Business, Commercial & Operational Lead

Job overview

An exciting new opportunity has arisen for an experienced and motivated Clinical Trials Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician to lead and develop the business, financial, and management of our large Clinical Trials Pharmacy service. This is a senior leadership role with a strong commercial and strategic focus. The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring the sustainability, growth, and financial performance of the clinical trials portfolio while maintaining high standards of governance and patient safety.

We are therefore looking for someone with proven leadership and management skills and business acumen, who will be able to work well with the current operational clinical lead , pharmacy, finance and clinical colleagues. We are also looking for someone with strategic vision who can work with the pharmacy leadership team to develop future growth plans, demonstrate achievement of KPIs and ensure relevant national and local standards are met.

Our Trust is committed to supporting growth in research in a wide variety of specialties and this a great time to join the trust with the commitment to increase our number of research with the new Sir Bobby Robson Institute build that started in April 2026.

• Interview Date Thursday 18 June 2026
• 30 Hours/Week
• You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy.  Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy

NO AGENCIES PLEASE

Main duties of the job

Strategic Leadership

• Lead the development and delivery of the Clinical Trials Pharmacy business strategy
• Identify and maximise opportunities for portfolio growth, income generation, and service expansion
• Act as a senior advisor on clinical trials pharmacy matters across the organisation

Financial Management

• Take responsibility for budgeting, financial planning, and reporting for the clinical trials service
• Develop robust costing models for commercial and non-commercial trials
• Ensure accurate pricing, invoicing, and recovery of trial-related costs
• Deliver financial efficiencies while maintaining service quality

Business Development

• Build strong relationships with commercial sponsors, CROs, and research partners
• Lead negotiations for pharmacy service agreements and cost recovery
• Drive innovation in service delivery models to enhance competitiveness

Governance & Quality

• Ensure compliance with GCP, regulatory standards, and Trust policies
• Maintain robust governance systems to support safe and compliant trials delivery
• Lead audits, inspections, and continuous quality improvement initiatives
• Ensure readiness for MHRA and sponsor inspections

If you want to join a large Trust committed to growth in research and dynamic change, this could be the role for you!

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To optimise clinical trials commercial income
• To manage the day-to-day operations of Pharmacy Clinical Trialso Delivery of Directorate performance targets and budget                  managemento The leadership and oversight of all technical staff within Pharmacy Clinical Trialso The direct line management of senior technical staff working within Pharmacy Clinical Trials
• Responsible for the delivery of Pharmacy Clinical Trials
• Contribute to the Pharmacy Leadership Team meetings involving the Director, Deputy Director and Assistant Directors of Pharmacy.
• Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) within Pharmacy Clinical Trials (e.g. time to set up a commercial clinical trial) taking corrective action if required to ensure targets are achieved.
• Report KPIs at monthly pharmacy governance meetings
• Implement agreed strategic changes within Pharmacy Clinical Trials
• Work alongside the Deputy and Assistant Directors of Pharmacy and the Lead Clinical Pharmacists to ensure optimal delivery of pharmacy services.
• Ensure all relevant standards relating to Pharmacy Clinical Trials met:o RPS standardso CQC standardso  MHRA standardso Trust and Regional Pharmacy Standardso Drug alert and recalls.o Health and safety of the work environmento Controlled drug processeso Risk Management
• To undertake the role of a registered pharmacy technician or pharmacist.