Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Senior Lead Pharmacist - Biologics and Medicines Value

The closing date is 01 October 2025

Job summary

Senior Lead Pharmacist - Biologics & Medicines Value

Join us to shape the future of biologics at RBFT, ensuring every patient gets the right treatment, at the right time, for the best value. This is a leadership role with a direct impact on patient care while ensuring every pound spent delivers the greatest value for patients and the NHS.

We are seeking an experienced and motivated pharmacist to take on the role of Senior Lead Pharmacist for Biologics and Medicines Value.

In this role, you will combine senior leadership with direct clinical practice, including patient-facing prescribing responsibilities. You will work closely with patients and clinical teams to optimise treatment, ensuring safe initiation, monitoring and review of biologic and other high-cost medicines. This balance of strategic leadership and hands-on prescribing practice means you will have both direct impact on patient care and influence on system-wide medicines value.

The post offers the chance to shape and deliver quality improvement projects across specialities such as rheumatology, and gastroenterology. You will work collaboratively with clinicians, commissioners, and patients to identify opportunities for improvement, support service design, and embed sustainable practice within this new service.

As a senior leader within the pharmacy team, you will also play a key role in mentoring and developing colleagues, contributing to the wider medicines value agenda at Trust and system level.

Main duties of the job

The Pharmacy Service at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is committed to supporting patients, carers and staff in achieving safe, effective and person-centred use of medicines. Our focus is on ensuring that medicines are used optimally to deliver the best outcomes for patients while making the most effective use of NHS resources.

We do this by:

  • Providing clear, evidence-based information and education about medicines to healthcare professionals, patients and carers.

  • Delivering clinical pharmacy services that enable safe prescribing, administration and monitoring of medicines across inpatient and community settings.

  • Working in partnership with clinical teams and system partners to ensure that medicines are used in a way that is both clinically effective and financially sustainable.

About us

Royal Berkshire Hospital are pleased to announce that following our CQC inspection we have been rated 'Good'with inspectors reporting that we have made significant improvements. The Trust's overall rating has also improved to 'good'. This is a great opportunity to join our clinical or non-clinical teams to create a positive and motivating environment within our trust. Come and join our team in this exciting time of change as we pride ourselves, our staff and our services on excellence.

At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust we put our patients at the heart of every element of health and care that we provide. The Trust works together as a community to deliver its vision which is"Working together to provide outstanding care for our community."

We areCompassionate in our thoughts, words and actions

We areAspirational and have a true desire to be dynamic and to innovate

We areResourceful and responsible in the way we work and live

We areExcellent in our development, fairness and sharing best practice

Amazing things happen at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; delivered by amazing people so why don't you come and join us. We offer a range of learning and development for all employees may you be clinical or non-clinical.

Details

Date posted

11 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£64,455 to £74,896 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

193-7436056NCG

Job locations

Royal Berkshire Hospital

London Road

Reading

RG1 5AN


Job description

Job responsibilities

For further information on the job role, please refer to the job description and Person specification attached.

This job description is not exhaustive and will be subject to periodic review in association with the post holder.

Job description

Job responsibilities

For further information on the job role, please refer to the job description and Person specification attached.

This job description is not exhaustive and will be subject to periodic review in association with the post holder.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Current registered practising Member of GPhC
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy
  • Independent Pharmacist Prescriber

Desirable

  • Advance Clinical Practitioner
  • Faculty Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
  • Postgraduate diploma/degree in Leadership & Management or MBA
  • Formal change management qualification

Experience

Essential

  • Senior clinical pharmacy experience (Band8a+) with patient facing, specialist or ward/clinic role
  • Able to provide specialised clinical pharmacy services within own area of expertise, including prescription prescribing, review, dispensing and supply, and to give highly specialised advice to clinicians and patients on the safe and effective use of medicines, in line with medicines legislation and risk management principles.
  • Experience within a pharmacist led clinic
  • Track record of large-scale service improvement and cost-saving initiatives
  • Experience of delivering presentations at local, regional, national level
  • Experience of managing teams
  • Ability to foster an inclusive, innovative culture in a diverse workforce
  • Provision of medicine usage and expenditure reports and use of financial reports to influence business cases and clinical practice

Desirable

  • Experience in producing horizon scans or commissioning plans for high-cost medicines.
  • Broad knowledge of wider NHS policy and guidance
  • Experience coaching or mentoring via formal programmes
  • Contribution to peer-reviewed research or publication in clinical pharmacy
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Current registered practising Member of GPhC
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy
  • Independent Pharmacist Prescriber

Desirable

  • Advance Clinical Practitioner
  • Faculty Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
  • Postgraduate diploma/degree in Leadership & Management or MBA
  • Formal change management qualification

Experience

Essential

  • Senior clinical pharmacy experience (Band8a+) with patient facing, specialist or ward/clinic role
  • Able to provide specialised clinical pharmacy services within own area of expertise, including prescription prescribing, review, dispensing and supply, and to give highly specialised advice to clinicians and patients on the safe and effective use of medicines, in line with medicines legislation and risk management principles.
  • Experience within a pharmacist led clinic
  • Track record of large-scale service improvement and cost-saving initiatives
  • Experience of delivering presentations at local, regional, national level
  • Experience of managing teams
  • Ability to foster an inclusive, innovative culture in a diverse workforce
  • Provision of medicine usage and expenditure reports and use of financial reports to influence business cases and clinical practice

Desirable

  • Experience in producing horizon scans or commissioning plans for high-cost medicines.
  • Broad knowledge of wider NHS policy and guidance
  • Experience coaching or mentoring via formal programmes
  • Contribution to peer-reviewed research or publication in clinical pharmacy

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

UK Registration

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

Additional information

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

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

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Royal Berkshire Hospital

London Road

Reading

RG1 5AN


Employer's website

https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Royal Berkshire Hospital

London Road

Reading

RG1 5AN


Employer's website

https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Associate Chief Pharmacist

Grant Sugiura

grant.sugiura@royalberkshire.nhs.uk

01183227799

Details

Date posted

11 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£64,455 to £74,896 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

193-7436056NCG

Job locations

Royal Berkshire Hospital

London Road

Reading

RG1 5AN


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)