Professor and Head of School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences

Title: Professor and Head of School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences

Contract Type: Professorial level appointee, full time permanent contract, 4 year renewable term as Head of School

Reporting to: Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Location: Primary location RCSI Dublin Ireland

School: Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences

The School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences: An Overview

The School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at RCSI is part of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. It is situated on St Stephen's Green, in the heart of Dublin, one of the friendliest cities in the world. The vision of the RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences over the last 5 years is to be recognised internationally as a leading centre for pharmacy and health sciences education, research and innovation and we have focused on growth and diversifying our educational offerings. Our educators and researchers are focused on delivering world-class, patient-centred and fully-integrated teaching and research.

The School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Science offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including a fully-integrated, five-year degree programme leading to the award of MPharm, along with an innovative future focused four-year degree programme leading to the award of BSc in Advanced Therapeutic Technologies (commenced September Our Masters in Technologies and Analytics in Precision medicine launched in September 2021 for students interested in building a career in the new and exciting discipline of precision medicine. The latter two programmes are supported by a €7.8M Higher Education Authority Human Capital Initiative Grant to develop programmes addressing the skills needs of industry and are aligned with RCSI's ambitions in the area of digital and connected health. Indeed, we developed these new programmes in collaboration with our pharma industry / medtech colleagues.

In line with internationalization across RCSI, we are also in the process of establishing a Joint EducationInstitution with Soochow University China -The International College of Pharmaceutical Innovation - where we will deliver our programmes in China, recruiting up to 1200 students when fully operational. It is envisaged that the ICPI will be launched in Sept 2024.

Everything we do is focused on supporting societal wellbeing, healthcare and the healthcare industry, through education, research and service. This is driven through experiential learning to ensure that our educational training addresses healthcare and industry needs, whilst our research will focus on important healthcare and industry priorities. Our educational and research programmes embed the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those goals focused on health, education and environmental sustainability and we are continually growing our student engagement with patients, the public and our community, where we have excelled in our own School– ensuring that the patient is at the heart of everything we do.

The School's current profile is the following:

• 344 undergraduate students on our MPharm programme (Years 1-5); with an anticipated Y1 intake of 110
• 95 undergraduate students on our BSc Advanced Therapeutic Technologies programme (Years 1 & 2); with an anticipated Y1 intake of 65-70
• 14 Postgraduate students in our MSc in Technologies Analytics and Precision Medicine Programme
• 100 postgraduate students completing MSc (15) and PhD (85) programmes by research
• 57 academic staff and a further 8 practice educators
• 43 externally funded post-doctoral / research assistant staff
• 10 professional operations staff
• 10 technical staff

RCSI is seeking to appoint its next innovative leader to the position of RCSI Professor and Head of School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. This post is a permanent professorial appointment within RCSI, appointed as Head of School. Head of School appointments at RCSI are rotational. The appointee will report to the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs or nominee while in the role of Head of School.

This internationally respected leader will bring extensive experience in education, research and executive management to the role. In particular, the candidate will have extensive academic experience in pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences education as well as the vision to look to the future in areas that might appeal to the pharma and medtech industry in areas such as precision medicine and in digital and connected health; the latter being an emerging theme in RCSI's new Strategy . They will build on our success to date, leading and maintaining an environment of excellence in education, which will enable the delivery, and continuous improvement of all of our educational programmes as well as looking for future growth opportunities.

They must also be an internationally competitive leader in an area of research aligned to pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences and our wider thematic research areas . The appointment will substantially increase the research presence and profile of the School both nationally and internationally and will have the capability to thrive in this environment and grow RCSI's reputation for in the area of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. They will be able to demonstrate strong leadership and be capable of inspiring the School's education and research efforts by enhancing its reputation for scholarly and professional excellence.

Successful experience as a senior academic and/ or department lead role is essential. Experience working in an inter-professional or multi-cultural context would be a distinct advantage as the successful appointee will actively collaborate across Schools and other RCSI campuses, including China. Previous examples of similar collaborations at a national and/or international level would be valuable.

