Pharmacy Administrative Assistant

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Pharmacy Administrative Assistant to provide essential administrative support within the pharmacy department in Chelmsford.

You will assist with procurement, secretarial tasks, diary management and coordinating meetings, ensuring confidentiality and high-quality communication with staff and external contacts. This role offers a permanent contract and county-wide service involvement.

Qualifications

• GCSEs including Maths and English.
• IT skills equivalent to RSA3/NVQ2 or related experience.
• ECDL equivalent.
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the procurement function in the pharmacy.
• Provide secretarial support to the Senior Pharmacy Management Team and Medicines Optimisation Team.
• Communicate with internal and external stakeholders and maintain a professional image for the Trust.
• Act as primary contact for the team, handling calls and visitors.

Skills

Microsoft Office

Minutes taking

Communication

Secretarial support

Education

GCSE Maths and English

RSA3

NVQ2

European Computer Driving Licence

Tools

Outlook

Word

Excel

Teams

Job description

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Pharmacy Administrative Assistant

The closing date is 08 November 2026

Are you interested in becoming a part of a dedicated admin team? Are you friendly, flexible and enthusiastic? Do you have an interest in improving the service that we as a pharmacy deliver to our patients throughout Essex and beyond?

If you have answered 'Yes' to the above questions then we have the job for you!

EPUT Pharmacy is looking for a dynamic addition to our already stellar administrative team who play an integral part in the clerical support of our county spanning service.

Main duties of the job

• To provide administrative support to the procurement function of the pharmacy department.
• To provide comprehensive and effective secretarial and administrative support to the Senior Pharmacy Management Team and members of the pharmacy and medicines optimisation team.
• To communicate with internal and external stakeholders, and maintain a professional image of the Trust at all times.
• To act as the primary point of contact for the pharmacy and medicines optimisation team for internal and external communication, screening calls/visitors as appropriate.

About us

Valuing you. Recognising your dedication. At EPUT, we look after you.

• Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential.
• Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks.
• If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.
• We run recognition awards to recognise staff's hard work and dedication.
• 27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years' service.
• Excellent pension of up to14.5% of your pensionable pay.
• Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits.
• £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us
• Season ticket loans are interest-free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus.

Work that wraps around your needs

• Flexible working: available from day one for most roles.
• Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.

Job responsibilities

• To ensure that invoices and credit notes from pharmaceutical wholesalers and manufacturers are reconciled within the Pharmacy IT system in an effective and timely manner, chasing suppliers for outstanding documentation, and bringing issues to the attention of the lead pharmacy technician for procurement, Dispensary Manager, Stores Manager or Pharmacy Business Operations Manager, if they cannot be resolved.
• To provide a secretarial support service to the Senior Management Team and members of the pharmacy and medicines optimisation team, ensuring strict confidentiality at all times. To undertake word processing including the typing and lay-out of complex reports and correspondence.
• To use required technology such as scanners, laptops and projectors to provide support for team members as and when required.
• To communicate on a daily basis with the all levels of pharmacy staff on operational issues.
• To seek, at all times, to be effective and efficient and to enhance the quality that these services provide to all its customers, thereby assisting them to provide a high quality service to patients and clients.
• To undertake correspondence and arrange meetings as required in relation to complaints, investigations and deal with any sensitive matters in a confidential manner.
• To maintain a diary system for the members of the pharmacy Senior Management Team.
• To create, maintain and operate information databases and bring forward systems. To monitor responses required from the brought forward system, and action independently where appropriate.
• To assist with the monitoring, chasing and actioning of performance reports and activity.
• To ensure that all staff files, relevant documentation and supporting papers are filed and stored appropriately, to ensure all relevant information is displayed appropriately.
• To identify deadlines, to prioritise workload to meet internal and external deadlines, to manage workload with minimal supervision.
• To process all incoming and outgoing correspondence, ensuring rapid and appropriate distribution of information, and to co-ordinate responses.
• To respond to internal and external correspondence independently, on behalf of the Senior Pharmacy Management Team or in their absence, as agreed and where judged to be appropriate, including e-mails.
• To organise and control effective filing systems for correspondence, reports, handouts and other general information maintained by the pharmacy and medicines optimisation services.
• To use initiative, in the absence of the Senior Pharmacy Management Team to action incoming queries from internal and external sources, or to bring to the attention of the appropriate person. Where this is not immediately possible, to ensure that holding responses are sent before further discussion with the Senior Pharmacy Management Team to use initiative in a prompt manner to provide a smooth line of communication.
• To receive and deal with telephone and e-mail enquiries.
• To arrange meetings, book rooms and distribute papers as requested.
• To receive and sort out incoming post and distribute/circulate appropriately. To prepare and organise all outgoing post.
• To be responsible for ordering and maintaining the office stationery needs of the pharmacy team.
• To assist with all photocopying required by the teams.
• To develop and maintain a good working relationship with all internal and external contact and to be professional, flexible and a team player.
• To co-ordinate the positive returns for the pharmacy and medicines optimisation service, ensuring those that relate to the Chief Pharmacists direct reports are forwarded to the PA to the Chief Pharmacist for submission. Maintain personnel files for the all staff to include annual leave and sickness records, travel claims, payroll returns, supervision and appraisal records.
• To have a flexible approach to the hours of work to meet the needs of the job.
• To undertake any relevant internal and external training as required, including the Trusts mandatory training.
• To take minutes of team meetings, transcribe them and disseminate them to all appropriate team members.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

• Good standard of general education (Five GCSEs or equivalent, including Maths and English)
• IT skills equivalent to RSA3, NVQ2 or relevant experience of Microsoft Office packages
• European Computer Driving Licence qualification or equivalent

Knowledge

• Understanding and awareness of data protection and confidentiality
• Ability to communicate routine information both verbally and in writing
• Knowledge and understanding of general administrative processes
• Knowledge of Trust information systems
• Knowledge and understanding of medical / pharmaceutical terminology
• Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy processes

Skills / Experience

• Experience with working with all Microsoft Packages (Outlook, Excel, Word & Teams)
• Methodical, organised approach to work with good attention to detail.
• Effective time management and ability to meet deadlines
• Previous Administrative Experience
• Adept at taking notes / minutes and circulating information to the wider team

Personal Qualities

• Customer focused, with a calm and empathetic persona, good listener, patient and diplomatic
• Ability to engage with people of varying levels of seniority
• Flexible approach to working; ability to plan, organise and prioritise own workload and use own initiative
• Ensures and understands the Trust's beliefs & that the organisational values are demonstrated and upheld
• Driving license, with access to a car and able to travel to other sites if required.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Employer name

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

EPUT Pharmacy, Chelford Court

Units E & F Chelford Court, 37 Robjohns Road

£25,760 to £27,476 a yearper annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Reference number

364-B-587

Job locations

EPUT Pharmacy, Chelford Court

Units E & F Chelford Court, 37 Robjohns Road