Head of Stores and Inventory

About us

National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) is the regional electricity distribution division of National Grid.
We are the largest UK Electricity Distribution company, providing services and energy to over 25 million customers, through 8 million connections in our four regions across South Wales, the South-West, West Midlands, and East Midlands. Over the next five years we need to invest in over £7.5bn of infrastructure to fulfil the UK's ambition, enabling capacity for more than 1.5 million Electric Vehicles and 600,000 heat pumps and ensuring our customers can connect to our network when they want and how they want.

We're offering an exceptional opportunity for a dynamic Head of Stores and Inventory to join our Operations Support team.

We're looking for an exceptional Head of Stores & Inventory to join our Operations Support team and play a vital role in shaping the future of our distribution network. With nearly 8 million customers across four licence areas, our work has never been more important as we prepare for a net zero energy future.

Reporting to the Director of SHE & Ops Support, this role is pivotal in transforming and leading all aspects of NGED's stores and inventory operations, ensuring materials, assets and products are available exactly when and where they're needed. You'll enable the safe, efficient and cost-effective effective delivery of work across both routine OPEX and major CAPEX programmes.

This is a transformational leadership position-responsible not only for day-to-day performance, but also for shaping and enabling the long-term vision for stores and inventory, driving improvements, efficiency, and smarter ways of working. You will transform our current capability to enable the significant investment and operational delivery into our electricity network. You'll lead a diverse team of managers, specialists and operators across multiple sites, ensuring we deliver for our customers and our network.today

performance, but also for shaping term vision for stores and inventory, driving improvements, efficiency, and smarter ways of working.

We offer flexibility for this role to be based at any of our offices across the West Midlands, East Midlands, South West or Wales licence areas, with regular travel to NGED locations.

• Transformation:
  Revolutionise our demand forecasting, stock management and operations engagement capabilities to deliver against a growing workbook.
• People Leadership:
  Ownership of the NGED Stores & Inventory operating model, lead and empower a team of 60+ across Stores & Inventory, fostering a collaborative culture and ensuring the team is resourced and equipped to meet evolving business needs.
• Performance Management:
  Align team objectives with wider business goals and oversee the development, monitoring, and reporting of performance metrics that drive delivery of key outcomes. Setting the policies, standards, governance and ways of working across the business
• Inventory Control & Optimisation:
  Oversee stock management across central warehouses and satellite stores, improving systems, processes, and data use to ensure availability of materials (c. 3,700 SKUs, £70m value) while reducing storage costs.
• Forecasting:
  Enhance forecasting tools and methodologies to support accurate inventory planning, analysis, and audit.
• Stakeholder Engagement:
  Build strong working relationships with Field Operations, Asset Management, Procurement, Safety, and other key teams to support delivery of operational goals.
• Supply Chain Monitoring:
  Anticipate demand, monitor supply chain risks, and develop alternative solutions to maintain operational continuity.
• Safety & Compliance:
  Promote a strong safety culture and ensure safe operations within warehouse environments, including management of facilities, equipment, and contractors.
• Strategic Leadership:
  Identify opportunities to strengthen endtoend performance within Stores & Inventory and deliver longterm value through improved processes and group-wide collaboration.
• nterprise Leadership:
  Contribute to wider SHE and Operations Support objectives, supporting organisational performance beyond the immediate team.

• Operational leader with extensive experience in leading large and dispersed team, with experience in leading cross-functional operations or supply chain functions within complex, regulated environments
• Operating confidently at the interface between strategy, planning and operational delivery
• Deep experience with creating and implementing a best-in-class inventory management system to drive efficiency, align to business growth or improve capability.
• Significant senior level experience in large scale manufacturing operations within the supply chain inventory field
• Extensive experience in program management, and process improvement in a high-volume stock management environment with proven ability to manage multiple demands successfully and within a matrixed organisation.
• Strong financial business acumen.
• Delivering…