Programme Manager - Pharmacy

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Pharmacy Team at London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and play a leading role in delivering a portfolio of strategic pharmacy programmes and transformation initiatives that support safe, effective and high-quality patient care.

The Programme Manager will be responsible for leading the planning, coordination, implementation and evaluation of complex pharmacy programmes and projects, ensuring successful delivery against agreed objectives, timescales, budgets and quality standards. The post holder will work closely with the Chief Pharmacist, pharmacy leadership team, operational colleagues, clinical services, corporate departments, NHS partners and external suppliers to deliver transformation and continuous improvement across medicines management services.

The role will focus on delivering programmes that enhance patient safety, strengthen medicines governance, improve operational efficiency and support innovation across the Trust. This may include digital transformation initiatives, controlled drugs governance developments, medicines supply chain improvements, service redesign and implementation of national and local strategic priorities.

The successful candidate will provide expert programme management support across a diverse portfolio of work and ensure alignment with the Trust's strategic objectives, pharmacy strategy and wider NHS priorities.

Job description

Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details of the role, key responsibilities and essential criteria. This is a site-based role requiring regular attendance across London Ambulance Service locations and travel between Trust sites to support programme delivery and stakeholder engagement.

Person specification

Qualifications, Accreditations, Education

Essential

• Educated to post-graduate degree level or equivalent relevant experience
• Willing to study for relevant professional qualifications equivalent to Masters degree level

Received training in programme/project management process

methodology (ideally including, or with a good working knowledge of, PRINCE 2 and MSP Managing Successful Programmes)

Experience

Essential

• Significant previous experience in a senior management role including either programme or project management, preferably both
• Proven track record in managing programmes and projects on time and to successful conclusions with at least three years full project life cycle experience having delivered at least two large projects to completion
• Experienced in using a PC, monitor and keyboard and MS Office applications, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Project
• Experience of line management of professional staff

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Ability to analyse and make judgements in relation to:
• o Quantitative and qualitative data to identify and understand underlying patterns/messages from complicated, multi-stranded information, drawing out conclusions to inform decision making
• o Information where data is often incomplete and/or conflicting where trade-offs may have to be made between competing interests, requirements and options e.g. national and local imperatives, financial and nonfinancial costs/benefits, differing stakeholder interests
• o Development of a range of options and recommendations in relation to programme development, planning and management in order to provide expert advice to the Pharmacy team in highly complex, unique and/or ambiguous situations. Conflicting advice from project and business change managers e.g. scheduling of projects within programmes to take account of inter- dependencies and conflicting priorities

o Material requiring strong numerical and verbal critical reasoning, thinking strategically, logically and clearly and taking rational decisions and decisive action under pressure, analysing problems, generating solutions and influencing others to secure agreement.

Demonstrably strong written, oral communication and presentation skills can present highly complex concepts, ideas and data concisely and effectively to a variety of audiences in a variety of ways including to the Executive and Senior Management Teams and other large groups internal and external to the LAS

Ability to exercise excellent planning and organisational skills in order to:

o Develop and organise Pharmacy programme management processes and plans creating the operational framework and focusing activity and resource to achieve the corporate, programme and project Vision,

o Stakeholder Goals and Trust objectives

o Plan, organise and run multi-disciplinary workshops and meetings Trust wide including director level participation to resolve uncertainties impacting across the Trust

o Plan and organise programme inputs to Senior Management Group meetings and Programme Board as well as external stakeholders Operate on both strategic and tactical levels, translating concepts into tangible results: plan own workload; work without supervision and achieve all deadlines under pressure; work on a number of projects within the programme portfolio simultaneously and maintain a quality of output; develop action plans for portfolio projects and manage their implementation and influence others in achieving these; and assist the with planning future portfolio projects.

Ability to influence senior people to get buy-in, anticipate and empathise with their needs as primary customers of the job, maintaining key relationships with Directors, Senior Management Teams, other Project and Programme Managers, external stakeholders, management and accounting staff

Ability to listen and negotiate with directors and senior managers controlling resources for release of staff to work on programmes/projects and with staff working on other programmes to ensure linkage with other initiatives

Ability to exercise excellent planning and organisational skills in order to:

o Develop and organise Pharmacy programme management processes and plans creating the operational framework and focusing activity and resource to achieve the corporate, programme and project Vision,

o Stakeholder Goals and Trust objectives

o Plan, organise and run multi-disciplinary workshops and meetings Trust wide including director level participation to resolve uncertainties impacting across the Trust

o Plan and organise programme inputs to Senior Management Group meetings and Programme Board as well as external stakeholders Operate on both strategic and tactical levels, translating concepts into tangible results: plan own workload; work without supervision and achieve all deadlines under pressure; work on a number of projects within the programme portfolio simultaneously and maintain a quality of output; develop action plans for portfolio projects and manage their implementation and influence others in achieving these; and assist the with planning future portfolio projects.

Personal Abilities

Desirable

• Adhere to the Trust values and behaviours
• Actively participate in programme board meetings and programme workshops with members of the Executive and Senior Management Team for up to a day long, possibly combined with taking minutes. Switch thought processes between various pieces of work, activities and projects due to the frequent daily personnel, phone or email interruptions and where an immediate change of focus and priorities are required. Work on pieces of work, activities and projects simultaneously and maintain quality output

Have the stability and skills to emotionally cope when:

Managing conflicting interests of programme and project staff and virtual/cross-functional team members especially with issues comprising unwelcome news or organisational change.

Managing the appraisal and disciplinary processes as necessary for any line-managed staff

Having to counsel and empathise with staff having personal problems which affect their working environment even if in some cases due to the nature of the problem, they behave in an emotive or hostile way. Having to report programme/project slippage to the Director level Senior Responsible Owner (if different) of the programme and the programme board

Negotiate with other Programme/Business Change managers to assist with managing conflicting interests of different directorates that affect the running of processes, programmes and projects within the Pharmacy Department

About the employer

The Pharmacy Team plays a critical role in supporting frontline patient care through medicines governance, medicines supply, controlled drugs management, clinical assurance, digital transformation and service improvement.

We are an ambitious, forward-thinking team committed to delivering safe, effective and innovative pharmacy services. Our programmes range from digital medicines systems and medicines governance improvements to large-scale transformation initiatives that directly support patient safety and operational delivery. We work collaboratively with operational, clinical and corporate colleagues, as well as external partners, suppliers and NHS organisations across London and nationally.

We are proud of our inclusive, supportive and professional culture, where teamwork, respect and continuous improvement are at the heart of everything we do. This role offers the opportunity to lead high-profile programmes that make a real difference to patients, staff and the wider organisation.

This is a site-based role requiring regular attendance across London Ambulance Service locations and travel between Trust sites to support programme delivery, stakeholder engagement, implementation activities and governance meetings.