Associate Director – Medicines Commissioning and Population Health
Closing date: 16 July 2026
We are seeking an experienced and strategic pharmacy leader to join our system as Associate Director of Medicines Commissioning and Population Health. This is a pivotal senior role with a primary care focus, shaping how medicines are commissioned, optimised and used across our Integrated Care System to deliver better outcomes, reduce inequalities and ensure value for money.
You will lead on the development and delivery of system‑wide medicines strategies, working collaboratively with senior clinicians, providers, primary care networks and system partners. This is an exciting opportunity to influence population health through innovation, evidence‑based decision making and transformational leadership.
This role requires a visible, collaborative leader with strong clinical and financial acumen, excellent stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to work within complex systems.
There is an expectation that the successful candidate will have significant on‑site presence across our office bases in Coventry, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
Interviews will be held Monday 27th July and will be at Kirkham House, Worcester.
Main duties of the job
You will provide strategic leadership for medicines commissioning and optimisation across the Integrated Care System, ensuring prescribing practices are safe, effective, evidence‑based and financially sustainable. You will lead programmes to improve outcomes, reduce unwarranted variation and address health inequalities through optimal medicines use.
The role requires oversight of significant prescribing budgets, delivery of efficiency programmes and providing expert advice on the financial and clinical impact of medicines decisions. You will work closely with clinical leaders, finance and contracting teams, and providers to implement national guidance and develop local pathways.
You will also lead system‑wide collaboration, building strong relationships with chief pharmacists, medical leaders, PCNs and community pharmacy, and will represent the ICB at regional and national forums.
Strong leadership, analytical capability, and the ability to influence across organisational boundaries are essential to succeed in this role.
About us
The NHS is a world‑renowned institution and an exciting place to work full of challenges and opportunities. As part of the national health and care reforms, Integrated Care Boards are refocusing on the core role of strategic commissioners, enabling greater impact on population health, reducing health inequalities, improving productivity and supporting transformation across systems. As a result NHS Coventry & Warwickshire ICB and NHS Herefordshire & Worcestershire ICB are working together as a cluster.
We are dynamic, forward‑looking organisations, passionate about working with health and social care partners to ensure services are integrated, and offer a high‑quality patient experience. We thrive on building strong relationships with patients, communities, partners and providers. We provide a supportive, collaborative environment, offering staff opportunities to reach their full potential and achieve a work‑life balance through a blend of collaborative workplace attendance and home working.
Joining our team comes with attractive benefits such as:
- Employee Assistance programmes and access to a wealth of online wellbeing support
- Opportunities to learn new skills and develop your career
- Generous holiday entitlement, which increases in line with service. There is also the opportunity to purchase additional leave.
- Flexible working patterns to support individuals work‑life balance.
Job responsibilities
The Associate Director Medicines Commissioning is responsible for shaping, developing, and delivering the ICBs medicines commissioning and optimisation strategy across the Integrated Care System (ICS). The postholder ensures that medicines commissioning decisions are evidence‑based, clinically sound, financially sustainable, and aligned to the NHS Long Term Plan, NICE guidance, population health needs, and local ICs priorities.
Working closely with clinical leaders, pharmacy teams, providers, PCNs, community pharmacy, and system partners, the Associate Director leads programmes to improve the safe, effective, and equitable use of medicines across all care settings.
The Associate Director of Medicines Commissioning will:
- Lead the development, implementation, and monitoring of the ICBs Medicines Commissioning Strategy.
- Translate national policy (NICE, NHS England, MHRA) into local commissioning approaches and pathways.
- Provide strategic leadership on prescribing, high‑cost drugs, biosimilars, shared care protocols, and medicines value programmes.
- Ensure medicines commissioning decisions support ICB priorities around outcomes, quality, financial sustainability, and reducing inequalities.
- Oversee medicines budgets across primary care prescribing.
- Analyse expenditure trends, identify cost pressures, and implement mitigation plans.
- Lead programmes to deliver value, efficiency, and system‑wide medicines optimisation.
Provide expert advice to finance, contracting, and clinical colleagues on the financial impact of new medicines and policy changes.
Ensure robust clinical governance for medicines commissioning activities, including quality impact assessments (QIA), risk reviews, and clinical safety checks.
Ensure adherence to NICE technology appraisals, national prescribing guidance, MHRA alerts, and patient safety requirements.
Support the safe implementation of new medicines, treatment pathways, and prescribing policies.
Work with quality, safety, and provider colleagues to address medicines‑related incidents and learning.
