Chief Technician, Outpatient Services

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals; Carshalton; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 71,000; Full time

Job summary

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals is seeking a ChiefPharmacy Technician to provide senior technical and operational leadership for the Outpatient Pharmacy Service across St Helier and Epsom.

You will lead the delivery, governance, digital transformation and workforce planning to ensure safe medicines supply and a patient-focused service, driving improvements across both sites. This role requires GPhC registration and hospital pharmacy leadership experience.

Qualifications

• GPhC registration as a Pharmacy Technician is required.
• BTEC/NVQ Level 3 Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent is required.
• Membership of APTUK or equivalent professional body is preferred.
• Practice Supervisor and/or Educational Supervisor qualification is desirable.
• Additional leadership/management qualification is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead Outpatient Pharmacy across St Helier and Epsom, providing technical and operational leadership.
• Shape the future of outpatient pharmacy by standardising processes and leading service redesign.
• Drive performance by monitoring KPIs, workload, waiting times, dispensing activity and patient experience.
• Lead workforce planning to ensure staffing, skill mix and service capacity.
• Governance and patient safety oversight of incidents, complaints and drug recalls.
• Lead digital transformation using pharmacy systems and data to improve workflow and patient experience.
• Develop and implement changes in collaboration with pharmacists and wider Trust services.
• Provide senior technical expertise to ensure safe and efficient medicines supply.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Data analysis

Influence & negotiation

Organisational skills

IT literacy

Work under pressure

Digital systems experience

Quality improvement

Education

GPhC registration as a Pharmacy Technician

BTEC/NVQ Level 3 Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science

Membership of APTUK or equivalent

Practice/Educational Supervisor qualification

Leadership/management qualification

Tools

PTS

CMM

ePMA

Job description

Site St Helier Hospital Town Carshalton Salary £63,665 - £70,887 Pro-rata pa inc HCAS (Outer London) Salary period Yearly Closing 04/10/2026 23:59

At Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, above all we value respect. We put respect at the heart of all we do, by living up to our shared behaviours of kindness, professionalism, positivity and teamwork. This enables us to provide great patient care and make ESTH a great place to work. When you sign up to work with us, you sign up to this and we welcome applicants who share our values.

Job overview

Are you ready to lead change, inspire a team and transform outpatient pharmacy services? This is an exciting opportunity to provide senior technical and operational leadership for our busy Outpatient Pharmacy Service across Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals.

We have retained our outpatient dispensing service in-house, placing this role at the heart of a service that directly impacts patients across a wide range of specialties. We are looking for an experienced ChiefPharmacy Technician who can lead with confidence, challenge existing ways of working and drive a safe, efficient and patient-focused service.

You will lead the operational delivery and performance of Outpatient Pharmacy Services across both sites, using data, patient experience, incidents and workforce information to identify opportunities and deliver meaningful improvements. You will have a key role in workforce planning, service development, governance, digital transformation, medicines supply and the standardisation of processes across the Trust.

Working closely with pharmacists, clinical teams, senior pharmacy colleagues and other stakeholders, you will influence and deliver change that improves patient flow, reduces delays and enhances the patient experience.

If you are an ambitious pharmacy technician with strong leadership skills, operational expertise and a passion for improving services, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

• Lead and inspire the Outpatient Pharmacy team across both St Helier and Epsom, providing technical and operational leadership to ensure a safe, efficient and patient-focused service.
• Shape the future of outpatient pharmacy by developing and standardising processes, improving patient pathways and leading service redesign across both sites.
• Drive performance by monitoring and analysing KPIs, workload, waiting times, dispensing activity, incidents and patient experience, identifying bottlenecks and delivering improvements.
• Lead workforce planning to ensure appropriate staffing, skill mix, competency and service capacity to meet patient demand and Trust priorities.
• Champion governance and patient safety, providing senior oversight of incidents, complaints, risks, medicines losses, drug recalls and technical standards.
• Lead digital transformation, using pharmacy systems, data and technology to improve workflow, efficiency, communication and the patient experience.
• Develop and implement change, working collaboratively with pharmacists, clinical teams, Pharmacy colleagues and wider Trust services to deliver sustainable improvements.
• Provide senior technical expertise within Outpatient Pharmacy, ensuring medicines are supplied safely and efficiently in accordance with legislation, professional standards and Trust policies.
• Support innovation and continuous improvement, evaluating the impact of service changes by using data, audit, patient feedback to demonstrate improved outcomes.

Working for our organisation

At Epsom and St Helier, you’ll be part of a supportive, collaborative environment where your contributions are recognised and your growth is encouraged. You’ll work alongside passionate colleagues who share your commitment to delivering a high-class service for patients.

This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of outpatient care while advancing your career as a senior leader within the NHS. If you’re ready to take the next step, we look forward to receiving your application.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached supporting job description and person specification document which contains more information about the role and requirements. Please ensure your application refers to the job description and person specification.

Please note: This role is primarily based at St Helier, with a requirement to work across Epsom and other Trust sites as required, supporting a consistent and standardised Outpatient Pharmacy Service across the Trust.

The post includes participation in the late duty, seven day, bank holiday and senior on-call rotas.

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

• GPhC registration as a Pharmacy Technician
• BTEC/NVQ Level 3 Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent
• Membership of APTUK or equivalent professional body
• Practice Supervisor and/or Educational Supervisor qualification
• Additional leadership or management qualification

Experience & Knowledge

• Significant post-registration hospital pharmacy experience, including substantial experience within outpatient/dispensary pharmacy services.
• Experience of leading or contributing to service redesign, transformation and continuous improvement.
• Experience of managing incidents, complaints, risks, medicines losses, discrepancies and patient safety issues.
• Experience of monitoring and improving service KPIs, using workload and performance data to identify trends and inform service planning.
• Knowledge and understanding of relevant medicines legislation, professional standards, clinical governance and risk management.
• Experience of managing and developing pharmacy staff, including appraisal, performance management and competency development.
• Knowledge of medicines security, stock management, controlled drugs and medicines supply risks.
• Experience of working across multidisciplinary teams and influencing stakeholders to deliver service improvements.
• Experience of PTS, CMM, ePMA
• Experience of clinical trials pharmacy processes and medicines management.
• Experience of project management, quality improvement or service evaluation.
• Experience of managing medicines recalls and significant medicines-related safety issues.

Skills/abilities

• Excellent leadership and people-management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex operational information effectively
• Ability to analyse complex operational problems and develop practical, sustainable solutions
• Ability to influence, negotiate and work collaboratively with a wide range of professional and organisational stakeholders
• Excellent organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities
• Ability to use data, KPIs and performance information to support decision-making and demonstrate service improvement.
• High level of IT literacy, including the ability to use pharmacy and digital systems to support service delivery and performance.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and maintain service delivery during periods of operational challenge.
• Experience of using digital systems and data analysis to redesign pharmacy services.
• Experience of quality improvement, audit or service evaluation methodologies.

Safeguarding and DBS Checks We are committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. For roles with direct access to these groups, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be required. All staff are expected to understand and uphold their safeguarding responsibilities as part of their role.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Closing date To help us manage recruitment efficiently, some vacancies may close early once we have received a sufficient number of applications.