Department of Health and Social Care
Pharmacist / Pharmacy Technician
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Job Summary
In the Department of Health and Social Care, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you would like to work in, we would love to hear from you.
Medicines are a key medical intervention and the second largest element of NHS expenditure. The department’s Medicines Supply Team (MST) is responsible for overseeing the NHS pharmaceutical supply chain, ensuring that patients get the medicines they need. This work is focused on the management of medicines shortages and discontinuations.
Medicine supply is global, with the UK hugely dependent on medicines from the EU and from further afield. There are multiple threats to the continuity of supply of medicines to the UK, including (often unknown) disruptions to global manufacturing and/or transportation/supply chains, including disruptions in countries on which the UK supply chain is highly dependent, such as China and India.
There will always be a number of medicines shortage that need to be managed at any given time, but the government has a responsibility to take up-stream preventative action to help minimise the number and impact of those shortages.
For more critical shortages, the team escalate and discuss the issue with the Medicine Shortage Response Group, working with national clinical experts across the UK to develop management plans that can be adopted locally so that patients can be managed appropriately.
The Medicine Supply Team also provides professional pharmacy and operational input to other wider policy areas within the Medicines Directorate, including pricing policy, and sit on the pricing committee which is responsible for assessing and agreeing the price of all new branded medicines before they can be launched in England.
There is considerable stakeholder engagement in this role, including senior pharmacists within NHS England and the devolved administrations, regulatory bodies including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), global counterparts and senior DHSC officials and ministers. The postholder will also develop excellent relationships with individual pharmaceutical companies.
Job Description
The successful candidate will demonstrate outstanding problem-solving skills, and effective partnership working with a range of internal and external stakeholders. They will also need the ability to grasp complex matters quickly and be able to translate this into clear advice. They will ideally also have digital experience to support the upkeep of the teams’ supply issues reporting portal and other potential platforms as they are launched.
The successful applicant would be joining a very flexible team that regularly needs to change focus and re-prioritise within the context of shifting threats to continuity of supply of medicines. The post-holder will need to be very adaptable and exhibit a capability to move to work on other aspects of medicines supply at short notice, whilst being supported in their professional development and working closely with pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across the team.
Please note if applying for the role on a part time basis, the successful candidate will be required to work a minimum of 0.9 full-time equivalent (FTE).
Role responsibilities
- Support the operational management of medicines supply issues, including gathering information, assessing potential impact, identifying management options and helping to ensure issues are progressed in line with agreed processes.
- Provide professional pharmacy input to the assessment of shortages and discontinuations, helping to identify risks, mitigations and practical actions to reduce impact on patients and the NHS.
- Work with colleagues in DHSC, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the UK Health Security Agency, suppliers, professional networks and other partners to support coordinated responses to supply disruption.
- Contribute to clear and timely advice for senior colleagues and wider departmental teams, including supporting briefings, correspondence, Parliamentary business and responses to Parliamentary questions.
- Support the development and use of tools, processes and operating procedures that underpin supply issue management, including risk assessment, contingency planning, communications, performance insight and continuous improvement.
- Provide day-to-day support to colleagues, share professional knowledge and help coordinate defined tasks across the team where appropriate.
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Essential
Key skills and experience required for the role
- Operational delivery: ability to support a varied caseload of medicines supply issues, progress actions, follow agreed processes and deliver accurate work under pressure.
- Professional judgement: ability to use pharmacy knowledge and available evidence to assess risks, identify practical options and support proportionate recommendations for review or escalation.
- Understanding of impact: ability to understand medicines supply issues and consider their operational, clinical and patient impact in order to support clear advice and appropriate prioritisation.
- Stakeholder working: ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues and partners across DHSC, NHS England, regulators, suppliers and professional networks.
- Communication: ability to communicate complex information clearly and professionally to a range of audiences, including drafting concise advice, briefings and correspondence.
- Team contribution: ability to support colleagues, share knowledge, coordinate defined tasks and contribute positively to team delivery without holding overall strategic responsibility for the team.
- Current registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Desirable
- Experience of supporting the management of medicines supply issues is desirable, including working with partners, contributing to risk assessment and communications, and helping deliver practical actions in a busy operational environment.
Memberships
- Current registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
Making Effective Decisions
Alongside your salary of £44,054, Department of Health and Social Care contributes £12,762 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
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Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
- Applications will be sifted W/C: 19/10/2026
- Interview date: W/C 09/11/2026
- Interview location: By video
Further details and interview slots will be released to candidates who are successful at sift.
Applications will be sifted on CV, Personal Statement and Behaviours.
An initial sift based on CV and the Behaviour – Making Effective Decisions may be held if a large number of applications are received. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
Please use your CV to set out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role. These can be found in the ‘key skills and experience required for the role’ section of the advert. Please also include a list of your relevant qualifications.
Please use your personal statement to (in no more than 1000 words) outline how you meet the key skills and experience required for the role as set out in the job advert.
At interview candidates will be assessed on Behaviours and Experience.
Candidates will be asked to provide examples of their experience of stakeholder management, managing competing priorities to deliver outcomes at pace, and leading work to address complex supply chain management challenges
Candidates will be asked to give a presentation which will assess the Behaviour - Making Effective Decisions. Details of the presentation question will be issued to candidates with the release of the sift scores.
To find out more about working in the department please visit our page on the Civil Service careers website https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/departments/working-for-the-department-of-health-social-care/ and to find out more information on how to apply visit the Civil Service careers website https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/how-to-apply/
Applicants who are appointable but were not successful in appointment to this vacancy, may be held on a reserve list for up to 12 months, and contacted if similar vacancies become available.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Please be aware that some travel may be required across the DHSC estate.
Candidates must ensure that all information provided in their application is factually accurate. Any examples provided must be taken from personal experience. The Civil Service abides by honesty and integrity as part of its core values, if evidence of plagiarism is found, applications may be withdrawn.
Please note that applicants will require BPSS.
Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council is required for the role and will be checked and verified by the vacancy holder as part of the onboarding process. You may also be asked to provide evidence that any qualifications obtained overseas are equivalent to those advertised.
Terms and Conditions
Candidates should note that DHSC’s Terms and Conditions of employment changed from 1 October 2013. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.
New Entrants to the Civil Service
New entrants appointed in grades AA to G6 will receive DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions:
- Annual Leave:
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