Quality Assurance Technical Officer

As a Quality Assurance Technical Officer, the successful candidate will support the quality assurance of medicines procurement, formulation and stability, providing expert advice and support to healthcare professionals to help ensure that medicines supplied across the NHS are evidence-based, safe and of the highest quality., To deliver a range of Quality Assurance duties as part of the SPS Quality assurance team including:

• Supporting the programme of unlicensed aseptic units audits
• Supporting licensed and unlicensed medicines contracting
• Medicines formulation and stability assessment
• Supporting the provision of advice and support
• Facilitating discrete quality improvement projects
• Assisting in the development of resources, audit tools and training materials
• Delivery of training to groups of technical services staff on a range of subjects.
• Reviewing and assessing reports of defective medicines from Trusts
• Maintenance of the SPS website
• Development and maintenance of the QA service's quality system
  
  We are seeking a motivated, enthusiastic and forward-thinking individual to join the national Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) Quality Assurance Team.
The successful candidate will have a degree in a relevant scientific or technical subject or significant experience working in pharmaceutical technical services. Experience relating to the manufacture, preparation, storage and supply of medicines is required. This is a complex role, requiring excellent communication, presentation, investigational and analytical skills.,
• Degree in relevant scientific or technical subject or equivalent experience to degree level
• Basic qualification in pharmaceutical sciences (BTEC) or an equivalent scientific qualification
Desirable criteria
• Further qualification in risk management or quality assurance
• Member of a recognised professional body i.e. Royal College of Pharmacy, Experience of working in a pharmacy or medicines related environment
• Experience of writing instructional documents e.g. SOPs and work instructions
• Experience of risk management and quality management systems and their application
• Experience of working with colleagues at different levels of the organisation, between disciplines or with clients
• Understanding of the principles of quality assurance as applicable to medicines manufacture and preparation
• Specialist knowledge of the regulatory, Royal College of Pharmacy and NHS standards and guidance relating to medicines manufacture and preparation.
• Specialist knowledge of the regulatory, Royal College of Pharmacy and NHS standards and guidance relating to the safe storage and supply of medicines.
Desirable criteria
• Experience of working in or closely with the NHS
• Experience of Good Manufacturing Practice and/or Good Laboratory Practice relating to Pharmaceutical manufacturing and preparation
• Experience of quality assessment of pharmaceuticals
• Evidence of supporting the purchasing of medicines and services
• Understanding of the Royal College of Pharmacy standards and guidance relating to homecare medicines services.
• Understanding of health and safety legislation as applicable to medicines manufacture and preparation.
• Understanding of clean-room design, technology and operation for pharmaceutical processing.
• Understanding of pharmaceutical quality control testing methods and their application to medicines manufacture and preparation, Excellent communication skills
• Able to cope with conflict and handle difficult situations with a calm disposition.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills, with an ability to plan and schedule complex activities.
• Excellent investigational and analytical skills, with an ability to deal with complex facts and situations requiring interpretation.
Desirable criteria
• Excellent training skills within both small groups and large workshops, You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
  
  Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. The Group was born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our patients. UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond. For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West. Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women's Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.

Note: Under current Home Office Immigration Rules we are currently unable to offer right to work visa sponsorship for Band 2 and 3 roles with a salary of less than £25,000 pa as they do not meet the UK Visas & Immigration criteria. Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role. Candidates applying for the role of Healthcare Assistant on the staff bank should note that due to the nature of the role, workers must be aged 18 or above when commencing in post. Applicants are therefore welcome from those aged over 18 or within 3 months' of their 18^th birthday. The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment. Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working. The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24. Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £26.50 (standard disclosure) or £54.50 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment. Bank posts require upfront payment. From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years. Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa. This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults' policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures. Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation. All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action. As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence. If you have any personal requirements that will enable you to participate in our recruitment process please contact a member of the Recruitment Services by phone on at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post. Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.