Senior Educator – Independent Prescribing and Clinical Skills

On 1 April 2026, NSS and NES became one national organisation, focused on continuity today and a stronger, more connected service for tomorrow.

As part of this transformation, NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) have joined to form a new organisation: Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland). This new organisation will play a pivotal role in supporting the renewal and ensuring the long-term sustainability of health and care services across Scotland.

Flexible Location: PSD Scotland is a remote-friendly employer with staff based throughout Scotland. We support office-based and hybrid working arrangements. We welcome conversations about alternative working patterns—please get in touch during the application process to discuss.

Work Pattern: Fixed Term, Part Time, 14.4 hours per week

Fixed-term or Secondment** Part time until 31st March 2027

• 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.
  
  

You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.

Who We Are

PSD Scotland unites expertise from NES and NSS in a way that will allow us to accelerate national programmes to support the NHS to deliver better care, now and in the future.

We support staff with education and training, provide the tools and data that improve services, and run vital national functions such as procurement, logistics and blood, tissue and cell services.

PSD Scotland 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 PSD Scotland is responsible through the Executive Medical Director to the PSD Scotland Board and through the Board to Scottish Government for the commissioning and delivery of postgraduate pharmacy education in Scotland. Senior Educators in PSD Scotland Pharmacy provide support for the development of key education solutions as well as support for educational supervisors and learners. This role provides a real opportunity to contribute to a rapidly evolving stage of pharmacy education support.

The Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity to join our innovative team within PSD Scotland Pharmacy. This is an excellent opportunity for a pharmacist with an interest in educational initiatives to expand their career experience, with responsibilities at both regional and national level. Post holders will lead development of consultation and clinical skills training to support continuing professional development of newly qualified pharmacists across NHS Scotland.

We are looking for a pharmacist with considerable experience as an educator to be part of the Independent Prescribing and Clinical Skills team. This Senior Educator post has responsibility for delivery of a clinical skills programme. The role sits across some key teams, including simulation and post-registration programme. It offers a real opportunity to contribute to a critical stage of pharmacy education for newly qualified pharmacists. There is an expectation the post-holder can travel to deliver training across all regional delivery locations.

Senior Educators in PSD Scotland Pharmacy provide support for the development of key education solutions as well as support for educational supervisors and learners. As a flexible, collaborative team, occasional cross-cover across other pharmacy workstreams may be required as part of the role.

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?

Do you embrace building relationships and a shared vision for the future in order to support change and innovation?

Do you thrive on working at pace and being adaptive in an ever-changing environment?

Working within the PSD Scotland 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)
• Practicing independent prescriber
• Experience in utilising consultation, physical and clinical assessment skills to inform decision making within patient facing pharmacy services
• Knowledge and experience of leading and supporting workstreams that enhance career and role development for the pharmacy workforce
• Experience of working in an educationally focused environment, that may include simulation delivery, need for trainee adjustments or escalation of performance concerns
• 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 in 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
  
  

Benefits Which Matter

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
  
  

Diversity and Inclusion

Developing a successful national service for Scotland means considering the diverse needs, perspectives, and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland. We are focused on hiring the very best talent and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. Our aim to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has a positive recruitment experience—regardless of the outcome.

We welcome applications from all under-represented groups, including racially minoritised people and disabled people. It is not essential to be in a Senior Educator role right now—you may be returning from a career break (e.g., maternity, paternity, caring) or coming from another field. Your experiences can bring a fresh perspective to our work.

If you are considering applying and would like to discuss the opportunity, any adjustments or alternative work patterns, please contact Ailsa Macdonald, Principal Lead on pharmacy@nes.scot.nhs.uk

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.

In person OR online interviews (including a presentation) will take place on Wednesday 26 August 2026 2026. 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.

• Please be advised that if you are successful in being offered the role following the recruitment process, you will be expected to attend the office prior to your start date to complete face-to-face pre-employment checks. If you require any adjustments to support this, please let us know.
• To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.
  
  

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here. 

For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licenced Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or ‘going rate’. Further information on these criteria can be found here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

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