Pharmacist, Principal - Formulary and Pharmacy & Therapeutics

Pharmacist, Principal – Formulary and Pharmacy & Therapeutics

Your Role

The Pharmacist, Principal, Formulary and Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) reports to the Senior Manager of Pharmacy & Therapeutics. The Pharmacist, Principal is responsible for the development of drug and drug class reviews by researching clinical evidence and guidelines, analyzing data—including comparative effectiveness and budget impact data—to support clinically appropriate and cost‑effective formulary management of drugs. In this role, you will collaborate with stakeholders to develop, coordinate, and evaluate pharmacoeconomic outcomes and value‑based assessments to support formulary decision making.

This role works with Clinical Pharmacists and other team members to support Blue Shield of California’s mission and strategy.

• Facilitate formulary development and provide P&T clinical support based on scientific evidence and standards of practice, including assessing peer‑reviewed literature, pharmacoeconomic studies, outcomes research data (e.g., comparative effectiveness research (CER)), and budget impact assessments.
• Collaborate with the analytics team to develop pharmacoeconomic analyses and complete outcomes research, making recommendations to management and P&T to support cost‑effective formulary management.
• Develop and analyze prescription drug and medical claims data reports to identify opportunities to improve quality and cost‑effective use of drugs.
• Regularly assess the medical evidence to ensure medications are utilized appropriately through the annual medication review process.
• Collaborate with management and cross‑functional teams to create a plan for maintaining development and implementation of a value‑based formulary design, including P&T process changes to support value‑based formulary decisions.
• Prepare client‑facing clinical summaries, supporting documentation, and reports.
• Lead communication efforts about clinical value propositions across therapeutic areas.
• Perform retrospective data analysis and healthcare cost analysis for formulary decision and formulary maintenance to manage cost of healthcare.
• Conduct presentations at formulary meetings, P&T committees, and drug utilization review (DUR) meetings.
• Work independently and collaboratively with multidisciplinary/cross‑functional teams with minimal oversight and direction from the Manager.

• Requires a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm
  
  D) degree.
• Requires a currently active and unrestricted California Registered Pharmacist (RPh) license.
• Requires 4 years of experience in clinical pharmacy.
• Experience working in a managed care setting and direct client and provider interface is preferred.
• Demonstrated leadership skills and capabilities.
• Thorough clinical knowledge regarding therapeutic use of drugs.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent presentation skills.
• Strong problem‑solving, math, and analytical skills.
• Strong project or program management skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team (including remotely).
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun. Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations, including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan;
Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.

At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.

We foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the communities we serve. We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.

• Honest – We hold ourselves to the highest ethical…