NHS Blood and Transplant

Senior Commercial Lead

The closing date is 12 April 2026

Job summary

3 Senior Commercial Lead Opportunities in the NHSBT Commercial Team

  • 1 x Sourcing & Procurement(Corporate) - Permanent
  • 1 x Supplier & Contract Management (Science) Permanent
  • 1 x Supplier & Contract Management (ICT) FTC 20 months

You will lead, manage and be accountable for a Category based Commercial Team with responsibility for a portfolio of supplier contracts and ensure that all resources are focused on delivering sustainable, quality, and innovative commercial solutions, in compliance with legislation. You will providing professional expertise to formulate, develop and implement long term strategic plans for the categories and contracts managed by the team as well as actively engage and collaborate with internal stakeholders, suppliers, and public sector bodies in support of our commercial strategies and their effectiveness. You will continuously improve the Commercial service delivered to stakeholders, enhance expertise, and build the capability and potential of the function and take a pivotal role in delivering significant cost improvements in a creative, innovative, and sustained manner to assist us to meet our financial objectives.

Note: This is a national role, requiring travel across England based on business needs. The role offers a hybrid working option. You will be assigned a base location, which could be one of the NHSBT main centres or blood centres.

Main duties of the job

In this role you will support in the delivery of the planning & organisation, day to day operations, financial, quality targets and vision of the Commercial directorate within NHSBT .Your responsibilities will include:

  • Strategic sourcing & commercial planning category strategy development, market analysis, and end-to-end procurement delivery.
  • Contract & supplier management expertise managing KPIs, SLAs, governance, and full contract lifecycle (award to exit).
  • Commercial acumen & financial management cost optimisation, budget oversight, pricing models, and value realisation.
  • Stakeholder & supplier relationship management influencing, negotiating, and building strong internal and external partnerships.
  • Risk, compliance & governance ensuring regulatory adherence, managing commercial risks, and maintaining audit-ready processes.
  • Performance & continuous improvement driving supplier performance, resolving issues, and leading service and operational improvements.

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

25 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£66,582 to £77,368 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

008459

Job locations

NHSBT

Capitol Way

Barnsley

S75 3FG


NHSBT - Colindale

Charcot Road

London

NW9 5BG


NHSBT

Plymouth Grove

Manchester

M13 9LL


NHSBT

Vincent Drive

Birmingham

B15 2SG


NHSBT - Tooting

75 Cranmer Terrace

London

SW17 0RB


NHSBT

Northway

Filton

BS34 7QH


Job description

Job responsibilities

To learn more, please see the job description and person specification for the role. This can be accessed via the link below, or by clicking Apply if you are viewing this advert on another site.

Job description

Job responsibilities

To learn more, please see the job description and person specification for the role. This can be accessed via the link below, or by clicking Apply if you are viewing this advert on another site.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to Masters level or equivalent experience in a professional purchasing area.
  • CIPS Professional Diploma Level 6 or equivalent experience.
  • Demonstrates commitment to own continued professional development (CPD).

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of Market Shaping, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement Strategy, and Contract Management including negotiation of significant value contracts and/or significant risk contracts, and disputes at a senior level.
  • Supply chain management and supplier relationship management experience.
  • The ability to lead strategic planning and implementation processes.
  • Time Management skills and the ability to meet deadlines.
  • Experience in using electronic sourcing and purchasing systems.
  • Change management experience including awareness of impacts on Quality when implementing new contracts.
  • Decision making and problem-solving skills.
  • Leadership and management experience
  • Experience of working with information technology using Microsoft Office packages (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and PowerPoint).
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to Masters level or equivalent experience in a professional purchasing area.
  • CIPS Professional Diploma Level 6 or equivalent experience.
  • Demonstrates commitment to own continued professional development (CPD).

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of Market Shaping, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement Strategy, and Contract Management including negotiation of significant value contracts and/or significant risk contracts, and disputes at a senior level.
  • Supply chain management and supplier relationship management experience.
  • The ability to lead strategic planning and implementation processes.
  • Time Management skills and the ability to meet deadlines.
  • Experience in using electronic sourcing and purchasing systems.
  • Change management experience including awareness of impacts on Quality when implementing new contracts.
  • Decision making and problem-solving skills.
  • Leadership and management experience
  • Experience of working with information technology using Microsoft Office packages (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and PowerPoint).

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Additional information

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

NHS Blood and Transplant

Address

NHSBT

Capitol Way

Barnsley

S75 3FG


Employer's website

https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

NHS Blood and Transplant

Address

NHSBT

Capitol Way

Barnsley

S75 3FG


Employer's website

https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Assistant Director – Supplier & Contract Managemen

Wendy Thorne

wendy.thorne@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

25 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£66,582 to £77,368 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

008459

Job locations

NHSBT

Capitol Way

Barnsley

S75 3FG


NHSBT - Colindale

Charcot Road

London

NW9 5BG


NHSBT

Plymouth Grove

Manchester

M13 9LL


NHSBT

Vincent Drive

Birmingham

B15 2SG


NHSBT - Tooting

75 Cranmer Terrace

London

SW17 0RB


NHSBT

Northway

Filton

BS34 7QH


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

NHS Blood and Transplant's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)