Position Summary

The Inpatient Pharmacy Operations Manager provides comprehensive leadership for both the operational and clinical functions of inpatient pharmacy services in a small rural hospital with advanced clinical care. This role is responsible for ensuring safe, efficient medication distribution and high-quality, evidence-based medication therapy. The position directly manages pharmacy technicians and pharmacists, supports advanced clinical services, and serves as a pharmacy lead for Epic Willow inpatient workflows.

This role requires a hands-on leader who can balance operational demands with clinical excellence while supporting education and professional development in a resource-limited environment.

Key Responsibilities

Pharmacy Operations & Distribution

• Oversee daily inpatient pharmacy operations, including medication distribution, sterile compounding, automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs), controlled substances, and inventory management
• Ensure compliance with USP <797>/<800>, Joint Commission standards, and all applicable state and federal regulations
• Lead optimization of medication distribution systems, including ADC configuration, cart fill workflows, and Epic–ADC integration
• Oversee drug purchasing, shortage mitigation, medication waste reduction, and budget stewardship
• Develop, maintain, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) aligned with regulatory, safety, and operational best practices
• Lead operational quality improvement initiatives and track performance and safety metrics
• Provide direct operational support during staffing shortages, off-hours, or high-volume periods

Clinical Pharmacy Services

• Support inpatient clinical pharmacy services across all service lines to ensure safe, effective, and evidence-based medication use
• Lead medication safety initiatives, including adverse drug event review, root cause analysis, and process improvement
• Support formulary management, medication utilization evaluations, and Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee activities
• Provide hands-on clinical pharmacist support during high-acuity periods or staffing shortages

Epic Willow Leadership

• Serve as a pharmacy lead for Epic Willow Inpatient, including both operational and clinical workflows
• Oversee medication records, order routing, dispense workflows, inventory functionality, and reporting
• Lead clinical decision support (CDS), order sets, pharmacist documentation tools, and intervention tracking
• Collaborate with IT and clinical stakeholders on Epic upgrades, optimization, and issue resolution
• Ensure Epic workflows align with regulatory requirements, patient safety goals, and rural staffing realities

Staff Leadership, Education & Development

• Directly supervise pharmacy technicians and pharmacists, including hiring, onboarding, scheduling, training, competency validation, and performance management
• Lead initial and ongoing education for pharmacy staff related to operational workflows, clinical protocols, medication safety, and Epic functionality
• Promote technician skill advancement and cross-training to support both operational and clinical needs
• Support pharmacist professional development, clinical skill advancement, and practice at the top of license
• Provide medication-related education to nursing staff, providers, and interdisciplinary teams as needed
• Support precepting of pharmacy students, residents, or learners when applicable

Collaboration & Communication

• Collaborate with nursing, medical staff, quality, supply chain, IT, and hospital leadership to resolve medication-related issues
• Serve as the primary point of contact for inpatient medication-use processes
• Represent pharmacy leadership on hospital committees and interdisciplinary initiatives

Qualifications

• PharmD required
• Active pharmacist license in CO
• Hospital pharmacy experience required; rural hospital experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated leadership in both pharmacy operations and clinical pharmacy services
• Experience managing pharmacy technicians and pharmacists
• Epic Willow Inpatient experience strongly preferred
• Strong regulatory knowledge, clinical judgment, communication, and teaching skills
• BLS - AHA
• ACLS - AHA