• Provide vision, leadership and innovation to develop and drive the goals of the RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences in education and research in this field locally and internationally.
• Deliver on and continue to develop the School's strategic plan, aligned with RCSI's organisational strategy.
• Grow research grants and outputs through empowerment, development and support of academic staff in the School and leverage synergies across RCSI and beyond.
• Enhance the School's educational profile through improving on quality of our current programmes whilst looking for new growth opportunities at the undergraduate and post graduate level.
• Develop and enhance relationships with our stakeholders, regulators and others relevant bodies.

• Have a proven ability to engage with key stakeholderrs nationally and internationally
• Possess excellent leadership skills, with an ability to lead a diverse team of academic, administrative and technical professionals in a changing environment.
• Inspire, motivate, develop and mentor the existing team of highly-performing and ambitious staff, throughout their career stages.
• Demonstrate an ability to influence and manage complex relationships and foster harmonious relationships at all levels.
• Show strong understanding and knowledge of strategic planning processes and the ability to devise communications strategies to promote the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences
• Be able to communicate to inspire the wider academic community and public audiences
• Demonstrate a clear commitment to interdisciplinary and inter-professional working.
• Demonstrate adaptability in the face of uncertainty.
• Be able to lead innovation in relation to teaching and research approaches.

Leadership:

• Leading and collaborating on the development and implementation of the School's vision and strategy, aligned with the newly published RCSI strategy.
• Providing effective leadership to School staff - inspiring, motivating, developing and mentoring the existing team of highly-performing and ambitious staff, throughout their career stages.
• As a board member of Affiliation for Pharmacy Practice Experiential Learning (APPEL; ie/), providing leadership and direction to APPEL.
• Leading the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences' involvement in the wider Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences education programmes in Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy and Physician Associate programmes; including amongst other things the identification and development of new inter-professional education opportunities across the Faculty.
• Contributing to the governance of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
• Representing the School and RCSI on such committees and external bodies as may be appropriate including the University's Academic Council.
• Undertaking overseas activities as required.
• Driving increased engagement and collaboration with clinical partners - in particular within the RCSI Hospital Group to support the development of education and research activities between the School and clinical partners.
• Maintaining collaborative relationship with the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP), which is hosted in RCSI.
• Forging strong links and collaborations with other education institutions and the pharmaceutical sector.
• Engaging with and collaborating with other Departments in RCSI with regard to the planning and execution of education and research projects.

• Growing and expanding our impact and reputation in research, building on our success to-date
• Continue to develop national and international collaborations with academic and industry partners.
• Ambition to drive the development of translational research within the school to improve patient outcomes

• Ensuring the continued accreditation of existing programmes and accreditation of any new programmes with national and international bodies.
• Identifying and developing new education programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
• Overseeing governance and ensuring quality standards of programmes and student experience in our RCSI – SU International College of Pharmaceutical Innovation - China
• Overseeing and participating in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes and examinations across all of the School's education programmes.
• Liaising with regulatory bodies in relation to accreditation, professional registration and continuous professional development. EDUCATION &

• Hold an appropriate higher-level degree such as PhD relevant to this post (e.g., Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical, biomedical etc)
• Significant experience in Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical education, and knowledge of current issues and opportunities
• Have a strong track record of senior authorship on high impact peer-reviewed publications in disciplines relevant to this post.
• Have a strong track record of obtaining external funding for research programmes.
• Have senior level leadership experience
• Be a recognised international expert in their relevant subject area as evidenced by a track record of regular invited talks at international conferences/events

THE PROCESS

Interview and presentation:

• Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a formal presentation and panel-based interview. In advance, opportunities to visit and/or speak with RCSI leaders will be organised
• This is a full professorial role. Level of appointment will depend on the successful candidate's previous experience.

• An attractive start up package will be offered to complement the aspirations and research priorities of the appointed candidate.

• The role will be based in Dublin with an expectation of some travel to the regions in which RCSI operates, including China.

• All applications for this post must be made through the careers webpage

• Informal enquiries are invited in the first instance through Ms. Judy Walsh ) RCSI Human Resources Department. Judy can arrange for queries to be addressed by the relevant party.

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