Lead integrated medicines optimisation programmes across primary, community, mental health, and acute care.
Support PCN and practice‑based pharmacy teams with prescribing guidance, pathways, and expert advice.
Drive evidence‑based prescribing, reduce unwarranted variation, improve outcomes, and address inequalities in medicines use.
Support delivery of system transformation programmes (e.g., long term conditions, UEC, cancer, mental health) with medicines leadership.
Build strong relationships with chief pharmacists, medical directors, PCN clinical directors, GP practices, and community pharmacy.
Represent the ICB at regional and IC‑wide medicines optimisation groups and professional networks.
Engage with patients, carers, the VCSE sector, and Healthwatch to shape medicines commissioning decisions.
Work with local authorities on public health priorities, including antimicrobial stewardship, vaccination, and substance misuse.
Oversee formulary development, review, and governance.
Ensure prescribing policies, guidelines, shared care protocols, and pathways are clinically robust and aligned system‑wide.
Support decision‑making groups such as Area Prescribing Committees or Medicines Optimisation Groups.
Lead clinical and commissioning impact assessments for new drugs and treatments.
Provide visible, inclusive leadership and support professional development of pharmacy and commissioning staff.
Line‑manage senior pharmacists, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and programme managers as required.
Foster a culture of learning, collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation within the team and across the system.
Person Specification
Experience
- Extensive experience within NHS pharmacy, medicines commissioning, or medicines optimisation.
- Strong understanding of NICE guidance, prescribing policy, high‑cost drugs, formulary processes, and national medicines frameworks.
- Demonstrated ability to manage complex budgets and deliver medicines‑related financial savings.
- Experience leading system‑wide stakeholder engagement and influencing senior clinical and managerial colleagues.
- Excellent analytical skills with the ability to interpret prescribing data and provide actionable insight.
- Strong leadership, communication, negotiation, and change management skills.
- Excellent communication, influencing, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
- Proven ability to operate in a political, complex, multi‑agency environment.
- Significant experience of managing in a senior role within an NHS organisation or industry employer.
- Strong experience in managing projects, including major organisational change/service change.
- Experience of strategic thinking at a senior level and engagement with independent board members and senior executives.
- Knowledge and expertise demonstrated through senior management experience gained within the health sector or private sector large‑scale multi‑site organisation.
- Demonstrable success in building, leading, motivating, managing and developing teams.
Personal Qualities
- Strategic thinker with strong clinical and financial judgement.
- Highly collaborative with the ability to influence clinical and operational leaders.
- Committed to patient safety, clinical excellence, and reducing inequalities.
- Adaptable, resilient, and able to work in complex, politically sensitive environments.
- Passionate about improving outcomes through optimal use of medicines.
- Highly developed communication skills with the ability to communicate on highly complex matters and difficult situations.
- High level analytical skills and the ability to draw qualitative and quantitative data from a wide range of sources and assess options drawing appropriate conclusions. High level critical thinking skills.
- Uses evidence to make improvements, seeks out innovation.
- Actively develops themselves and staff.
- Self‑awareness in terms of emotional intelligence, biases and personal triggers with cultural sensitivity and awareness.
- Demonstrable commitment to partnership working with a range of internal/external organisations.
- Demonstrates sound judgement in the absence of clear guidelines or precedent, seeking advice as necessary.
- Leadership, vision, strategic thinking and planning with highly developed political skills.
- Excellent influencing, negotiation and communication skills.
- Able to assimilate and respond to information quickly making effective decisions.
- Highly developed planning and organisational skills, with the ability to plan and undertake own workload without direct supervision and manage competing priorities to meet agreed time‑frames.
- Able to manage day‑to‑day business challenges, including staff management, reporting writing and dealing with stakeholder queries, whilst not losing sight of the long‑term strategic goals.
- The ability to influence and persuade others, creating successful and effective working relationships through strong, positive interpersonal skills and excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Demonstrable ability to plan over short, medium and long‑term time‑frames and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly.
- Demonstrable ability to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales.
- Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues.
- Ability to lead, inspire and motivate others to high performance by agreeing clear goals and objectives, providing support and guidance and creating opportunities for development.
- Highly resilient and able to manage multiple competing and often highly political demands.
Qualifications
- Masters Degree in Pharmacy or equivalent.
- Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
- Evidence of significant post‑registration experience and continued professional development.
- Postgraduate qualification in leadership, commissioning, or advanced clinical practice or equivalent senior leadership experience.
NHS Coventry & Warwickshire Integrated Care Board
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