Head of Education and Training - Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff

NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Liverpool is seeking a Head of Education & Training for Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff. The successful candidate will develop a comprehensive training strategy, manage educational programs, and ensure that staff are well-prepared and supported in their professional development. Applicants should have significant experience in leadership within hospital pharmacy settings, a relevant master's degree, and strong communication skills. This full-time role offers a salary between £55,690 and £62,682 per annum.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or equivalent in leading technical services.
• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council as a Pharmacy Technician.
• Experience in providing education and training.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a pharmacy education strategy.
• Identify training needs and design development programmes.
• Lead the recruitment, training, and development of pharmacy technicians.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Education and training delivery

Project management

Interpersonal communication

Budget management

Education

Master’s degree (L7) in leading technical services

NVQ Level 3 / BTEC in Pharmacy Services

A1 NVQ Assessor qualification

Job description

Head of Education & Training - Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff

Band 8a – Permanent, Full time – 37.5 hours per week. Salary: £55,690 – £62,682 per annum.

Closing date: 17/11/2025 23:59.

Job Overview

Are you a forward‑thinking, self‑motivated Pharmacy Technician with a passion for workforce development and education? Do you have a desire to pave the way for Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacy Support Staff? Here at University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHLG) we are excited to offer an opportunity for a dynamic and experienced individual to join us as our Head of Education and Training – Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff.

UHLG operates from four hospital sites: Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool Women’s Hospital and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, alongside a host of community services. As a major healthcare provider, we offer general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people across the North West.

We are welcoming applications from individuals with the passion and drive to share our vision and values to support our organisational reputation for excellence and innovation.

Main Duties

In this senior leadership role, you will work closely with the Lead Pharmacist – Education and Training to co‑design and deliver a Trust‑wide pharmacy education and training strategy. With a specific focus on pharmacy technicians and support staff, you will shape the future of the workforce across all UHLG hospital sites.

Demonstrating strong strategic and operational leadership skills, you will ensure that our pharmacy technical staff are supported, developed, and future‑ready, through structured development pathways, responsive training programmes, and close partnership with national bodies and education providers.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a Group‑wide pharmacy education strategy for pharmacy technicians and support staff (excluding aseptic and radiopharmacy).
• Identify training needs and design targeted development programmes aligned to service and regulatory requirements.
• Lead on PTPT (Pre‑registration Trainee Pharmacy Technician) recruitment, training and development.
• Provide line management for Pharmacy Education and Training Technicians, including appraisals and competency assessments.
• Serve as UHLG’s key representative with the ICB, NHSE, and education providers for pharmacy technical education.
• Maximise workforce development opportunities via the apprenticeship levy and other funding streams.
• Champion practice‑based research and contribute to the evidence base through publication and dissemination.
• Oversee the creation of training materials and resources, ensuring accessibility and effectiveness for a diverse workforce.
• Actively promote the role and professional development of pharmacy technicians and support staff.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Master’s degree (L7) or equivalent in leading technical services.
• NVQ Level 3 / BTEC in Pharmacy Services or equivalent nationally recognised qualification.
• Accredited accuracy checking qualification/certification.
• A1 NVQ Assessor qualification.
• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council as a Pharmacy Technician.

Desirable Qualifications

• Postgraduate management qualification or equivalent experience.
• Teaching qualification.

Experience

Essential Criteria

• Currently employed in a senior role as a Pharmacy Technician leading pharmacy staff.
• In‑depth experience of hospital pharmacy operational management across a range of areas.
• Significant experience of providing education and training including preparing and delivering presentations, training packs and other training materials.
• Management experience including recruitment, appraisal, training, leadership, motivation, sickness absence and participation in grievance or disciplinary procedures.
• Experience of change management and/or project work that influenced change.
• Regular liaison with other senior hospital staff and external agencies.
• Experience of multidisciplinary working to deliver Trust initiatives or resolving issues.

Desirable Criteria

• Management of pay and/or non‑pay budgets.
• Experience of developing funding requests and monitoring outputs.
• Experience in risk management and incident investigation.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrate an understanding of current pharmacy and NHS issues relating to technical and support staff roles.
• Awareness of national strategy for development of technical pharmacy roles.
• Training methods to support effective training provision.
• Coaching and development techniques.
• Ability to interpret and apply professional standards and medicines legislation as it applies to all areas of pharmacy practice and its application to policies & procedures.
• Awareness of and a commitment to the Clinical Governance Agenda.
• Knowledge of a range of management topics including performance capability, disciplinary and financial management, service improvement.
• Have a good understanding of the funding streams available to support continuing education and development.
• Proactively provide suggestions, ideas, and solutions for service improvement.
• Excellent planning, organisation and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise own workload and that of others.
• Ability to act on own initiative, under pressure and making long‑term plans with minimal supervision.
• Ability to network and bring innovation that impacts across other services.
• Ability to write clear concise reports.
• Confidence to present cases to a large group of staff whilst maintaining a clear message.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills – written.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills – oral.
• Excellent presentation skills.
• Skilled negotiator with influencing skills.
• Ability to engage and motivate staff to deliver on service objectives and work well as a team.
• Ability to delegate appropriately maintaining team motivation and clarity of purpose to deliver objectives.
• Resilient: ability to remain calm in difficult and challenging situations.
• Ability to handle conflict and complaints/concerns.
• High degree of computer literacy including database searching and manipulation of spreadsheets.

Personal Attributes

Essential Criteria

• Accurate and methodical – good attention to detail.
• Enthusiasm for the role.
• Ability to inspire the team and sell the vision for service delivery.
• Resilient: able to cope and remain calm in difficult situations, competing demands and tight timescales.
• Flexible, adaptable.

Desirable Criteria

• Persuasive and ability to negotiate.

Other

Essential Criteria

• Occupational Health Clearance.
• Participation in evening, weekend and bank holiday working to meet the needs of departmental service delivery.
• Ability to travel across sites.
• Significant, relevant and ongoing personal CPD to maintain fitness to practice.

Additional Information

Posts advertised to ‘internal staff’ are open to employees of hospitals within University Hospitals of Liverpool Group and you should confirm your employment within your application form.

Note: Under current Home Office Immigration Rules we are currently unable to offer right to work visa sponsorship for Band 2 and 3 roles with a salary of less than £25,000 pa as they do not meet the UK Visas & Immigration criteria.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under‑represented in our workforce: black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16‑24.

The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work‑life balance and achieving fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment.

Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £23 (standard disclosure) or £43 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment. Bank posts require upfront payment.

Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation. All employees (and volunteers) are expected to maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training.

As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse / any form of sexual violence.

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.

Employer certification / accreditation badges.