Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 430-26-1059A
- Employer
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Pharmacy (Dept)
- Town
- Milton Keynes
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 Per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 16/08/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 31/08/2026
Employer heading
Principal Pharmacist
Band 8a
At Milton Keynes University Hospital, you will be welcomed into a friendly and supportive environment where teamwork and respect are at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to live our Trust values and behaviours every day, creating a culture where everyone feels heard and valued.
MKUH staff's Motivation and Involvement scores are among the highest in our peer group, showing that our people feel inspired and included in decision-making (Staff Survey, 2024).
Our benefits
We believe in recognising and rewarding the amazing contribution of our staff and that is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, work-life balance, and professional growth, including:
- Free on-site parking including EV charging
- Complimentary refreshments
- Flexible working arrangements
- Discounted gym membership
- Salary sacrifice car scheme
- Generous annual leave, with the option to bank holiday entitlement
- Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme
- On-site nursery (charges apply)
- A wide-ranging staff health and wellbeing programme including EAP
- VIVUP products to support your mental, physical, and financial Wellbeing
Job overview
Principal Pharmacist – Neurology & Biologics
Department: Pharmacy
Band 8a, £57,528 - £64,750 Per annum pro rata
Hours: Full time, 37.5 per week, all MKUH roles will be considered for flexible working
Are you an experienced pharmacist with a passion for improving patient care? Would you like to be involved in the development of new services? Are you keen to work as part of the wider multi-disciplinary team? If your answer to these questions is yes, we invite you to get in touch with us.
Now is an excellent time to become part of the pharmacy team at MKUH; we are a friendly, forward-thinking, and innovative department who continue to grow in both size and influence. Recent enhancements to our working environment include a major departmental refurbishment, the introduction of a new Pharmacy Robot, the establishment of a new Pharmacy and Aseptic Unit in the Cancer Centre, and the opening of a new Outpatient Pharmacy.
'We care We communicate We collaborate We contribute'
Please note: We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.
Interview date: w/c 31st August 2026
Main duties of the job
Our services are evolving to provide our pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with more time to work alongside patients while supporting their medical and nursing colleagues. Our commitment is to ensure that every patient receives safe, high-quality care, placing our patients at the heart of our mission. This role is an ideal opportunity for a skilled and dedicated pharmacist looking for experience at a more senior level.
As a trust we are currently repatriating the care of our MS patients on disease modifying therapies from our tertiary centre to MKUH. To support this move and develop the service we can offer to our MS patients we are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated pharmacist to join our team and become the pharmacy lead for neurology and biologics.
Working alongside colleagues in different specialties, you will be responsible for the development and delivery of the pharmacy services to support the care of our MS patients and for the management of biologic medicines across the trust. You will have a regular clinical pharmacy commitment and will also be responsible for the line management of allocated members of the clinical pharmacy team.
Working for our organisation
Milton Keynes University Hospital, in proud partnership with the University of Buckingham, is a University Teaching Hospital committed to advancing patient care through cutting-edge research and education. With a “Good” rating from the CQC and significant investment underway, this is an exciting time to join our team and grow your career.
As a medium sized general hospital, we provide a full range of general medical and surgical services, including a busy Emergency Department, Maternity, and Paediatrics. As the population of our city and surrounding areas continues to grow rapidly, we are expanding and enhancing our facilities to meet rising demand and improve access to care for all our communities.
We are also proud to offer a growing portfolio of specialist services. In January 2025 we opened our state-of-the-art Radiotherapy Centre, bringing advanced cancer treatment closer to home. Our services also include neonatology, specialist surgical care, and a wide range of diagnostics, supported by the new Community Diagnostic Centre at Whitehouse Health Centre. We have just opened the Oak Wards - a new ward block featuring two 24-bed wards.
Further investment is underway, including the recently approved Women and Children’s Centre, set to open by 2030.
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Detailed job description and main responsibilities
NHS Staff Survey: Our staff scored Autonomy and Control at 7.19, well above the national average. Here, you’re trusted to lead, innovate, and shape your work.
We are looking for an individual who shows a commitment to delivering excellence and working with us to make pharmacy a great place to be, for all staff in our wider team. A can-do approach and commitment to self and service development is essential. If you are passionate about patient care and developing pharmacy services for the future, this post is an ideal opportunity for you to build upon your clinical experience and further develop your management and leadership skills.
This role is crucial to the delivery, development, and evaluation of pharmaceutical services across the hospital. It plays a key part in helping divisions optimise medicines use within available resources.
Our standard working hours consist of four long days (8 am to 6.00 pm) per week; in addition you will be required to work Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays on a rota basis. After a period of induction and training, you will contribute to the two-tier pharmacy out-of-hours service.
If successful, you will be joining a friendly and welcoming team and will enter a supportive and learning environment that encourages both professional and personal development. Are you the person to help us make this happen? If so, we look forward to hearing from you.
Please refer to attached Job description for further information.
We believe success lies in the diversity of our employees and are committed to promoting equality, encouraging diversity, and embracing inclusion. We welcome applications from everyone interested in working for us.
MKUH is committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and as such we offer a range of flexible working practices.
We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once enough applications have been received.
MKUH uses identification scanning technology to confirm the authenticity of documents; all prospective employees of MKUH will have their original documents verified using this technology.
By applying for this role, you accept if successful, that information from your application will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system. Your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which aims at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.
Upon commencing employment with the Trust, all employees (except Medical & Dental Staff on national terms and conditions) are subject to a probationary period lasting a period of six months with an option to extend for a further six months to a total of 12 months.
Person specification
Qualifications and knowledge
Essential criteria
- MPharm degree (or equivalent).
- Registered as a Pharmacist with the GPhC
- Postgraduate Clinical Diploma.
- Evidence of ongoing CPD in line with GPhC
Desirable criteria
- MSc in relevant subject
- Independent prescribing qualification
- Education and training qualification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Proven experience as a clinical pharmacist within an hospital based setting
- Experience of managing drug expenditure for a specialty and understanding of budgetary mechanism
- Previous evaluations or reviews of medicines used in the specialty’s patient.
- Experience as a trainer
- Experience working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide patient care
- Experience of audit work
- Personnel management
- Service development
- An awareness of current national standards, guidelines and service delivery issues relevant to the directorate’s patient.
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience of working in Neurology / Biologics
- Experience of appraising staff and giving feedback
- Medicines Information
- Management qualification
- Introduction of a new service
- Project management
- Published work
- Knowledge of the medical management of disease in the specialty’s patients
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to manage time effectively and work to deadlines demonstrated in a previous post
- Ability to plan, prioritise and organise self and others
- Effective verbal and written communication demonstrated in a previous post.
- I.T. skills such as computer literacy, word processing and spreadsheet skills
- Ability to use Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word
- Managerial skills
- Communication skills.
- Good presentation skills.
- Report writing
- Problem solving
- Good team work and ability to work alone
Desirable criteria
- Leadership skills
- Critical appraisal skills
- Radical thinking
- Innovative
- Ability to motivate and act as a role model
Personal and people development
Essential criteria
- Experience of supervising and developing colleagues
- Evidence of Continuous Professional Development
Communication
Essential criteria
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence others
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
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
- Jill McDonald
- Job title
- Associate Director of Pharmacy
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01908 995712
- Additional information
For additional information about this post, please contact:
Jill McDonald (Associate Director of Pharmacy – Clinical Services, Education, Training & Workforce) on 01908 995712 or [email protected]
Helen Smith (Clinical Director of Pharmacy) in 01908 995718 or [email protected]
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