Director, Investigational Drug Section

START Center for Cancer Research•New Hyde Park, NY

19h•Onsite

About The Position

The START Center for Cancer Research is seeking a Director, Investigational Drug Section to oversee all components of Investigational Drug Section (IDS) operations at the assigned site while also performing clinical pharmacist duties. The role covers medication order verification, dispensing, and documentation for investigational drugs, conventional chemotherapy, and supportive care medications. It may also include patient interviews, maintaining current medication lists, patient medication education, and providing drug information to healthcare team members and patients. The pharmacist practices with a high degree of autonomy, guided by IDS standard operating procedures and quality assurance verification guidelines. The director supervises staff responsible for medication preparation, dispensing, and IDS operations, and directly manages all site-specific pharmacy team members, including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The position is on-site at 450 Lakeville Road, Entrance A, New Hyde Park, New York 11042, with a Monday–Friday schedule of 8 a.m.–5 p.m. The annual base salary range is $180,000–$200,000, plus a significant annual bonus; base pay may vary based on individualized factors such as experience, knowledge, and skills.

Requirements

Graduate of an ACPE-accredited School of Pharmacy.
Current state pharmacist license.
Previous hospital or clinic pharmacy experience.
Familiarity with sterile compounding requirements for chemotherapy agents, USP <797>, USP <800>, laminar airflow hoods, and biological safety cabinets.
Computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.
Familiarity with electronic medical record programs, 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.

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 ensure efficient, high-quality patient care is maintained and prioritized.
Collaborate with site leadership, shared services leaders, and integration team members to align workflows and processes.
Ensure the IDS space meets local and federal expectations and complies with applicable internal SOPs.
Verify medication orders, including dosage and calculation accuracy and basic patient eligibility criteria, consent documentation, laboratory values, required tests, resolution of known prior chemotherapy toxicity, and absence of serious known drug interactions.
Oversee preparation and dispensing of all IDS medications, including supervising certified pharmacy technicians preparing IV admixtures and oral medication dosages and ensuring completion of double-check verification before medications are released.
Provide pharmaceutical care, including patient medication and supportive-care counseling and drug information for healthcare team members and patients.
Oversee drug inventories and documentation, forecast usage, and coordinate ordering, receiving, storage, dispensing, and 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 the effective operation of the pharmacy department.
Enter accurate medication orders in the computer system and accurately maintain reported patient home medications in the EMR.
Directly supervise site-specific pharmacy team members, including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
Perform clinical pharmacist duties, including medication order verification, dispensing, and documentation for investigational drugs, conventional chemotherapy, and supportive care medications.