About this role
Job summary
Help shape the use of specialised medicines across the South West
We are looking for an experienced and highly motivated pharmacist to join the NHS England South West Specialised Commissioning team.
This is a rare and exciting opportunity to work at regional level, applying your pharmaceutical expertise to some of the most complex, innovative and high-cost medicines used within specialised services.
You will bring together clinical, commissioning, analytical and financial expertise to help ensure specialised medicines are used effectively, safely, equitably and in a financially sustainable way across the South West.
Main duties of the job
Working with colleagues across NHS England and the wider NHS, you will provide specialist pharmaceutical advice to support the commissioning and management of specialised medicines.
A key part of the role will be evaluating the clinical and cost effectiveness of specialised medicines, assessing budgetary impact, analysing medicines-use data and monitoring expenditure on high-cost drugs. You will use your professional expertise to support evidence-based clinical and financial management and service development.
You will also help understand variation in the uptake and use of specialised medicines across the region, supporting fair and equitable access to NICE-approved and other high-cost therapies.
The role requires extensive knowledge of specialised commissioning and practical experience relating to high-cost medicines, NICE and Cancer Drugs Fund guidance, chemotherapy and aseptic services.
About us
NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.
If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
We cannot offer visa sponsorship for external candidates.
Job description
Job responsibilities
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
You will be a GPhC-registered pharmacist with a UK-accredited MPharm degree and substantial post-registration experience in hospital pharmacy. You will have postgraduate education or equivalent experience/training, alongside further specialist knowledge or experience equivalent to master's level.
We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate:
- Experience of national and local medicines commissioning.
- High-cost medicines experience, including detailed practical knowledge of NICE/CDF guidance, chemotherapy and aseptic services.
- Strong analytical and financial skills, with the ability to evaluate clinical and cost effectiveness, assess budget impact and interpret medicines-use and expenditure data.
- Excellent influencing and partnership-working skills, including advanced stakeholder management, negotiation and communication where there are competing priorities or contentious issues.
- A commitment to equitable access, with the ability to identify and understand geographical variation in the uptake and utilisation of specialised medicines.
Office base - flexible within the South West.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- UK-accredited MPharm degree
- GPhC registration
- Educated to master's level or equivalent level of experience
Desirable
- Postgraduate leadership qualification
Knowledge and experience
Essential
- Demonstrable experience of managing change
- Extensive knowledge of specialist areas, acquired through a postgraduate diploma or equivalent experience or training, plus further specialist knowledge or experience to master's level equivalent
- Evidence of post-qualifying and continuing professional development
- Understanding of the background to and aims of current healthcare policy, and appreciation of the implications for engagement
- Appreciation of the relationship between the Department of Health and individual provider and commissioning organisations
- Membership of a relevant professional body
Skills, capabilities and attributes
Essential
- Proven ability to apply pharmaceutical knowledge to ensure an evidence-based approach to management and service development, and to optimise the balance between effectiveness, safety and cost of medicines
- Advanced influencing and negotiation skills
- Ability to manage highly complex problems related to medicine usage and analysis
- Ability to analyse numerical and written data, assess verbal, written and numerical information, and draw appropriate conclusions
- Excellent time-management skills, including the ability to plan own workload and that of the specialised team
- Ability to prioritise effectively and work under pressure
Values and behaviours
Essential
- Committed to and focused on quality, promoting high standards in all they do
- Able to connect their work with benefits for patients and the public
- Consistently considers how their work can help clinicians and frontline staff deliver better outcomes for patients
- Values diversity and difference, and operates with integrity and openness
- Actively develops themselves and supports others to do the same
- Understands and is committed to equality of opportunity and good working relationships
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details
Employer name
NHS England
Address
South West Region
BS1 6HT
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/ (Opens in a new tab)