Specialist Senior Pharmacy Technician

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust seeks a well-qualified Pharmacy Technician to lead the Pharmacy Clinical Trials Team. You will oversee a group of technicians and assistants, ensuring a high level of service across Trust-wide studies, with duties spanning recruitment, appraisals and trial setup.

You will be registered with the GPhC, hold NVQ/SVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services, and bring hospital pharmacy and clinical trials experience.

Qualifications

• You must be a qualified Pharmacy Technician with an NVQ/SVQ Level 3 and underpinning knowledge in Pharmacy Services.
• You must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• Experience in hospital pharmacy and clinical trials is required.
• Post-qualification experience supervising staff and managing trials is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Co-manage a small team of clinical trials technicians and assistants to provide a hospital-wide trials service.
• Recruit staff and carry out appraisals for the team.
• Manage pharmacy aspects of 100–150 active studies with 30–35 in set-up.
• Deliver training to Clinical Trials staff and coordinating with research nurses.

Skills

Excellent customer care

Management skills

Team supervision

Communication skills

Education

S/NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services

GPhC registration

ICR clinical research certificate or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Word

Outlook

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS hospital trusts in the country. We have around 16,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.7 billion.

With strong history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation regionally, nationally and internationally, w e’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country.

As well as providing a wide range of hospital and community services, we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a well-motivated and enthusiastic Pharmacy Technician to join the Pharmacy Clinical Trials Team within Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Responsibilities will include:

• Co-managing a small team of clinical trials technicians and assistants within your area in order to provide a high level Trust-wide Pharmacy Clinical Trials service.
• Be involved with recruitment of new staff and carrying out appraisals for current staff working within your area.
• Managing the Pharmacy aspects of 100 – 150 active commercial and non-commercial studies at any one time with approximately 30-35 trials in set-up phase.
• Managing financial activities relating to research
• Delivering training to Clinical Trials staff and non-Clinical Trials staff working within your unit, and research nurses/coordinators as necessary.
• Communication with professionals both internal and external to the Trust and attend meetings via teleconference and face-to-face.
• I.T. skills include experience with Microsoft Office, Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint. You will be required to learn and adapt to new technology as required by the job role.

Interview Date: 25 November 2026
37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week

Main duties of the job

You must be a qualified Pharmacy Technician with an S/NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services and approved underpinning knowledge e.g. BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent recognised Pharmacy Technician qualification and be registered with GPhC. You will have some level of managerial experience and be able to make on the spot decisions to enable the smooth running of the Clinical Trials service within your area.

You must have significant post qualification practical experience of working in a hospital Pharmacy environment with knowledge of the Clinical Trials Legislation and GCP.

You will report to the Clinical Trials Operations Manager. You will be accountable to the Clinical Trials Operations Manager, the Lead Clinical Trials Pharmacist and the Senior Lead Clinical Trials Pharmacist (all Trust-wide - see job description for more details).

Working for our organisation

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

With around 2 million contacts with patients every year, we deliver care from:

• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria

These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.

We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.

Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.

For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• The post holder is responsible for the operational management and organisation of the pharmacy clinical trials service within the hospital site(s) involved. Ensuring compliance with ICH-GCP guidelines, clinical trials regulations, the research governance frameworks and other relevant guidelines and policies
• To develop, review and revise clinical trials documentation to be used in individual clinical trials within the hospital site(s) involved

Person specification

KNOWLEDGE

• Up to date knowledge and understanding of GCP,GMP and its application
• Evidence of preparing worksheets/procedures
• Knowledge and understanding of the Law and Ethics relating to the dispensing of medicines
• Working knowledge of current COSHH and Health and Safety Legislation
• Evidence of professional CPD
• Basic management skills
• Knowledge of unlicensed medicines and their handling

SKILLS

• Excellent customer care
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office and computer skills

EXPERIENCE

• Significant post qualifying experience, some of which worked in hospital
• Experience of working in a Pharmacy Patient Services environment
• Practical experience of pharmacy aspects of clinical trials
• Experience of supervising staff
• Experience of clinical research

QUALIFICATIONS

• S/NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services and approved underpinning knowledge e.g. BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent recognised pharmacy technician qualification
• Registered with GPhC
• ICR certificate in Clinical research or similar post graduate qualification

Whilst Newcastle Hospitals are a forward thinking and highly innovative organisation, the use of Third-Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity of your individual application or to the recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.

Important note on completion of reference section of Application Form

All references from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. Therefore, when completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover 3 years employment. Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties 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.