Pharmacy Manager

Job Purpose

The Pharmacy Manager reports to the Director, Medical Services and leads the hospital's inpatient and retail pharmacy services. He/She is accountable for the safe, compliant and cost-effective provision of health products and professional pharmacy services, for ensuring that pharmacy operations as a whole are financially viable, and for the financial performance and growth of the retail pharmacy. He/She will work closely with the multidisciplinary healthcare team to provide a seamless delivery of care which is of high quality, safe and cost-efficient for patients. He/She will provide clinical, operational and commercial leadership to the team of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Pharmacy Assistants and Retail staff, raise standards of practice and accountability within the team, and drive quality improvement, new service development and business growth.

Responsibility

1. Leadership and People Development

· Leads, motivates and holds accountable a team of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Pharmacy Assistants and Retail staff; sets clear performance expectations aligned to hospital objectives, and ensures targets for patient safety and operational efficiency are met.

· Drives a culture of ownership, continuous improvement and service excellence; leads change and manages underperformance constructively and in a timely manner.

· Delegates, reviews and oversees the work of subordinates, including regular feedback and appraisal.

· Develops talent and succession within the team and ensures staff training is in line with strategic objectives.

· Contributes actively to staff training for pharmacy and other in-house departments (e.g. medication-related training for nursing and allied health staff).

2. Regulatory Compliance and Governance

· Accountable for the pharmacy's compliance with the Healthcare Services Act (HCSA) and other applicable legislation (including the Health Products Act, Medicines Act, Poisons Act and Misuse of Drugs Act), and with HSA licensing requirements including the retail pharmacy license.

· Maintains inspection readiness at all times; leads preparation for MOH/HSA inspections, licensing renewals and external audits, and ensures timely close-out of findings.

· Ensures compliant prescription, receipt, sale, supply, storage (including cold chain), controlled drug management, distribution and disposal of health products.

· Plans and performs internal audits to specification and tracks corrective actions to completion.

3. Pharmacy Practice and Professional Standards

· Ensures delivery of, and personally performs as necessary, professional services, e.g. medication reconciliation, medication review, counselling, patient education and drug information enquiries.

· Identifies, assesses and resolves drug-related problems, and formulates pharmaceutical care plans for patients.

· Establishes a competency framework, with periodic competency assessment of Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians.

· Manages the hospital formulary, evaluates new drug requests and conducts drug utilisation reviews.

· Collaborates with other healthcare providers as the key opinion leader on pharmacotherapy in the multidisciplinary team.

4. Medication Safety and Quality Improvement

· Leads the Medication Safety Quality Assurance Committee to review medication errors and near-misses, and drive system-level improvement and innovation.

· Investigates root causes of patient/customer complaints and medication incidents and implements and verifies corrective action.

· Leads quality improvement projects to ensure pharmacy operations run at optimal efficiency with minimal wastage, working towards zero wastage.

5. Retail Pharmacy and Business Development

· Owns the retail pharmacy P&L and achieves agreed revenue and margin targets.

· Develops the retail offering, including product range, pricing, merchandising and customer experience.

· Liaises and negotiates with suppliers and vendors on terms, promotions and partnerships to optimise sales.

· Identifies and develops new revenue-generating services (e.g. multi-dose medication packing for THK Group facilities and external partners), prepares business cases and tracks their performance.

6. Budget and Inventory

· Participates in the yearly budgetary exercise and manages the Pharmacy's budget.

· Ensures all related costs and revenue are accounted for and accurately recovered, and all discrepancies are investigated.

· Manages inventory, stockholding and any required stockpile (e.g. contingency stock) to ensure supply while minimising expiry and wastage.

7. Policy and Systems

· Reviews and develops pharmacy policies, procedures, standards, guidelines, protocols and governance frameworks, using techniques such as (but not limited to) systems approach, horizon scanning and risk management.

· Optimises pharmacy workflows and medication-use processes within EPIC.

· Leads the development of new operations or clinical initiatives, including those that are not revenue-generating.

8. Others

· Represents the pharmacy department in committees or work groups at hospital, community, cluster or national level.

· Supports the hospital by participating actively in hospital-related activities (e.g. community projects, staff welfare).

· Performs other duties as required by Director, Medical Services or senior management.

Requirements

Education/ Training/ Certification:

· Bachelor's degree in pharmacy.

· Registered Pharmacist with the Singapore Pharmacy Council, with a valid practising certificate.

· Postgraduate qualification in clinical pharmacy, healthcare management or business would be an advantage.

Experience:

· 10-12 years of relevant experience, including at least 2 years of supervisory experience and 2 years of clinical experience.

· Demonstrated experience leading regulatory inspections or audits and maintaining pharmacy licensing compliance.

· Track record in retail pharmacy operations, commercial management or new service development is strongly preferred.

· Experience leading change or improving team performance.

· Experience with quality improvement, risk management and budgeting; experience with EPIC would be an advantage.

· Good understanding of the healthcare landscape and values of stakeholders.

Personal Attributes:

· Leads by example, sets high standards and holds self and others accountable.

· Results-oriented, with good commercial acumen.

· Ability to motivate, guide and empower others, and rally the support of stakeholders.

· Exemplary communication and collaboration skills.

· Attention to detail, with strong analytical skills.

· Proactive, dependable and able to deliver under pressure and tight deadlines.