Pharmacist, Principal

About Blue Shield of California

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. 

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

Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!  

Our Values: 

• Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short. 
• Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
• Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals. 

Physical Requirements:

Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.

Please click here for further physical requirement detail. 

Equal Employment Opportunity:

External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.

Your Role 

The Formulary Strategy and Pharmacy & Therapeutics team is responsible for formulary development, clinical evaluation of drugs, and support of the Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) process to advance clinically appropriate, evidence-based, and cost-effective drug management strategies. The Pharmacist, Principal will report to the Senior Manager of Pharmacy & Therapeutics. In this role, you will lead development of drug and therapeutic class reviews by evaluating clinical evidence, guidelines, comparative effectiveness, and budget impact data to support formulary decision making. You will also collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to develop pharmacoeconomic and value-based assessments that support Blue Shield of California’s formulary strategy and mission.

Our leadership model is about developing great leaders at all levels and creating opportunities for our people to grow – personally, professionally, and financially. We are looking for leaders that are energized by creative and critical thinking, building and sustaining high-performing teams, getting results the right way, and fostering continuous learning.

Your Work 

In this role, you will: 

• Facilitate formulary development and provide P&T clinical support based on scientific evidence and standards of practice, including assessment of peer-reviewed literature, pharmacoeconomic studies, outcomes research, comparative effectiveness research, and budget impact analyses.

• Collaborate with analytics and cross-functional partners to develop pharmacoeconomic analyses, outcomes research, and recommendations that support cost-effective formulary management.

• Develop and analyze prescription drug and medical claims data reports to identify opportunities to improve quality and promote cost-effective use of medications.

• Regularly assess medical evidence to support appropriate medication use through the annual medication review process.

• Partner with management and cross-functional teams to support development and implementation of value-based formulary design, including enhancements to P&T processes that enable value-based decisions.

• Prepare client-facing clinical summaries, supporting documentation, and reports, and communicate clinical value propositions across therapeutic areas.

• Perform retrospective data analysis and healthcare cost analysis to support formulary decisions, formulary maintenance, and management of total cost of care.

• Conduct presentations at formulary meetings, Pharmacy & Therapeutics committees, and drug utilization review meetings.

• Work independently and collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams with minimal oversight and direction.

Your Knowledge and Experience 

• Requires a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree.

• Requires an active California Registered Pharmacist (RPh) license in good standing.

• 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 the therapeutic use of drugs.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including presentation skills.

• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and project or program management skills.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team, including in a hybrid environment.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

 

 

Hybrid

This role requires employees to be in-office based on our hybrid workplace model, balancing purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility. For most teams, this means coming into office two days each week.

Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location will work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.