Job Description: Founding Pharmacy Operations Lead (Western Canada Focus)
Eligible to Serve as Pharmacy Manager, Licensee, or Designated Manager Depending on Jurisdiction
Employment Type: Full-time, permanent
Reports To: Pharmacy Owner / Corporate Director Liaison
Start Date: June
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced pharmacist to lead the establishment and operation of pharmacy services supporting our growing healthcare platform.The successful candidate will play a key role in pharmacy licensing, regulatory strategy, operational development, controlled substance governance, and patient care delivery.Priority will be given to candidates licensed in Alberta and/or British Columbia. Ontario candidates will also be considered.This role is expected to evolve into a senior pharmacy leadership position supporting future expansion across multiple Canadian provinces.
Key ResponsibilitiesRegulatory Compliance and Pharmacy Licensing
- Serve as the pharmacy’s Pharmacy Manager, Licensee, Designated Manager, or equivalent responsible pharmacist, depending on jurisdiction.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable federal and provincial pharmacy legislation, standards of practice, standards of operation, accreditation requirements, and regulatory obligations.
- Lead pharmacy licensing and establishment activities in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and other jurisdictions as required.
- Coordinate regulatory applications, inspections, audits, accreditation reviews, and corrective action plans.
- Liaise with provincial pharmacy regulators, inspectors, and external advisors regarding licensing, compliance, and operational matters.
- Maintain required policies, records, permits, certificates, documentation, and regulatory filings.
- Support ownership in evaluating regulatory requirements and pharmacy expansion opportunities across Canada.
Pharmacy Establishment and Expansion
- Lead pharmacy start-up activities, including licensing, facility planning, workflow design, operational readiness, and regulatory compliance.
- Assist with site selection, pharmacy layout review, equipment procurement, and implementation planning.
- Develop scalable pharmacy governance, compliance, and quality assurance frameworks capable of supporting multi-province operations.
- Build pharmacy operational infrastructure from launch through sustained growth.
- Assist leadership in evaluating pharmacy acquisition opportunities, strategic partnerships, and new market entry initiatives.
Pharmacy Operations
- Oversee day-to-day pharmacy operations, workflow management, inventory control, medication procurement, storage, documentation, and dispensing activities.
- Develop, implement, and maintain SOPs for dispensing, counselling, privacy, controlled substances, incident reporting, delivery services, prescription transfers, refills, and patient communications.
- Ensure safe, efficient, and compliant prescription processing and medication verification workflows.
- Maintain systems for recalls, expiries, inventory reconciliation, waste management, and medication destruction.
- Develop scalable pharmacy operating procedures that can be adapted across multiple jurisdictions.
- Evaluate pharmacy technologies, automation systems, telepharmacy tools, and operational efficiencies.
Controlled Substances and Medication Safety
- Oversee procurement, storage, dispensing, reconciliation, and documentation for narcotics, controlled drugs, targeted substances, and monitored medications.
- Develop and oversee controlled substance governance programs relating to ADHD medications, psychiatric medications, and other high-risk therapies.
- Establish diversion prevention, auditing, reconciliation, and risk-management procedures.
- Investigate, document, and report losses, discrepancies, incidents, medication errors, and near misses where required.
- Implement continuous quality improvement and medication safety programs.
- Collaborate with prescribers regarding controlled-substance prescribing practices, monitoring, and regulatory compliance.
Patient Care and Clinical Services
- Provide direct patient care, including prescription assessment, counselling, medication therapy management, and follow-up.
- Support pharmacy services for patients receiving treatment for ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.
- Support expanded pharmacy services where permitted, including minor ailments, injections, vaccinations, medication reviews, smoking cessation, adherence programs, and other clinical services.
- Ensure patients receive appropriate counselling, privacy protection, and professional care.
- Assist in developing medication management programs integrated with virtual healthcare services.
Digital Health and Integrated Care
- Collaborate closely with psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, physicians, therapists, and virtual care teams.
- Develop pharmacy workflows supporting telemedicine, remote prescribing, electronic prescriptions, and medication delivery services.
- Assist in designing integrated care pathways between healthcare providers and pharmacy services.
- Provide pharmacy leadership regarding medication-related issues arising within virtual care environments.
- Support implementation of digital health technologies and patient engagement tools.
Team Leadership
- Recruit, train, supervise, and support pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, assistants, students, and interns.
- Ensure all personnel understand their scope of practice, supervision requirements, and operational responsibilities.
- Maintain staffing levels appropriate for safe patient care.
- Promote a culture of accountability, patient safety, professionalism, and continuous improvement.
- Mentor clinical and operational team members where appropriate.
Business Growth and Strategic Development
- Support pharmacy launch planning, payer enrollment, vendor relationships, and operational growth initiatives.
- Monitor operational KPIs including prescription volume, turnaround times, inventory accuracy, patient satisfaction, medication incidents, and reimbursement performance.
- Participate in payer contracting, pharmacy network enrollment, and reimbursement program development.
- Support specialty pharmacy, integrated care, and innovative healthcare initiatives.
- Assist ownership in evaluating future provincial expansion opportunities and pharmacy growth strategies.
- Build and maintain relationships with healthcare providers, clinics, healthcare organizations, and community stakeholders.
Required Qualifications
- Licensed pharmacist in good standing with a Canadian provincial pharmacy regulator.
- Candidates licensed in Alberta and/or British Columbia are strongly preferred.
- Ontario-licensed candidates will also be considered.
- Eligible and willing to serve as Pharmacy Manager, Licensee, Designated Manager, or equivalent responsible pharmacist as required.
- Maintains required professional liability insurance.
- Minimum 5 years of community pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, or pharmacy management experience.
- Strong knowledge of Canadian pharmacy legislation, regulatory compliance, controlled substances requirements, and pharmacy operations.
- Experience with inventory management, third-party billing, patient counselling, documentation, and pharmacy workflows.
- Strong leadership, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Existing registration with the Alberta College of Pharmacy and/or British Columbia College of Pharmacists.
- Experience opening, licensing, accrediting, acquiring, or launching one or more pharmacies.
- Experience interacting directly with provincial pharmacy regulators during licensing or inspection processes.
- Experience working within telehealth, digital health, virtual care, specialty pharmacy, mail-order pharmacy, or clinic-integrated pharmacy environments.
- Experience supporting patients receiving ADHD, psychiatric, mental health, addiction, or other controlled-substance-related therapies.
- Experience with payer contracting, pharmacy reimbursement programs, and healthcare partnerships.
- Experience managing multi-site or multi-jurisdiction pharmacy operations.
- Experience building pharmacy operations from launch stage through growth and expansion.
Why Join Us
This is a unique opportunity to help build and shape a modern pharmacy platform integrated with innovative healthcare services across Canada.The successful candidate will play a foundational role in establishing pharmacy operations, influencing regulatory strategy, supporting patient care innovation, and leading future expansion into multiple provinces.
Work Location: On the road
