Director, Investigational Drug Section

START Center for Cancer Research•Atlanta, GA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Investigational Drug Section oversees all aspects of Investigational Drug Services (IDS) operations at the assigned site and performs clinical pharmacist duties. These include verifying medication orders, dispensing and documenting investigational drugs, conventional chemotherapy, and supportive care medications provided by the IDS. The pharmacist may also provide pharmaceutical care by assisting with patient interviews, maintaining current medication lists, educating patients about medications, and providing drug information to patients and the healthcare team. The role practices with a high degree of autonomy under IDS standard operating procedures and quality assurance verification guidelines. The director supervises staff responsible for medication preparation, dispensing, and IDS operations, and directly supervises all site-specific pharmacy team members, including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The position is based in Atlanta, Georgia, with a Monday–Friday schedule from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Requirements

Graduate of an ACPE-accredited School of Pharmacy.
Current state license.
Previous hospital or clinic pharmacy experience.
Familiarity with sterile compounding requirements for chemotherapy agents, USP <797> and USP <800>, laminar airflow hoods, and biological safety cabinets.
Computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.
Familiarity with electronic medical records, pharmacy software, and study IRT systems.
Knowledge of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) principles.
Sterile compounding and chemotherapy certification.
Intravenous sterile product training.
Prior experience in clinical trials and management of investigational drugs.
Ability to spend 80% of work time standing and/or walking.
Ability to lift up to 25 pounds and perform some bending, pushing, and/or pulling.

Nice To Haves

Specialty residency in oncology.
Current BPS Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP) certification.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Director of Nursing and study operations leader to maintain efficient, high-quality patient care.
Collaborate with site leadership, shared services leaders, and integration team members to align workflows and processes.
Ensure IDS space meets local and federal expectations and that applicable internal SOPs are followed.
Verify medication orders, including doses and calculations, basic patient eligibility criteria, signed and dated consent forms, laboratory values, required tests, resolution of known toxicities from prior chemotherapy, and absence of serious known drug interactions.
Oversee preparation and dispensing of IDS medications, including supervising certified pharmacy technicians preparing IV admixtures and oral medication doses and ensuring double-check verification is completed before release.
Provide pharmaceutical care, including patient medication and supportive-care counseling and drug information to patients and the healthcare team.
Oversee drug inventories and documentation, forecast expected use, and coordinate ordering, receipt, storage, and dispensing tracking of Phase I and conventional medications.
Assist pharmacy technicians with investigational documentation, records, weekly inventory, and interactions with study personnel.
Review new protocols, protocol amendments, and associated forms.
Maintain and generate reports using the IDS drug accountability program.
Contribute to effective pharmacy department operations.
Enter accurate medication orders in the computer system and maintain accurate reported patient home medication lists in the EMR.
Perform clinical pharmacist duties involving medication order verification, dispensing, and documentation for investigational drugs, conventional chemotherapy, and supportive care medications.