Pharmacy Dean
Job overview
Are you ready to play a leading role in transforming the pharmacy profession for generations to come?
This is a unique opportunity to join Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) as Pharmacy Dean, a nationally significant leadership role at the heart of healthcare education and workforce transformation in Wales. With a focus on strategic innovation, system-wide collaboration, and measurable impact, this post offers the chance to shape the future of pharmacy education, policy, and practice—not just in Wales, but across the UK.
As Pharmacy Dean, you will lead the development of a world-class pharmacy workforce equipped to meet the evolving needs of patients, communities, and the NHS. You’ll provide visionary leadership for the Pharmacy Deanery, working alongside senior healthcare leaders and policymakers to implement sustainable and forward-thinking education strategies.
From shaping national policy and driving multi-professional working, to embedding digital innovation and championing quality in education, this is a role for a trailblazer—someone who can see the big picture and bring people together to deliver real and lasting change.
This is more than a job. It’s your opportunity to lead with purpose, influence the future, and make a meaningful impact on health outcomes across Wales.
Closing Date: 26^th May 2025
Assessment centre – week commencing 9^th June 2025
Interview date – 17^th June 2025
Main duties of the job- Leading the development and implementation of a high-impact pharmacy workforce strategy for Wales.
- Overseeing the commissioning, quality assurance, and continuous improvement of pharmacy education and training.
- Managing a team of approximately 50 staff and leading a group of senior professional pharmacy leaders.
- Representing HEIW on national forums, shaping UK-wide pharmacy education and workforce policy.
- Driving multi-professional collaboration and digital innovation in pharmacy education.
- Ensuring alignment with the HEIW Integrated Medium-Term Plan and the national Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care.
- Monitoring performance, budgets, and governance across a wide-ranging portfolio of education and workforce initiatives.
The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.
Working for our organisation
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) is the strategic workforce body for NHS Wales with statutory functions that include education and training, workforce planning, workforce development and transformation, leadership and succession planning, and careers.Our purpose is to develop a workforce that delivers excellent care to patients/service users and excellent population health. We are a Special Health Authority working closely with our partners; Social Care Wales, education providers, professional and regulatory bodies and Welsh Government.
HEIW’s is committed to developing an internal culture of choice. Our Values reflect our thoughts, feelings and beliefs in how we will, and will not, behave and treat others:
- Respect for All in every contact we have with others,
- Ideas that Improve: Harnessing creativity and continuously innovating, evaluating and improving,
- Together as a Team: Working with colleagues across NHS Wales and with partner organisations.
HEIW received the HPMA Award for Employee Engagement in 2019.
What you can expect:
- a corporate induction and 90 day Welcome itinerary,
- compassionate leadership,
- a meaningful values based performance appraisal process,
- the opportunity to impact upon health and social care services and the lives and wellbeing of the people of Wales.
Many of our colleagues and stakeholders have commented on the buzz and atmosphere we create by working together as “One HEIW Team”. Do you want to join that team?
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click Apply now to view in Trac.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria- Demonstrable experience of working at national level and across the UK to influence and shape the future of pharmacy education and training
- Demonstrable Knowledge and experience of NHS education sector and the similarities and differences across the devolved nations
- Experience of financial planning and budgetary management at a significant level
- Experience of strategic planning/delivering of significant programmes of transformational change across all clinical settings
- Evidence of pharmacy multi-professional educational development and delivery across all sectors of practice
- Expertise in national policy interpretation and development of strategy aligned to policy
- Expertise in developing and utilising extensive and complex networks of contacts and relationships with a range of high level stakeholders
- Expertise in managing, developing and supporting high performing staff/teams
- Experience of working strategically with pharmacy regulator and professional body
Qualifications and Knowledge
Essential criteria- Degree in Pharmacy (BPharm or MPharm), registration with General Pharmaceutical Council and experience of working within the NHS services.
- Educated to Masters or Doctoral level or demonstrable evidence of research skills and engagement
- Evidence of advanced specialist knowledge, expertise and experience in the field of professional pharmacy education, together with a broad knowledge and experience of practice
- Evidence of significant breadth and depth of clinical, managerial, budgetary and educational experience in multi-disciplinary services is essential, together with a sound grasp of the Welsh policy context
- Knowledge and experience of Welsh NHS and/or Wales’s education sector
- Knowledge and experience of collaboration with social services and third sectors in the interest of workforce development for health
Please be advised that there is a temporary top up for Bands 2 and 3 to reflect the incorporation of the top up to the living wage of £12.60 per hour - £24,638 per annum.
This temporary top up will be in place until the annual pay uplift for 2025/26 is confirmed
It is essential that your application demonstrates how you meet the job description / person specification for this post.
We are committed to promoting inclusion at HEIW and we welcome applications from everybody recognising the value that diversity brings to our workforce. To work in the UK, candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals require sponsorship via a Skilled Worker Visa, unless they have permission to work via another route.Please note that HEIW does not currently hold a licence to appoint skilled workers from overseas by sponsoring them to work in the UK. If successful, candidates from outside of the UK or ROI would be responsible for obtaining their own sponsorship or visa to enable them to work for HEIW - Work in the UK.