Pharmacy Specialist - Labor Pool

Location & Pay

Newport News, Virginia. Hiring range: $64.00 – $92.80 per hour. Actual pay is determined based on job‑related factors such as relevant experience, education, credentials, skills, internal equity, and business needs.

Overview

The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist provides patient‑centered, safe, effective and comprehensive medication management support in both centralized and decentralized medication use systems. Serves as a departmental resource for pharmacy team members, a liaison within their specialty to hospital personnel or external groups, and provides practice‑related interventions, education, and training. Leads process improvement projects and participates in the quality management program by gathering and analyzing data, implementing interventions, monitoring outcomes, facilitating pharmaceutical care integration, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead assigned patient service lines, clinical areas, and therapeutic programs.
• Deliver direct patient care and clinical practice, including decentralized and service‑based programs.
• Provide pharmaceutical services throughout assigned areas.
• Facilitate experiential education and practice advancement.
• Participate in pharmacy operations and medication dispensing.
• Design and implement stewardship activities and restriction/surveillance programs.
• Track and evaluate pharmacy programs for operational, quality, and financial efficiency, benchmarking against best practices.
• Establish, lead, and maintain short‑ and long‑term goals for the Quality Management Program; monitor and document Quality Improvement (QI) projects.
• Provide guidance and education to staff on Quality Management priorities.
• Identify practice‑related issues and facilitate clinical research, quality improvement initiatives, or provider education.
• Develop and oversee policies and procedures for drug purchasing, usage, distribution, and control.
• Ensure pharmacy integration within the health‑care delivery system and expand pharmacy services/programs.
• Identify high‑risk patients and implement interventions to improve quality and safety.
• Make evidence‑based, patient‑centered medication recommendations.
• Participate in management of medical emergencies and provide discharge medication review, reconciliation, and counseling.
• Maintain proficiency in hospital computer and medication ordering systems.
• Conduct critical patient monitoring to prevent or mitigate drug‑related problems.
• Communicate effectively with pharmacy staff, health‑care providers, and caregivers to assure continuity of care.
• Participate in stewardship activities and restricted medication programs.
• Oversee pharmacy operations, central and satellite dispensing, and specialty pharmacy areas as assigned.
• Facilitate specialty medication procurement, ordering, and dispensing (e.g., chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition, controlled substances).
• Supervise pharmacy technicians when appropriate.
• Develop student, resident, and staff training experiences; create teaching relationships.
• Identify, design, and implement medication‑use system improvements to advance patient safety, therapeutic outcomes, or cost control.
• Support education through professional presentations, posters, lectures, and external organization involvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Pharmacy (required).
• Completion of an ASHP PGY‑1 residency (required) or 3–4 years of Clinical Pharmacist experience, with at least one year in the desired specialty population (required).
• One year of experience in the desired specialty population when ASHP PGY‑1 residency is completed (preferred).
• Completion of an ASHP PGY‑2 residency (preferred).
• Two additional years of clinical pharmacy experience in the desired specialty pharmacy population (preferred).

Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of contemporary hospital/clinical practice and services.
• Expertise in advanced pharmacy practice, specialty medication therapy management, and evidence‑based medicine relevant to clinical assignments.
• Professionalism in written and oral communication.
• Ability to lead patient service lines, clinical areas, and therapeutic programs.
• Design and implement stewardship and restriction/surveillance programs.
• Track, evaluate, and benchmark pharmacy program performance.
• Lead Quality Management initiatives and QI projects.
• Provide guidance and education on Quality Management priorities.
• Identify practice issues and facilitate research or education initiatives.
• Develop and oversee drug purchasing, usage, distribution, and control policies.
• Integrate pharmacy services within the health‑care delivery system.
• Identify high‑risk patients and implement safety interventions.
• Make evidence‑based medication recommendations.
• Manage medical emergencies and conduct discharge medication reconciliation.
• Proficiency with hospital computer and medication ordering systems.
• Conduct critical patient monitoring to prevent drug‑related problems.
• Effective communication with multidisciplinary teams