Lead Pharmacy Technician - Quality Assurance

Sandwell And West Birmingham Nhs Trust; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is seeking an experienced Lead Pharmacy Technician - Quality Assurance to lead QA activities within the APU. The role ensures GMP and QAAPS compliance, supports environmental monitoring and audits, and enables safe aseptic and chemotherapy services.

You will manage quality systems, investigations, CAPAs, and change controls, while mentoring staff and driving continuous quality improvements across the pharmacy team.

Qualifications

• NVQ3, BTEC or equivalent in pharmaceutical science.
• Must be registered with General Pharmaceutical Council.
• CPD post qualification experience through a series of short and long-term courses to obtain specialist knowledge relevant to area of practice.
• Accredited Checking technicians award (ACPT)

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day delivery of Quality Assurance activities within the APU, ensuring compliance with GMP, QAAPS standards and regulatory requirements.
• Manage and develop quality systems, including deviations, CAPAs, change controls, audits, validation, and risk management processes.
• Oversee environmental monitoring and quality control programmes, investigating trends and implementing corrective actions where required.
• Coordinate internal audits and support external inspections, ensuring the service remains inspection-ready at all times.
• Act as an authorised product approver for aseptic products, supporting the safe release of chemotherapy and other aseptically prepared medicines.
• Provide specialist quality assurance advice and support to pharmacy, aseptic services and clinical trials teams.
• Support staff training, competency assessment and continuous quality improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to the ongoing development of pharmacy technical services, ensuring safe, efficient and patient-focused service delivery.

Skills

Senior technician

Staff supervision

Data analysis

Problem solving

Medicines dispensing

Education

NVQ3/BTEC in pharmaceutical science

ACPT

Job description

Job summary

Following the successful move into our state-of-the-art facilities at Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), we are seeking an experienced, motivated, and forward-thinking Lead Pharmacy Technician - Quality Assurance to join our expanding Pharmacy team. This is a highly specialised role with a key responsibility for leading and developing Quality Assurance activities across the Aseptic Preparation Unit (APU), ensuring compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), NHS Quality Assurance of Aseptic Preparation Services (QAAPS) standards and all relevant regulatory requirements. The post holder will play a pivotal role in maintaining and improving the Quality Management System, supporting environmental monitoring programmes, managing audits, investigations, CAPAs, change controls, and inspection readiness, while helping to ensure the safe delivery of aseptic and chemotherapy services. We are looking for an individual with excellent leadership, communication and problem-solving skills. We offer a supportive and innovative working environment, access to excellent training and development opportunities and the chance to influence and shape quality systems. This is an exciting opportunity for a pharmacy technician who is passionate about quality, patient safety and service excellence to make a significant impact within a progressive and ambitious pharmacy team.

Main duties of the job

Main duties of the job are the following:

• Lead the day-to-day delivery of Quality Assurance activities within the APU, ensuring compliance with GMP, QAAPS standards and regulatory requirements.


• Manage and develop quality systems, including deviations, CAPAs, change controls, audits, validation, and risk management processes.


• Oversee environmental monitoring and quality control programmes, investigating trends and implementing corrective actions where required.


• Coordinate internal audits and support external inspections, ensuring the service remains inspection-ready at all times.


• Act as an authorised product approver for aseptic products, supporting the safe release of chemotherapy and other aseptically prepared medicines.


• Provide specialist quality assurance advice and support to pharmacy, aseptic services and clinical trials teams.


• Support staff training, competency assessment and continuous quality improvement initiatives.


• Contribute to the ongoing development of pharmacy technical services, ensuring safe, efficient and patient-focused service delivery.

About us

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (SWB) serves Birmingham and the Black Country - one of the country's most culturally diverse areas. It's a friendly and welcoming place - a place where you can belong, and a place where you can grow.

We care for our patients, we care about our population, and we care about our people.

Our values - Ambition, Respect and Compassion - are at the heart of who we are. They guide us every step of the way; how we work with each other, and how we look after our patients and their families; how we respect and value the rich diversity of our team and our community.

Our Trust has always aspired to be more than a hospital, more than a healthcare provider. Our purpose is \"Improve the Life Chances and Health Outcomes of our Population.\" It is what inspires, drives, and unites us every day. It's what makes us unique.

We want working at SWB to feel like more than just a job. We want our Trust to be a place where you can feel you belong. A place where you feel happy, safe, and rewarded. A place where you can develop your career in whatever way you choose. When we say we're 'with you all the way' we want you to know that we mean it. Visit the SWB website to find out more about our ambitions and people plans.

Job responsibilities

Please see the attached Person Specification and Job Description for an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role.

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ3, BTEC or equivalent in pharmaceutical science


• Must be registered with General Pharmaceutical Council


• CPD post qualification experience through a series of short and long-term courses to obtain specialist knowledge relevant to area of practice. All of which, together is the equivalent to degree level


• Accredited Checking technicians award (ACPT)

Desirable

• Product Approval Accreditation Programme

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working as a senior technician in a hospital environment.


• Proven experience of supervising and management of staff


• Computer literate, with a proven ability to search for relevant information on various databases, and evaluate data in order to formulate a response to enquiries.


• Accurate data input skills.


• Problem solving skills and approach on a wide range of highly complex clinical and non-clinical issues requiring analysis, interpretation and judgement


• Proven ability to dispense medicines and information regarding medications accurately without making errors.


• Proven ability to check medicines dispensed by others and to detect any errors that may have been made.


• Experience in dispensing clinical trials.


• Working knowledge of a broad range of medicines and their safety issues

Desirable

• Experienced in writing departmental procedures

Written and analytical skills

Essential

• Ability to read and understand complex information


• Ability and experience of writing and implementing SOPs

Desirable

• Ability to write and implement SOPs

Management/Supervision skills

Essential

• Supervised and managed staff/Line management


• Experience of carrying out PDR's


• Complex sickness management


• Ability to co-ordinate workflows


• Meet deadlines


• Plan and organise own workload

Knowledge

Essential

• Up to date knowledge of medicines legislation and legal requirements for dispensing and supplying medications


• Knowledge of health and safety and COSHH regulations

Mental effort

Essential

• Ability to work under pressure


• Ability to work in a fast paced environment with frequent interruptions


• Ability to accurately dispense and final check for long periods

Legal and immigration information

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).