Overview of the role
Glasgow & Surrounding Area
We’re looking for an experienced Area Operations Manager with a proven background in multi-site pharmacy management to lead and inspire a portfolio of community pharmacies across the Glasgow area.
This is a hands-on, fast-paced leadership role for someone who thrives in pharmacies, loves engaging with colleagues and patients, and is motivated by delivering tangible, measurable results including the successful delivery of Pharmacy First.
If you’re confident you can demonstrate the following, then read on 👇
About You
You’re a leader who:
Thrives on colleague and patient interaction
Is passionate about spending 90% of your time in pharmacies
Works at pace while maintaining high levels of accuracy
Is resilient, adaptable, and enjoys constant change and challenge
Is motivated by leading teams to deliver real, measurable performance improvements
The Role
As an Area Operations Manager, you’ll be responsible for the overall management, performance and development of 8–15 pharmacies. You’ll build capable, high-performing teams that deliver an outstanding community pharmacy experience, while ensuring patient safety, quality, compliance and strong commercial performance.
A key focus of the role will be the effective implementation and delivery of Pharmacy First, ensuring services are embedded, well-promoted and consistently delivered across your area.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Excellence
Visit each pharmacy at least every two weeks, leaving clear, SMART actions to drive performance
Support and embed our Delivering Well strategy by aligning pharmacy activity to corporate objectives
Drive delivery of Rx growth, Pharmacy First, other NHS and private services, and OTC sales in line with agreed budgets
Ensure excellent standards through full compliance with processes and procedures
Monitor competitor activity and identify opportunities to grow market share
Patient Safety, Quality & Standards
Ensure all pharmacies meet GPhC standards and NHS contractual requirements, including those relating to Pharmacy First
Complete first-line investigations into Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs) and Controlled Drug discrepancies
Ensure delivery of all NHS quality standards
Delivering Outstanding Care
Ensure teams actively promote and deliver Pharmacy First, all other NHS and private services
Ensure all complaints and incidents are reported, resolved or escalated appropriately
Build and maintain strong relationships within the local healthcare community, supporting local referral pathways for Pharmacy First
Ensure teams offer tailored advice and products to support prevention, treatment and wellbeing
High-Performance Teams
Recruit, develop and retain trained, motivated and capable teams
Actively manage performance through coaching, feedback and formal reviews, with a strong focus on service delivery
Identify and develop internal and external talent to build a strong talent pipeline
Ensure clear communication so everyone understands their role, priorities and objectives
Commit to your own development and foster a culture of continuous learning
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
Essential:
Proven experience in field or multi-site management, ideally within pharmacy
Strong understanding of Pharmacy First and its operational delivery
Experience managing BAU operations, cross-regional working, relief teams and/or project work
Strong commercial and analytical capability
Excellent communication, coaching and feedback skills
Strong planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities
Ability to build effective professional networks based on trust and credibility
Sound understanding of the NHS contract and GPhC standards
Desirable:
A strong understanding of the UK pharmacy market and profession
We reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the advertised closing date.
About the Company
For over 70 years, we’ve been looking after the health and wellbeing of communities across the UK. Well Pharmacy (part of Bestway Healthcare) is the second largest pharmacy chain in the UK with c.760 pharmacies and a team of around 7,000 colleagues based across our Community Pharmacies, Online Pharmacy, Healthcare Services Centre, Community Drivers, Bestway Medhub & Wardles team and our Support Centre team.
Our mission is to be here for the wellbeing of our patients and customers, to provide the best community pharmacy experience in the UK for everyone, for our patients, our customers, our people, and our NHS.
The pharmacy of the future will look very different from the one we know today. It will play a huge role in transforming primary healthcare and we will play a central role in bringing it to life.
We will use our clinical expertise and technological ambition to take advantage of the potential this future has to offer us. Making medicines, advice, services and care available in the places and spaces that people need and want it most.
We want to be a great business. To be recognised as delivering a community pharmacy experience that is the best there is. To do this we want our teams to feel proud about the positive impact they make, feel valued as part of a close-knit and expert community, and feel confident in their role in a business that is stable, innovative, and caring.
‘Together we make a difference’
