Neli Garbuzanova

Deputy Head of Transformation, Specialised Commissioning and Health & Justice, National Health Service (NHS) England

Ms. Neli Garbuzanova is a legal, procurement and commissioning professional with significant experience working for international law firms, the European Commission, the United Nations (UN) and the National Health Service (NHS) in England. As Deputy Head of Transformation in the NHS, Mrs. Garbuzanova is responsible for designing strategies, advising and leading on complex health services programmes. In her previous role as Senior Procurement Manager, she designed procurement strategies and processes and successfully delivered large projects in the health sector. She also led the revision of the NHS procurement policy.

Internationally, Ms. Garbuzanova advised on the updated UNCITRAL public-private partnerships (PPPs) model provisions and legislative guide and was part of the team at the European Commission drafting and negotiating the concessions directive in the wider procurement reform context. Currently, she is a member of the UNECE international team developing a practical guide on improving PPPs delivery through digital transformation in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Ms. Garbuzanova is a correspondent for the European Procurement and Public-Private Partnerships Law Review journal and was a member of the expert procurement group at the European Commission (2018-2021). She has authored a number of papers and articles and was an invited speaker in procurement workshops, interdisciplinary symposiums and conferences. Her current interests lie in climate change and public procurement, digital transformation and advanced technology in healthcare. Ms. Garbuzanova has recently published a two-part study on climate change considerations in public procurement and concessions.

In 2023, Ms. Garbuzanova received a scholarship to enrol in a highly regarded Digital Health Leadership Programme with Imperial College London. She holds a Law Degree from the University of Sofia and a Master’s Degree in International Commercial Law from the University of Nottingham. Ms. Garbuzanova is a fully qualified member of the Charter Institute of Procurement and Supply (MCIPS) and has APMG Agile and Lean-Six Sigma qualifications.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/neli-garbuzanova