Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 354-CO-21873
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Swandean
- Town
- Worthing West Sussex
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 22/04/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Lead Pharmacy Technician
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is launching a brand-new pharmacy supply and dispensing service to support our mental health and learning disability wards and community teams. At the heart of this transformation is a new dedicated Pharmacy Hub at our Swandean site in Worthing and we’re looking for an exceptional pharmacy technician to lead it.
This is a rare opportunity to shape a service from the ground up: designing how it works, building the team, setting the standards, and embedding a culture of safety, learning, quality and continuous improvement from day one.
You’ll be joining an award-winning pharmacy team that values innovation, collaboration and professional development. You will play a pivotal role in improving access to medicines, strengthening supply resilience, and enhancing the experience of patients and clinical teams across the Trust.
If you’re a strategic, motivated pharmacy technician leader who wants to leave a real legacy, this role offers the scope, influence and challenge to do exactly that.
Main duties of the job
- Provide senior operational leadership for the day-to-day running of the new Pharmacy Hub at Swandean
- Lead, inspire and develop the pharmacy technician and pharmacy assistant workforce, including training, education and professional development
- Take overall responsibility for Pharmacy Hub operations, ensuring a safe, efficient and patient-centred supply service
- Ensure the timely and secure supply of medicines to wards and community teams
- Embed strong medicines governance, risk management and patient safety systems from the outset
- Build and manage robust operational systems, workflows and performance oversight
- Coordinate workloads, resources and priorities to deliver a resilient, responsive service
- Ensure compliance with medicines legislation, professional standards and Trust procedures
- Act as a senior technical and operational expert within the service
- Support medicines procurement and contribute to managing and mitigating supply disruptions
- Work closely with clinical and corporate colleagues as a trusted professional partner
- Drive continuous improvement, innovation and service development within the hub model
Working for our organisation
Why Join Sussex Partnership?
- As a mental health trust SPFT places a huge focus on the wellbeing of our staff, as well as ensuring our reward packages reflect the immensely important work they do.
- Flexible working options to support work-life balance.
- Competitive NHS benefits package (27 days’ annual leave + bank holidays, NHS pension).
- Access to wellbeing support including counselling, mindfulness, and staff networks.
- Work in a Trust that values innovation, diversity, and inclusivity.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To plan, manage, develop and lead the provision of medicines supply across the Trust.
To act as the delegated authority by the Chief Pharmacist to implement safe, legal and efficient processes of medicines supply from The Pharmacy Hub.
To lead and develop the roles and responsibilities of the Trust pharmacy technician and pharmacy assistant workforce. To enhance professional practice, education and service developments using an evidence-based approach.
To use specialist expert knowledge to interpret regional and national policy pertinent to the professional role of the pharmacy technician to support accurate workforce planning and development of services.
To manage the provision of all pharmacy technician and pharmacy assistant training and professional development.
To lead on all policy and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) pertaining to leading The Pharmacy Hub; supporting pharmacists, other pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants in ensuring regulatory compliance with medicines regulations; providing essential support to other healthcare professionals and patients of the Trust.
See attached job description for more details on this role and requirements
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- NVQ level 3 Pharmacy Services, BTEC Pharmaceutical Sciences or equivalent as recognised by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- Registered as a Pharmacy Technician with General Pharmaceutical Council with GPhC (with no restrictions).
- To have successfully completed the NHS England (NHSE) South East (South Coast) Medicines Management Education and Developments, Medicines Management Accreditation Scheme or equivalent.
- Completed or willing to undertake the Accredited Checking Pharmacy Technician (ACPT) course
- To have successfully completed the NVQ A1 assessor portfolio and be eligible to assess candidates undertaking both NVQ Level II and NVQ Level III in Pharmacy Services
- Practice Supervisor and Educational Supervisor training or equivalent as recognised by NHSE
Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience working in a hospital or mental health pharmacy setting.
- To have a reasonable level of project management experience to articulate and develop robust project plans.
- Experience of working with different healthcare professions and managers across the wider healthcare economy
- Can demonstrate an understanding of the key stakeholders the post is likely to be supporting and how they will be expected to support them.
- Experience of managing and leading workforce and teams
- Experience of policy/guideline writing and development.
- Experience of writing and delivering training
- Leadership experience – inspiring and developing pharmacy professionals and introducing change and innovation.
- Experience of tutoring or supervising trainees and newly qualified staff
- Experience of manipulating, analysing and reporting data
- Experience of strategic planning/service development.
- Knowledge and awareness of regulation, legislation and governance relevant to medicines optimisation.
- IT competency in standard Microsoft Office packages (or equivalent) and able to quickly understand and use other IT systems
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Carol-Anne Davies-Jones
- Job title
- Deputy Chief Pharmacist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07922591496
- Additional information
Jonathon Palmer, Deputy Chief Pharmacist, [email protected]
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