Director of Pharmacy-Specialty Pharmacy & Ambulatory Clinical Pharmacy Programs

At Northwestern Medicine, every patient interaction makes a difference in cultivating a positive workplace. This patient-first approach is what sets us apart as a leader in the healthcare industry. As an integral part of our team, you'll have the opportunity to join our quest for better health care, no matter where you work within the Northwestern Medicine system. We pride ourselves on providing competitive benefits: from tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness to 401(k) matching and lifecycle benefits, our goal is to take care of our employees. Ready to join our quest for better?

The Director, Pharmacyreflects the mission, vision, and values of NM, adheres to the organization’s Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program, and complies with all relevant policies, procedures, guidelines, and all other regulatory and accreditation standards.

The Director, Pharmacy (DOP) is responsible for providing administrative and operational leadership of pharmacy services across assigned portfolio and directing the provision of patient care services.  The DOP will report directly to the Chief Pharmacy Officer. The DOP is responsible for guiding compliance with regulations of licensing authorities, regulatory and accreditation agencies at all hospital and outpatient departments. The DOP manages the overall pharmacy spending. The DOP serves as the primary pharmacy liaison with local boards and senior leadership to generate buy-in and approval for establishing the pharmacy enterprise. The DOP cooperates with the medical staff to ensure optimal therapeutic drug utilization in all patients throughout the continuum of care. 

Responsibilities:

• Provides operational leadership for the effective alignment of assigned portfolio within the One NM Pharmacy.
• Ensures responsibilities are fulfilled consistent with the mission statement, goals, and objectives of Northwestern Medicine.
• Designs and implements innovative acute care and ambulatory care pharmacy services across assigned portfolio and expands the scope of services in the community and academic settings
• Collaborates and works effectively with other Northwestern Medicine department leaders, hospital administrators, medical staff, and department chairs to define and achieve corporate and member goals.
• Represents the Department of Pharmacy at the Administrative level through participation in relevant internal and external administrative meetings, committees, and forums.
• Initiates cost containment/cost avoidance strategies and promotes cost awareness philosophy.
• Contributes to the establishment of a learning environment which is conductive to the provision of educational and research experiences to students, residents, interns, and staff.
• Collaborates with Northwestern Medicine government relations on all pharmacy related federal and state hearings, rules, regulations, legislation, and laws.
• Ensure teams are positioned to improve the quality and safety of medication use throughout the system through involvement in all medication improvement activities and by ensuring pharmacy services meet patient care needs while providing safe, effective, and economical drug therapies.
• Support design and implementation of standardized and consistent processes across the system. 
• Manage human resources efforts by determining appropriate number of staff required to meet patient care needs, satisfy regulatory and accrediting requirements, and achieve the system mission.
• Manages financial performance, develops budgets aligned with organizational and departmental objectives and monitors financial performance appropriately for assigned portfolio.
• Responsible for pharmaceutical contracting, procurement, receiving, security, inventory control, diversion prevention and distribution policies including reverse distribution and other methods of pharmaceutical waste disposal.
• Participates in and/or supports medical and pharmaceutical research by providing operational support to the investigational drug services and working collaboratively with other health center professionals.
• Communicates and provides feedback to the medical staff, pharmacy staff and nursing staff in all matters related to medication use.
• Serves as an active voting member of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and other medical staff committees as deemed appropriate.
• Advises hospital personnel on the future changes or trends in health care, drug therapy and pharmacy practice changes which may be needed to support those changes.
• Responsible for all financial targets & performance metrics.
• Responsible for overseeing drug utilization initiatives that optimize therapeutic outcomes, reduce the risk of drug-related problems, and ensure the use of cost-effective pharmacotherapies policies and procedures.
• Responsible for emergency preparedness and developing business continuity plans for the continued operation of medication-use systems, the provision of pharmacy services, and access to the pharmaceutical supply chain during emergencies and disasters.
• Leverages technology and automated systems to optimize the medication use systems. Responsible for overseeing the selection and implementation of all pharmacy automation used for safe medication management.  Assures all quality checks and balances are implemented and maintained
• Responsible for the development of competent and effective pharmacy leaders and teams.
• Other duties as assigned.

Patient Care/Age Specific Responsibilities and Qualifications

• Ensure that medications are appropriately provided to achieve the desired therapeutic outcome consistent with patient parameters and disease states.
• Knowledge about working with patient population facilitates the identification of appropriate measures needed to meet the patient population’s needs.

Required:

• Graduate of an accredited college of pharmacy.
• Licensure or eligible for licensure to practice pharmacy in Illinois.
• Completion of an accredited residency.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in a health care institution.

Preferred:

• Experience normally acquired through 7 to 10 years of pharmacy experience in a health care institution.
• Proven success in managing financial operations, personnel, quality functions, and the professional aspects of hospital pharmacy practice.      
• Evidence of effective communication skills both oral and written with a high degree of professionalism and competence in dealing with all levels of internal and external customers
• Ability to develop, organize, and accomplish goals.
• Technically competent knowledge of pharmacy IS Systems, automated medication dispensing systems, physician order entry, and bar-coding applications.
• Ability to quickly implement changes as required by federal, state, and other regulatory agencies.
• Ability to analyze/evaluate data and make appropriate recommendations/decisions.
• Preparation and analysis of operating budgets and capital equipment evaluation.
• Effective problem-solving skills.

Northwestern Medicine is an equal opportunity employer (disability, VETS) and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected status.

Background Check

Northwestern Medicine conducts a background check that includes criminal history on newly hired team members and, at times, internal transfers. If you are offered a position with us, you will be required to complete an authorization and disclosure form that gives Northwestern Medicine permission to run the background check.  Results are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and we follow all local, state, and federal laws, including the Illinois Health Care Worker Background Check Act.

Artificial Intelligence Disclosure

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used in some portions of the candidate review process for this position, however, all employment decisions will be made by a person. 

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits that provide employees with tools and resources to improve their physical, emotional, and financial well-being while providing protection for unexpected life events. Please visit our Benefits section to learn more.

Sign-on Bonus Eligibility (if sign-on bonus offered for position): Internal employees and rehires who left Northwestern Medicine within 1 year are not eligible for the sign on bonus. Exception: New graduate internal employees seeking their first licensed clinical position at NM may be eligible depending upon the job family.