Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 282-SB1766
- Employer
- The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- The Royal Marsden Chelsea
- Town
- Chelsea
- Salary
- £75,328 - £86,114 Per Annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 25/08/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Lead Aseptic Pharmacist
NHS AfC: Band 8b
Job overview
A unique opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and dynamic pharmacist to join the Pharmacy Aseptic Services team at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust as Lead Pharmacist, Aseptic Services.
This is an exceptional time to join our service. Alongside our established aseptic units, we are preparing to open a brand-new state-of-the-art aseptic facility in Sutton at the end of the year. This exciting development forms part of our long-term vision to create a fully licensed aseptic manufacturing service, delivering innovation, resilience and capacity for the future. The successful candidate will play a key leadership role in shaping and developing this new service from the outset.
Our aseptic service is built around delivering the highest quality care to patients and staff across the Trust. Working closely with The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), the department supports the development of innovative cancer therapies as they enter early-phase clinical trials, whilst also providing chemotherapy treatments for thousands of patients each year.
As Lead Pharmacist, Aseptic Services we are looking for an experienced, ambitious and innovative leader who is passionate about quality, service improvement and delivering outstanding patient care.
Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer.
Main duties of the job
• To deliver a high-quality pharmacy aseptic service to optimise patient care and experience.
• To oversee and be responsible for the Quality Management System within the pharmacy aseptic units.
• To ensure that the Quality Management System operates within both of the Trusts aseptic units and that through the application of this ensuring that all products are compounded to the highest possible standards.
• To work alongside the Clinical Trials team in being able to provide QA advice and support necessary for the management of Clinical Trials in the pharmacy in accordance with the statutory requirements for Good Clinical Practice.
• Lead a team of highly skilled pharmacists, technicians and other pharmacy staff working to deliver cutting edge pharmacy services to patients.
• To lead on the delivery of local, regional and national projects to optimise service provision and improve patient experience. The post holder will be responsible for implementation of these projects via the change management system, through extensive stakeholder engagement and collaboration.
• To work closely with the senior pharmacy team to identify and deliver costs savings and service efficiencies within departments and across systems.
Working for our organisation
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.
At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That's why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.
At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification
• To lead the provision of a high quality, safe, efficient and responsive aseptic service to meet the needs of the Trust.
• To be the subject matter expert for quality assurance across the pharmacy service.
• To lead the pharmacy aseptic services team.
• To lead on developing and continually improving services in line with Trust priorities, the Cancer Strategy and wider NHSE (NHS England) strategy on productivity, efficiency and care quality.
• To contribute to and participate in the planning, development and provision of education and training for the Pharmacy Aseptic Team.
• To be responsible for assessing the education needs of pharmacy staff and working collaboratively with them to support their development.
• To contribute to and participate in the Trust’s clinical governance programmes relating to medicines use and the pharmacy service.
• To lead on the local delivery of Trust and departmental clinical governance strategies.
• To act as an expert resource and support the Trust to meet the requirements for the Care Quality Commission standards with respect to medicines.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Professional knowledge acquired through vocational master’s degree in Pharmacy
- Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
Desirable criteria
- Registered with the RPS (Royal Pharmaceutical Society)
- Postgraduate Diploma / Masters in Clinical Pharmacy Practice or equivalent
- Postgraduate management / leadership qualification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Recent (within last 2 years) senior aseptic pharmacist, including significant senior management experience in service delivery, preferably an aseptic service
- Significant knowledge of GMP and QA principles in line with regulatory requirements governing aseptic units (MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency) and QAAP)
- Experience in preparation of an external audit by the regulators
- Experience in preparation of an external audit by the regulators
- Significant knowledge/experience of clinical trials within Aseptic Units.
- Recent experience of managing and leading large scale and complex change projects
- Recent (in last 2 years) evidence and proven track record of making efficiencies and savings in an NHS or similar environment
- Experience of managing external contracts with third party organisations
- Demonstrable track record of introducing new and improved services
- Managing the risk agenda
- Extensive portfolio and evidence of CPD with identifiable outcomes (I)
Desirable criteria
- Working on national/regional aseptic committes/groups or boards
Skills Abilities/knowledge
Essential criteria
- Evidence of effective interpersonal skills with ability to liaise with multidisciplinary team members
- Evidence of working well in a team
- Ability to demonstrate self-motivation
- Ability to make decisions, organise and prioritise
- Evidence of commitment to customer care initiatives
- Knowledge and understanding of quality issues
- Evidence of understanding the NHS plans around aseptic transformation
- Computer Literacy (eg: Microsoft Word and Outlook. Microsoft Teams and Pharmacy Systems)
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of publication
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
- Flexibility to meet the needs of the service
- Able to work on both sites and to be flexible to meet the needs of the role
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
- Ilves Sanna
- Job title
- Head of Pharmacy
- Email address
- [email protected]
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