Clinical Pharmacist Specialist - Medication Safety Officer

Clinical Pharmacist Specialist - Medication Safety Officer

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Posted: 2026-06-11

Applicants will only be considered after successful completion and submission of the following:

• Completed application via the UM Careers website
• Letter of intent
• Updated curriculum vitae

Be a part of the University of Michigan Health-System Department of Pharmacy Services and have a direct impact on improving medication and patient safety! The Department of Pharmacy is recruiting a Medication Safety Officer (MSO) Clinical Pharmacy Specialist.

The (MSO) is responsible for the coordination of the activities involving medication safety in the organization. This position provides leadership for medication safety assessments, educates providers and staff on the system-based causes for medication errors, communicates best practices regarding effective medication safety strategies to others within the system and interfaces with hospital site and system pharmacy representatives on medication safety issues. The Medication Safety Officer is responsible for review, analysis and trending of all medication events for the system and participation in any root cause analysis involving a medication event as well as creation or review/revision of patient care policies that impact the safe use of medications.

They will communicate at the highest professional level with pharmacists, physicians, nurses and other professional staff and committees within the organization in order that they may effectively cultivate the trust of stakeholders, guide institutional thinking and behavior, and drive culture change on medication safety.

The Medication Safety pharmacist is responsible for monitoring the medication use process to ensure medication and patient safety and compliance with best practices from ISMP, ASHP, and other safety organizations. This individual will assume a leadership role in medication error reduction to measure and improve the safety of the health system's medication systems. The selected individual will:

• Serve as the subject matter expert and lead for root cause analysis, apparent and common cause analysis, and failure modes effects analysis for medication related events
• Provide continuous evaluation of the medication use process for safety and efficiency
• Collect, review, and evaluate medication event data for identification of trends and areas for improvement
• Implement medication safety initiatives and document effectiveness of these initiatives in reducing medication events
• Work with pharmacy leadership and managers
• Chair of the multi-disciplinary Medication Safety Committee
• Serve as the primary pharmacy liaison to the organization with respect to medication safety issues
• Lead medication safety improvements aligned with hospital and department goals working with key prescriber, pharmacy, and nursing leaders and committees in ensuring medication management requirements and best practices
• Communicate with staff on medication safety issues using newsletters, emails, the pharmacy intranet, and other means
• Communicate, educate, and raise awareness on medication safety issues to colleagues
• Serve as primary preceptor to pharmacy residents and students

Supervision Received

Direct supervision is received from the Pharmacy Manager of Quality and Safety.

Supervision Exercised

Functional supervision is provided to pharmacy students and residents.

For more information about the UMHS Department of Pharmacy Services, see our annual report at https://www.medicine.umich.edu/dept/pharmacy/pharmacy-annual-reports

Minimum Qualifications

• A Doctor of Pharmacy degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Completion of a PGY-1 pharmacy residency program or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience
• Current licensure as a registered pharmacist by the State of Michigan Board of Pharmacy and a Michigan Controlled Substance License to practice pharmacy in the State of Michigan, or eligibility to become licensed within 60 days of employment start date
• Thorough knowledge of rules, regulations, policies, and laws pertaining to preparation, storage, procurement, use, and disposal of medications in the practice of pharmacy in Michigan
• Strong leadership ability and excellent written and verbal communication skills (fluency in writing, reading and speaking English)
• Excellent organizational, teamwork, interpersonal, time management, and consensus building
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships
• Ability to speak on a one-on-one basis using appropriate professional communication to obtain information, explain policies and procedures, and influence others
• Ability to think critically and exercise decisive judgment
• Ability to work independently and follow through on assignments with minimal supervision
• Ability to set priorities, which accurately reflects the relative importance of job responsibilities
• Proficiency in using electronic health records (e.g. Epic), medication safety surveillance systems, data analysis tools, and other software
• Ability to perform a variety of manual dexterity movements (i.e., keyboard data entry)

Desired Qualifications

• Thorough knowledge and experience with Joint Commission, Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) medication standards, USP795/797/800) standards
• Prior medication safety experience
• Experience maintaining infusion pump libraries with interoperability capability
• Completion of a PGY-2 specialty residency in medication-use safety and policy, health-system pharmacy administration, and/or other administrative-oriented program
• Board certified pharmacotherapy specialty - (BCPS, BCPPS)
• Certification in Medication Safety (e.g. ASHP/ISMP, CPPS - Certified Professional in Patient Safety)
• Prior clinical pharmacy practice in an acute and/or ambulatory care environment
• Broad knowledge of pharmacy practice in a large health-system
• Prior experience leading committees and groups in a complex organization and ability to speak in front of audiences in a concise and effective manner
• Experience in outcomes measurement to determine the impact of medication safety initiatives
• Prior training/experience in project management and process improvement
• Experience in developing metrics and report requirements
• Active involvement with state and national professional associations

This position may be underfilled at a lower classification depending on the qualifications of the selected candidate.