What does a director of pharmacist do?

A director of pharmacist oversees the daily operations of a pharmacy or similar establishment, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently according to industry standards and policies. As a director, they have the authority to direct procedures, establish protocols and guidelines, set budgets and timelines, supervise staffing operations, and develop strategies to enhance pharmacy services. They also coordinate managers, delegate responsibilities, review progress reports, solving issues and concerns when any arise. Moreover, they lead and empower staff in a joint effort to reach goals.
Director of pharmacist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of pharmacist resumes:
- Store and secure third party and Medicaid prescriptions and manage adjudication reviews.
- Provide clinical pharmacy and outcomes methodology support to state Medicaid programs, PBMS and manage care organizations.
- Manage average-sized independent pharmacy and provide marketing and professional support to staff leading to quality growth in RX & dollar volume.
- Establish a pharmacy automate dispensing system (PYXIS) in the facility which are previously utilizing a manual cart filling system.
- bed rehabilitation center and skil nursing facility.
- Review and update pharmacy policies and procedures to satisfy JCAHO requirements.
- Develop, market, and implement contract pharmacy services for rehabilitation and psychiatric facilities.
- Arrange JCAHO requirements, participate in several hospital committees and evaluate contracts for pharmaceutical products.
- Ensure that all Part_D correspondence and marketing material meet regulatory requirements and receive CMS approval for implementation.
- Establish after-hours medication order verification by initiating remote order-entry pharmacy services and utilizing Pyxis automate dispensing cabinets.
- Establish and maintain strict controls and accountability for all medications inventory in the hospital and medications as dispensed to patients.
- Spearhead protocol-driven pharmacist immunization program to provide state vaccine to eligible patients and care givers, fulfilling a community need.
- Ensure accurate prescription dispensing including monitoring drug interactions, disease management and potential side effects of prescriptions and OTC medications.
- Initiate and operate successful community-base immunization program.
- Monitor patient medication use for drug interactions, appropriateness and make recommendations to surgical ICU team for therapy changes.
Director of pharmacist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Directors Of Pharmacist are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Hospital Pharmacy. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Organizational skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Directors Of Pharmacist that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 17%
Established and maintained strict controls and accountability for all medications inventoried in the hospital and medications as dispensed to patients.
- Patient Care, 8%
Ensured compliance with patient care quality standards oversaw purchase and storage of all pharmaceuticals and related substances/supplies.
- Hospital Pharmacy, 6%
Developed an inventory control process that produced one of the lowest dollar-per-bed hospital Pharmacy department medication inventories in New Jersey.
- Oversight, 6%
Controlled Substance oversight, maintenance of stock, reconciliation of disposition, and physical inventory security.
- Health System, 4%
Generated and maintained system-wide pharmaceutical budget through the Health System.
- Customer Service, 4%
Initiated Quality Plan for Pharmacy to establish baseline measurements in key areas including budget, inventory management, and customer service.
Most directors of pharmacist use their skills in "patients," "patient care," and "hospital pharmacy" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential director of pharmacist responsibilities here:
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a director of pharmacist to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what directors of pharmacist do because "it managers must develop and implement strategic plans to reach the goals of their organizations." Additionally, a director of pharmacist resume shows how directors of pharmacist use business skills: "partnered with divisional presidents in all aspects of financial and business analysis to provide financial oversight and support. "
Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling director of pharmacist duties is organizational skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "some it managers must coordinate the work of several different it departments to make the organization run efficiently." According to a director of pharmacist resume, here's how directors of pharmacist can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "participate on many organizational committees such as performance improvement, corporate compliance, patient safety, infection control and organizational finance. "
Leadership skills. This is an important skill for directors of pharmacist to perform their duties. For an example of how director of pharmacist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "it managers must lead and motivate it teams or departments so that workers are efficient and effective." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a director of pharmacist: "apply leadership skills to serve as a change agent, promoting quality cost effective patient care. ".
