What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Educator – Pharmacy Foundation Training Year (FTY) position at NHS Ayrshire & Arran?
Flexible Location: Based throughout Scotland, NES is a remote friendly employer supporting office and hybrid working. We’re happy to talk about how you want to work.
Work Pattern: Fixed Term, Full Time, 37 hours per week
Fixed-term or Secondment** for 18 months
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 sits across a number of key teams with a real opportunity to contribute to a critical stage of pharmacy education support.
We are looking for a pharmacist with considerable experience as an educator to be part of the NES FTY team as a Senior Educator with responsibility for development and delivery of the FTY programme to Trainee Pharmacists
The Opportunity
This is a fantastic opportunity to join the team responsible for the quality assurance, development and delivery of the Foundation Training Year (FTY) programme for trainee pharmacists undertaking their final year of training prior to registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). This is an exciting period for the initial education and training of pharmacists (IETP). Newly qualified pharmacists will be prescribers from 2026, with changes to the FTY 25-26 programme supporting this final stage of the implementation of the 2021 GPhC IETP standards.
This role will support trainee pharmacists, FTY supervisors (designated supervisors and designated prescribing practitioners), employers and other colleagues across Scotland with these changes. This role will work collaboratively across NES and the NHS Scotland pharmacy service, bringing pharmacy education and training expertise to the national context, promoting, and supporting educational developments in the Foundation Training Year and beyond.
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:
As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:
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 leanne.murphy@nhs.scot or gail.craig@nhs.scot
Next Steps
All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.
Online interviews (including a 10 minute presentation) will take place on Monday 12th May 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.
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
Work Pattern: Fixed Term, Full Time, 37 hours per week
Fixed-term or Secondment** for 18 months
- For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non-NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.
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 sits across a number of key teams with a real opportunity to contribute to a critical stage of pharmacy education support.
We are looking for a pharmacist with considerable experience as an educator to be part of the NES FTY team as a Senior Educator with responsibility for development and delivery of the FTY programme to Trainee Pharmacists
The Opportunity
This is a fantastic opportunity to join the team responsible for the quality assurance, development and delivery of the Foundation Training Year (FTY) programme for trainee pharmacists undertaking their final year of training prior to registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). This is an exciting period for the initial education and training of pharmacists (IETP). Newly qualified pharmacists will be prescribers from 2026, with changes to the FTY 25-26 programme supporting this final stage of the implementation of the 2021 GPhC IETP standards.
This role will support trainee pharmacists, FTY supervisors (designated supervisors and designated prescribing practitioners), employers and other colleagues across Scotland with these changes. This role will work collaboratively across NES and the NHS Scotland pharmacy service, bringing pharmacy education and training expertise to the national context, promoting, and supporting educational developments in the Foundation Training Year and beyond.
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
- Experience of supervising Trainees/Learners in practice
- 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 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
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
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 leanne.murphy@nhs.scot or gail.craig@nhs.scot
Next Steps
- NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.
All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.
Online interviews (including a 10 minute presentation) will take place on Monday 12th May 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.
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
