Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 334-CLI-7656456-SF
- Employer
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Bethlem Royal Hospital
- Town
- Beckenham
- Salary
- £61,631 - £68,623 per annum inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 07/01/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Pharmacy Operations Manager
NHS AfC: Band 8a
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.
We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.
We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.
The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.
As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
We are seeking an experienced and motivated Pharmacy Operations Manager to join our dynamic and innovative team. We are looking for an exceptional leader who will inspire and lead the dispensary and technical pharmacy services at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, ensuring safe, efficient, and high-quality care for our patients.
This post is the operational manager for dispensary, ward and community services delivered from the Bethlem Royal Hospital pharmacy which includes Croydon and Lewisham community mental health services and for Bethlem and Ladywell inpatient sites. You will be the lead pharmacy technician for these areas and will manage all technical staff on these sites.
As a key member of the pharmacy leadership team, you will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, workforce planning, and service improvement initiatives. You will work closely with clinical leads, senior managers, and multidisciplinary teams to ensure compliance with medicines optimisation standards, GPhC (General Pharmaceutical Council) and the APT (Association of Pharmacy Technician) professional standards and regulatory requirements.
This role is ideally suited to candidates who want to extend their experience at a senior management level in a progressive environment.
The successful candidate must have strong interpersonal skills, the desire to network and collaborate, together with the ability to inspire a team towards continuous improvement.
Main duties of the job
You will be a role model and have the desire to utilise and develop practice to improve pharmacy services. You will lead, develop, deliver, and evaluate the provision of pharmacy services provided at the Bethlem Royal Hospital and enhance the reputation of the department to deliver the right medicine at the right time for all our patients
-
- Lead and manage the operational aspects of pharmacy services, ensuring efficient workflows and optimal resource utilisation.
· Provide leadership and support to pharmacy staff, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.
· Ensure compliance with governance, safety, and quality standards, including GPhC and NHS guidelines.
· Drive service transformation projects to enhance patient experience and operational performance.
· Collaborate with clinical teams to support medicines optimisation and safe prescribing practices.
· To regularly review financial reports and to work with finance on budget changes and service planning
South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK. We are a world leading Trust in research, working closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. Our services include the Maudsley Hospital, Lambeth Hospital and Bethlem Royal Hospital. We are also part of King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.
Working for our organisation
About the team
The pharmacy department provides dispensing services from the Maudsley, Lambeth, Bethlem Royal hospitals and Ladywell unit and a clinical pharmacy service to 1,000 inpatients and 3,000 community patients. The Medicines Advice Centre at the Maudsley is the national centre for information on psychotropics. The department produces the Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines, now on its 15th Edition, and is the world’s leading pharmacy centre for research in psychiatry, having published over 300 clinical papers in the past 25 years.
The pharmacy is also part of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Clinical Academic Group (PSCAG) which incorporates more than 1,800 staff and students and includes staff from all four organisations within King’s Health Partners with the aim to integrate the work across all partner organisations to improve practice, research and healthcare/academic education and training strategy.
About the location
Bethlem Royal Hospital is based in a beautiful setting in over 200 acres of green space in the London Borough of Bromley. The hospital has easy access to nearby main roads and offers free parking. The site is within walking distance from of Eden Park and West Wickham overland stations.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
About You
· Registered pharmacy technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
· Significant experience in hospital pharmacy, including operational management and leadership roles, experience in a mental health setting would be an advantage.
· Strong understanding of NHS policies, medicines legislation, and pharmacy governance.
· Excellent communication, organisational, and problem-solving skills.
· Ability to lead teams through change and deliver measurable improvements.
·
Why Join Us?
· Be part of a forward-thinking pharmacy team committed to innovation and excellence.
· Opportunities for professional development and leadership training.
· Supportive working environment within a respected NHS Trust.
To view the main duties and responsibilities, please see the attached the Job Description and Person Specification.
Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Qualified Pharmacy Technician registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council
- Member of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians
- Management qualification or equivalent experience
- Professional Medicines Management qualification
- Accredited Checking Technician
Desirable criteria
- Education and training qualification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive management experience in hospital pharmacy
- Extensive service delivery and change management experience
- Good understanding of root cause analysis and other quality initiatives
- An extensive and specialist knowledge and understanding of hospital pharmacy services
- Extensive experience of implementing policy and procedural changes
- Experience of performance management and effectively line managing staff
- Recruitment and selection training / experience
- Expert experience of audit, project management and data analysis
- Working strategically and effectively within the local and national environment
- Finance analysis – Can demonstrate expert knowledge in the manipulation of various sources of systems data and experience of budget management
- Extensive dispensary management experience
Desirable criteria
- Education and Training Experience
- E-roster experience
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria
- Medicines Management knowledge and experience
- Knowledge and experience of delivering Ward Pharmacy services
- Extensive service delivery experience in a hospital pharmacy
- Proven service delivery skills and change management skills in hospital pharmacy
- Excellent communication skills written and verbal
- Promotes and develops medicines safety initiatives
- Clear vision of the future of pharmacy technician roles and how to affect changes
Desirable criteria
- Experience with EPMA systems
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Eleanor Styles
- Job title
- Pharmacy Operations Manager - Croydon and Lewisham
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020 3228 4196
- Additional information
Carly Wood
List jobs with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in Health Science Services or all sectors