The Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) and UC San Diego Health are committed to academic excellence and success of our faculty, staff, and students. We are seeking a Chief Pharmacy Officer/ Professor and Associate Dean for Professional Practice (CPO-AD) who will serve as the senior pharmacy executive for UC San Diego Health and a key academic leader within SSPPS. This individual will provide oversight and strategic support for the full scope of pharmacy clinical services at UC San Diego Health. The position reports jointly to the senior leadership of the health system and the Dean of the School of Pharmacy.
About UC San Diego Health
UC San Diego Health is the region’s only academic health system and a nationally recognized leader in clinical care, biomedical research, and health professions education. The system includes three (3) major health campuses including UC San Diego Health La Jolla, Hillcrest Medical Center, and East Campus Medical Center which total 1,100 licensed beds and over 42,000 annual admissions. The outpatient facilities including Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Moores Cancer Center, Koman and McGrath Outpatient Pavilions and an extensive network of ambulatory clinics and specialty centers across Southern California are home to 1.5+ million outpatient visits and surgeries.
UC San Diego Health is consistently ranked No. 1 in the San Diego region and No. 22 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and has achieved national recognition across multiple medical specialties, reflecting outstanding outcomes in patient safety, quality of care, and clinical innovation. The health system has also been recognized repeatedly by Vizient for excellence in quality and accountability among U.S. academic medical centers.
The UC San Diego Health Department of Pharmacy employs 500 licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across 18 licensed pharmacy sites throughout the San Diego region. These sites span four categories: four inpatient hospital pharmacies at major UC San Diego Health facilities (including Hillcrest, Jacobs, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Institute, and East Campus), five infusion centers, seven retail and discharge pharmacies, and two Investigational Drug Service pharmacies supporting clinical research at Moores Cancer Center and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute. UC San Diego Health Department of Pharmacy was the first organization nationwide to be recognized (2022), and renewed (2025), as a Certified Center of Excellence (COE) in Medication-Use Safety and Pharmacy Practice by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Pharmacists and pharmacy staff play an essential role in interdisciplinary patient care, medication safety, clinical research, and advanced pharmacy training programs.
About Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is a leading research-intensive pharmacy school dedicated to improving human health through innovative education, interdisciplinary research, and patient-centered pharmacy practice. The school offers PharmD, PhD, MS, and postdoctoral training programs and collaborates extensively with the university’s health sciences programs and clinical partners.
The school is ranked among the top pharmacy schools in the United States, including No. 6 in the U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings for pharmacy programs. Faculty at the School of Pharmacy are internationally recognized for advancing pharmacotherapy, drug discovery, pharmacogenomics, health outcomes research, and clinical pharmacy practice.
Position Overviews
This individual will provide strategic vision and leadership for all pharmacy services, medication management systems, and clinical training across the academic health enterprise that support UC San Diego as a national leader in clinical pharmacy practice. This critical leadership role is directly responsible for all aspects of the strategic, operational and clinical practice of the pharmacies across UC San Diego Health. The CPO is a key member of the UC San Diego Health leadership team and is also expected to be a national leader on public policy related to pharmacy services such as 340B. The CPO is expected to develop strategies for clinical and financial growth, management of expenses related to pharmacy services, and growth of the role of pharmacy and pharmacists in the health system. The CPO is expected to strengthen the partnership between the health system and the School of Pharmacy to advance excellence in patient care, Pharm.D. student experiential education, residency training, and clinical innovation. We expect this individual to serve as a collaborative leader, transformational change agent, and visionary in modernization of clinical pharmacy bolstered by digital enablement inclusive of intelligence. In addition to supporting the institution’s national reputation in clinical pharmacy, the CPO is expected to seek novel opportunities to advance all missions. Consistent with the core values of the institution, the CPO-AD is responsible for the quality of educational and scientific programs within the health system pharmacy department.
Key Responsibilities
The CPO-AD will be responsible for critical academic and clinical priorities, including the following activities:
Health System Leadership
- Provide transformative executive leadership and strategic vision for pharmacy services across inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory, specialty, and investigational settings.
- Lead the development and implementation of system-wide pharmacy strategy aligned with UC San Diego Health’s clinical, financial, and operational priorities.
- Oversee pharmacy operations including medication procurement, distribution, clinical pharmacy services, medication safety, regulatory compliance, and quality improvement.
- Promote innovation in medication management, digital pharmacy technologies, automation, and data analytics.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory and accreditation standards including state and federal pharmacy regulations, Joint Commission standards, and drug safety programs.
- Partner with clinical and administrative leaders to optimize medication utilization, patient safety, population health initiatives, clinical outcomes, and cost stewardship.
- Represent pharmacy services in executive leadership forums and enterprise strategic planning.
Academic Leadership
- Serve as Associate Dean for Professional Practice within SSPPS, providing leadership for the school’s clinical practice mission and health-system partnerships.
- Demonstrate national leadership in pharmacy clinical practice with established national relationships and reputation.
- Collaborate with the SSPPS Pharmacy Practice and Sciences department chair to develop and support innovative clinical practice sites for faculty at UC San Diego Health.
- Facilitate development of innovative practice models that support experiential education for PharmD students and advanced clinical training for pharmacy residents and fellows.
- Partner with faculty and health-system leaders to expand clinical research, outcomes research, and translational pharmacy programs.
- Promote staff pharmacist engagement in clinical practice, teaching, and scholarship.
- Contribute to teaching, mentoring, and professional development within the PharmD and graduate programs.
- Advance interprofessional education and collaboration across UC San Diego’s health sciences schools.
To be successful in leading the complex operations of the pharmacy services within UC San Diego Health, the CPO-AD must cultivate and apply interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence at all times. Through their actions, the CPO-AD will promote and sustain a culture of inquiry and place value on the scholarship of discovery, application, integration, and teaching. Additionally, the CPO-AD will listen effectively and strive for sensitivity, consistency, fairness, and adaptability with their teams. Through equitable actions, the CPO-AD will cultivate a climate of trust and support, active listening, creative management of conflict, problem solving, and interpersonal effectiveness.
The appropriate series and appointment at the Full Professor level will be based on the candidate’s background and experience. Full descriptions of each series are as follows:
- HS Clinical Professor (APM 278)
- Clinical X Professor (APM 275)
As a member of the Health Sciences Compensation Plan, incumbents should be aware that there are limitations on outside professional activities, and clinical moonlighting is expressly prohibited. Additional information can be found here: Health Sciences Compensation Plan (APM-671)
