• Monitor adherence to the S&OP framework, identifying risks and gaps and driving improvements to process reliability and predictability
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration, aligning stakeholders to a single forward-looking plan that improves service and inventory outcomes
• Drive continuous improvement by enhancing governance, KPIs, templates and team capability, reducing firefighting and strengthening accountability

What can we offer you?

We want to reward you for your passion, enthusiasm, and hard work so we offer much more than a competitive salary:

• Hybrid working opportunities, giving you the flexibility to work collaboratively in the office and remotely.
• We recognise our employees' hard work and contributions with annual bonus schemes, long service, and colleague recognition awards.
• 27 days holiday plus bank holidays
• We are dedicated to your development, through in-house training, support, and access to external qualifications to maximise your potential.
• A focus on your well-being offering 1 day of paid well-being leave and free access to the 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
• Generous pension scheme (with us contributing 12% when you contribute 6%)
• Access to our Flexible Benefits Scheme, where you can choose from a variety of benefits such as Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection, Health Cash Plan, Dental Insurance, and additional pension contributions that suit you.
• 2 days of paid volunteering leave allowing you to give back to your community.
• Access to many discounts from the Blue Light Card to NHS Discounts.

NHS Supply Chain, who are we?

Our role is to support the NHS to save lives and improve health. We are a part of the NHS family, and our role is to source, deliver and supply healthcare products, services and food for NHS trusts and healthcare organisations across England and Wales.

We serve every NHS Trust and operate a national network of distribution centres, managing relationships with more than a thousand suppliers and delivering more than 8,000,000 orders each year to more than 17,000 locations. Doing all of this on behalf of the NHS gives NHS staff more time to focus on their main priority of providing excellent patient care.

What skills will help you thrive in this role?

• S&OP / IBP expertise – Significant experience leading or coordinating Sales & Operations Planning or Integrated Business Planning processes, including supporting implementation or transformation activity
• Stakeholder engagement and influencing – Strong ability to build relationships and influence across functions and senior stakeholders, driving alignment without direct line management responsibility
• Facilitation and governance – Skilled in facilitating structured, cross-functional discussions, maintaining effective governance, and ensuring delivery to agreed timelines and standards
• Continuous improvement and process discipline – Demonstrable track record of improving process adherence, embedding best practice, and driving a culture of continuous improvement and operational maturity
• Analytical thinking and delivery focus – Ability to apply systems thinking and structured problem-solving, translating complex issues into clear actions and ensuring accountability and follow-through

Our Inclusive Commitment

At NHS Supply Chain, we are committed to building an inclusive environment where difference is not only valued, but celebrated, giving everyone the opportunity to thrive in their career. Developing our people is key to our success, so if this role sounds like the right next step in your career but your experience doesn’t match perfectly with the job advert, we encourage you to still apply.