Overview of the role
Well Pharmacy is the UK's largest independent pharmacy chain, operating approximately 640 branches and employing more than 6,000 colleagues nationwide. Headquartered in Manchester and part of the Bestway Group, we dispense over 72 million prescription items annually and support more than 2 million patients across the UK.
Our services extend far beyond traditional pharmacy care, including:
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NHS and private prescription dispensing
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Online prescription delivery services
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Pharmacy First consultations
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Free blood pressure checks for over-40s
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Flu vaccination programmes
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Stop smoking support
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Medication services for more than 360 care homes
As we continue to grow and innovate, we're looking for an experienced Operations Manager to lead one of the UK's largest and most advanced Distance Selling Pharmacies.
Based at our state-of-the-art logistics centre in Stoke-on-Trent, this is an exciting opportunity for a high-calibre operational leader to take ownership of a fast-paced, highly regulated, and rapidly expanding healthcare fulfilment operation.
Processing more than 150,000 prescription items every month, the site supports multiple service streams, including:
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Direct-to-patient prescription services
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Care home medication fulfilment
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Weight management services
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Online doctor and digital healthcare platforms
This role sits at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and large-scale logistics. It combines the regulatory standards of pharmacy with the pace, complexity, and operational demands of a high-volume distribution environment.
As Operations Manager, you will be responsible for the end-to-end operation, ensuring service, quality, safety, compliance, and customer KPIs are consistently achieved while driving continuous improvement across the site.
You will lead a team of:
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3 Team Managers
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3 Supervisors
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Approximately 75 Operational Associates
while working closely with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to shape the future of pharmacy fulfilment at scale.
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Lead day-to-day pharmacy fulfilment operations across multiple service streams and shift patterns.
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Ensure receiving, inventory management, picking, packing, and shipping activities are delivered efficiently and on time.
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Manage operational costs, workforce planning, overtime, absence management, and equipment maintenance.
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Maintain a safe, compliant, and high-performing working environment.
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Act as the senior escalation point for operational challenges, identifying solutions before issues impact service.
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Monitor and improve key operational metrics including productivity, order accuracy, cost per order, and carrier performance.
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Build, develop, and mentor leadership teams and operational colleagues.
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Provide operational expertise to support business planning and growth initiatives.
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Collaborate with teams across IT, Projects, Marketing, Automation, and Commercial functions to implement new services and technologies.
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Lead operational readiness planning for peak trading periods and business-critical events.
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Identify opportunities to improve processes through innovation, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives.
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Serve as the operational subject matter expert for pharmacy fulfilment across the wider business.
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Partner closely with the Responsible Pharmacist and senior leadership teams to align operational delivery with clinical, regulatory, and commercial objectives.
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Develop strong relationships with suppliers, automation partners, and technology providers to enhance operational performance.
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Lead, motivate, and develop a large, diverse workforce operating across multiple shifts.
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Manage all people-related activities including recruitment, onboarding, engagement, performance management, and development.
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Create a culture built on accountability, safety, collaboration, inclusion, and operational excellence.
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Support succession planning and leadership development to build future capability across the operation.
About You
We're looking for a confident and commercially aware operations leader with:
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Proven experience leading large-scale operations teams within a regulated, healthcare, logistics, fulfilment, manufacturing, or similar environment.
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Strong people leadership skills with experience managing large teams and multi-shift operations.
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The ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational problem-solving.
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A track record of delivering results within fast-moving and evolving environments.
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Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
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Knowledge of pharmacy operations, particularly Distance Selling Pharmacy or centralised fulfilment models.
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Understanding of GPhC, NHS, and MHRA regulatory frameworks.
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Experience working with automation, robotics, or digital operational systems.
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Exposure to project delivery, compliance management, and workforce planning.
Why Join Well Pharmacy?
Help shape services that support thousands of patients every day across digital healthcare platforms and care homes nationwide.
Gain exposure to automated dispensing systems, robotics, and innovative healthcare technology supporting high-volume operations.
Partner with colleagues across logistics, IT, governance, commercial, warehouse, project, and marketing functions.
Develop expertise managing a sophisticated operation handling more than 150,000 prescription items every month.
Strengthen your leadership capabilities by managing large teams, driving operational excellence, and leading transformational change.
Work in a central fulfilment environment without the demands of front-of-store retail, allowing you to focus entirely on service delivery and innovation.
Join one of the UK's largest and most progressive pharmacy operations as we continue to transform the future of healthcare delivery.
If you're an experienced operations leader with a passion for people, performance, and continuous improvement, we'd love to hear from you. Join Well Pharmacy and help shape the future of pharmacy care across the UK.
The Ideal Candidate
Bestway Healthcare is proud to be a diverse and inclusive employer. If you have any specific requirements, we'll do everything we can to support you. Whether it is to find a pharmacy that is accessible, or if it is a part time position you are looking for, we can help find the role that is right for you. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process, we will be happy to accommodate you.
Please be aware that due to the high number of applications we receive it may not be possible for us to provide an outcome to all applicants. If you are not contacted within 28 days of your submission unfortunately you will have been unsuccessful.
About The Company
For over 70 years, we’ve been looking after the health and wellbeing of communities across the UK. Well Pharmacy (part of Bestway Healthcare) is the second largest pharmacy chain in the UK with c.760 pharmacies and a team of around 7,000 colleagues based across our Community Pharmacies, Online Pharmacy, Healthcare Services Centre, Community Drivers, Bestway Medhub & Wardles team and our Support Centre team.
Our mission is to be here for the wellbeing of our patients and customers, to provide the best community pharmacy experience in the UK for everyone, for our patients, our customers, our people, and our NHS.
The pharmacy of the future will look very different from the one we know today. It will play a huge role in transforming primary healthcare and we will play a central role in bringing it to life.
We will use our clinical expertise and technological ambition to take advantage of the potential this future has to offer us. Making medicines, advice, services and care available in the places and spaces that people need and want it most.
We want to be a great business. To be recognised as delivering a community pharmacy experience that is the best there is. To do this we want our teams to feel proud about the positive impact they make, feel valued as part of a close-knit and expert community, and feel confident in their role in a business that is stable, innovative, and caring.
‘Together we make a difference’