Analytical skills. director of pharmacist responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "it managers must analyze problems and consider and select the best ways to solve them." This resume example shows what directors of pharmacist do with analytical skills on a typical day: "manage medication variance and adverse event reporting and performance improvement initiatives and cost analysis to perpetual inventory. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for director of pharmacist responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of directors of pharmacist all the time, as "it managers must explain their work to top executives and give clear instructions to their subordinates." An excerpt from a real director of pharmacist resume shows how this skill is central to what a director of pharmacist does: "contributed as technician supervisor, physician communication liaison/drug information reference and usp 797 compliance pharmacist. "
The three companies that hire the most director of pharmacists are:
- Change Healthcare81 directors of pharmacist jobs
- RPh on the Go
39 directors of pharmacist jobs
- Cardinal Health20 directors of pharmacist jobs
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Director of pharmacist vs. Systems manager
A systems manager is responsible for monitoring the operations of the information technology department, evaluating staff performance, developing strategic procedures to maximize productivity, and identifying business opportunities that would generate more revenues and profitability for the company. Systems managers inspect company networks to ensure the efficiency of the technology systems, conducting regular diagnostic tests, and installing upgrades to boost optimization. A systems manager must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a strong command in programming languages and system codes to maintain the security of the company's database.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a director of pharmacist are more likely to require skills like "patient care," "hospital pharmacy," "oversight," and "health system." On the other hand, a job as a systems manager requires skills like "project management," "management system," "data entry," and "client facing." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Systems managers tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $116,351. In contrast, directors of pharmacist make the biggest average salary, $87,464, in the health care industry.systems managers tend to reach similar levels of education than directors of pharmacist. In fact, systems managers are 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 20.6% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Director of pharmacist vs. Data manager
A data manager is responsible for monitoring the efficiency of the company's technology systems and network infrastructures. Data managers ensure the safety and security of the databases to avoid unauthorized access that may pose risks for business operations. They assist the technology team in developing data management protocols and smooth navigation of the network systems. A data manager must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as having a strong command on system codes and programming languages, to immediately identify inconsistencies, and perform troubleshooting to fix these discrepancies.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real director of pharmacist resumes. While director of pharmacist responsibilities can utilize skills like "patient care," "hospital pharmacy," "oversight," and "health system," data managers use skills like "data analysis," "visualization," "data quality," and "data collection."
Data managers earn higher levels of education than directors of pharmacist in general. They're 5.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 20.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of pharmacist vs. Technical manager
A technical manager is responsible for maintaining the company's information systems database and analyzing technology system matters to ensure its efficiency and accuracy in supporting business operations. Technical managers perform network checks regularly to assess any possible malfunctions that might compromise the company's cybersecurity. They carefully analyze business and clients' specifications on working with systems integration, responding to end-users' concerns and inquiries. A technical manager must have excellent knowledge of the information technology systems industry, as well as a strong command on network codes to conduct adjustments and manage network infrastructure.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from director of pharmacist resumes include skills like "patients," "patient care," "hospital pharmacy," and "oversight," whereas a technical manager is more likely to list skills in "project management," "infrastructure," "architecture," and "java. "
Technical managers earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $117,846. Comparatively, directors of pharmacist have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $87,464.Most technical managers achieve a similar degree level compared to directors of pharmacist. For example, they're 4.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 19.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of pharmacist vs. Information technology manager
An information technology manager is responsible for supervising tasks for the company's network and information systems operations. Information technology managers require excellent knowledge of the information systems industry, a strong command of programming languages, and software and hardware application processes. An information technology manager reviews the performance of the IT department staff, ensuring that networks and systems maintain the highest quality and efficiency, and adjusting the specific system updates as needed. Information technology managers monitor the security of the system's database and identify business opportunities to utilize all business systems to improve the company's services.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between directors of pharmacist and information technology managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a director of pharmacist might have more use for skills like "patients," "patient care," "hospital pharmacy," and "oversight." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of information technology managers require skills like "project management," "database," "network infrastructure," and "san. "
Information technology managers reach similar levels of education compared to directors of pharmacist, in general. The difference is that they're 1.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 20.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of director of pharmacist
Updated January 8, 2025











