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.

About The Role

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

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.

What You Will Do

• 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.
• Inventory Control & Optimisation: Oversee stock management across central warehouses and satellite stores, improving systems, processes, and data use to ensure availability of materials 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.
• Strategic Leadership: Identify opportunities to strengthen end-to-end performance within Stores & Inventory and deliver long-term value through improved processes and group-wide collaboration.
• Enterprise Leadership: Contribute to wider SHE and Operations Support objectives, supporting organisational performance beyond the immediate team.

About You

• Operational leader with extensive experience in leading large and dispersed teams, 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.
• Strong financial business acumen.
• Delivering large-scale transformation and Operational Excellence programmes.
• Knowledge of safe management systems and warehouse legislation.
• Success building high-performing teams and leading diverse groups through demanding schedules.
• Ability to lead multiple initiatives and manage through change.
• Strong process orientation and analytical/problem solving skills.
• Excellent strategic mindset, communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated qualification in inventory control or inventory management systems or equivalent.
• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, engineering, business administration or similar discipline (or equivalent experience). Preferred: Master's degree in a related field.
• Professional certifications such as APICS CPIM, APICS CSCP, MIT CTL, or equivalent.
• Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma Green/Black Belt certification.

What We Can Offer You

• A competitive salary of £90,000+ dependent on experience.
• An electric company car or car cash allowance.
• Up to 40% Annual Bonus (based on personal and company performance).
• 28 days annual leave, plus eight statutory days in addition to the option to buy additional or sell holiday days every year.
• Private medical insurance.
• A generous contributory pension scheme - we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%.
• Life Insurance 10 x base salary.
• Financial support to help cover the cost of professional membership subscriptions.
• Family care benefits including a back-up care service for when your usual care arrangements fall through.
• Access to apps which support health, fitness, and wellbeing.
• Career development, ongoing training and support, career progression and plenty of opportunity to progress.

Further information

This role closes on 03 March 2026, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary. National Grid's recruitment periods can and may vary. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.

Please note that in most cases, National Grid is unable to offer sponsorship for employment under the UK points-based immigration system. As such, applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK without requiring sponsorship now or in the future under the UK points-based immigration system. However, in exceptional circumstances where there is a clear and demonstrable need for specialist skills that cannot be sourced from the local labour market, National Grid may consider offering sponsorship. All applications are welcome from candidates who meet these requirements, regardless of race, nationality, or ethnic origin.

At National Grid, we work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

Our goal is to drive, develop and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive culture. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, the innovation from diverse teams & perspectives and business need. We are committed to building a workforce so we can represent the communities we serve and have a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.