Job reference: 231381
Salary: Band 8A (£62,681 - £67,665)
Job closing date: 16/11/2025
Job Type: Other Therapeutic
Location: Flexible Location
Employment type: Permanent
Hours Per Week: 21 hours 36 minutes per week
Job posted date: 03/11/2025
Employer (NHS Board): NHS Education For Scotland
Department: Pharmacy (Medical Directorate)

Job Advert

Flexible Location: NES is a remote-friendly employer with staff based throughout Scotland. We support office-based and hybrid working arrangements. We welcome conversations about alternative working patterns—please get in touch during the application process to discuss.

Work Pattern: Permanent, Part Time, 21.6 (21 hours 36 minutes) per week

You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.


Who We Are

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the national health board with statutory responsibilities to effect sustainable change through workforce development, education and training across the health and social care system in Scotland, while working at UK level with partner organisations.

The Pharmacy team within NES is responsible through the Executive Medical Director to the NES Board and through the Board to Scottish Government for the commissioning and delivery of postgraduate pharmacy education in Scotland. Senior Educators in NES Pharmacy provide support for the development of key education solutions as well as support for educational supervisors and learners. This role provides a real opportunity to contribute to a critical stage of pharmacy education support. As the post will be from the 1 April 2026, the hours of

work will be based on 36 hour working week and therefore 21.6 hours per week e.g. 21 hours 36 mins.


The Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity to join the workstream responsible for organising and supporting education and training for pharmacy students across Scotland, within the NES national Additional Cost of Teaching in Pharmacy (ACTp) programme.

This role will work collaboratively across NES, Schools of Pharmacy (Universities) and the NHS Scotland pharmacy service, bringing pharmacy coordination expertise to the national context, promoting, and supporting educational developments across the career pathways.

This post has a flexible base, working alongside a team focussed across the national delivery.

Do you want to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders across Scotland to play a lead role in supporting national training initiatives that provide education and development opportunities for the pharmacy workforce

Do you enjoy working with a wide range of organisations to lead on initiatives that promote career and development opportunities for the pharmacy workforce

Do you want to play a key role in enhancing the learning and development experiences of the pharmacy workforce and in particular the stage of initial education and training (IET)

Do you enjoy working at pace and being adaptive in an ever-changing environment

Do you enjoy building relationships and a shared vision for the future in order to support change and innovation

Working within the NES Pharmacy team you will have the opportunity to bring your unique skills and experience to the table, collaborating across multiple workstreams to effect real change within the pharmacy workforce in Scotland.

Does this sound like you?


What We Love to See

Senior Educators offer a broad range of skills and experience, if you can offer some or all of these, we’d love you to apply:

· Pharmacist Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)

· Significant experience as a pharmacist practicing in any sector (i.e. Community, hospital, primary care)

· Knowledge and experience of leading and supporting workstreams that enhance career and role development for the pharmacy workforce

· Experience of working in an educationally focused environment

· Experience in understanding of the key factors and practices essential to high-quality learning and education and how these are effectively embedded and continually enhanced

· Experience working collaboratively and flexibly within in a team and in multidisciplinary environments

· Proven communication, interpersonal, negotiating, influencing and facilitation skills at a senior level, with the ability to communicate sensitive and complex information

· Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary

· Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines


Benefits Which Matter

As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:

· Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working

· Generous NHS pension scheme

· Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review

· Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday

· NHS discounts and more


Diversity and Inclusion

Developing a successful national service for Scotland is impossible without ensuring we consider the diverse needs, perspectives and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland in our work.

We are focused on hiring the very best talent available for NES, and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and aim to ensure everyone is treated fairly, with respect and has a positive recruitment experience – regardless of the outcome.

It’s not essential to be in a Senior Educator role right now. You may be returning from a career break (e.g. maternity, paternity, caring for others) or returning after working in another field. Your experiences elsewhere can bring a fresh perspective to our work.

If you are considering applying and feel it would be helpful to discuss this initially, please contact Stephanie McFadzean or Jennifer MacDougall, Principal Leads at pharmacy@nes.scot.nhs.uk


Next Steps

All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.

In person OR online interviews (including a presentation)will take place on Tuesday 2nd December 2025. The presentation topic will be sent to candidates selected for interview.

For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.

Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.


1. Please be advised that if you are successful in being offered the role following the recruitment process, you will be expected to attend the office prior to your start date to complete face-to-face pre-employment checks. If you require any adjustments to support this, please let us know.


2. To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.


As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here. 

For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licenced Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or ‘going rate’. Further information on these criteria can be found here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: EoS.ERRS@nhs.scot

Take a look around the company https://jobs.scot.nhs.uk/