Salary : $278,514.08 - $339,903.20 Annually
Location : Throughout the County of Santa Clara, CA
Job Type: Full-Time
Job Number: 26-D2P-A
Department: Valley Health Plan
Division: Administration
Opening Date: 07/09/2026
Closing Date: 7/22/2026 11:59 PM Pacific
Bargaining Unit: 92

Description
Under general direction, plans, develops, directs, monitors, and evaluates the pharmacy services program for Valley Health Plan (VHP), including managing the third-party Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) and the VHP Pharmacy services staff.

Typical Tasks

• Plans, organizes, evaluates, and directs the work of professional and para-professional personnel;
  
• Selects, trains, and evaluates subordinate staff;
  
• Collaborates with Executive Management and Consultants to develop, manage, and execute comprehensive business plans, pharmacy services, and business operations;
  
• Develops and implements VHP pharmacy policies, procedures, and workflows;
  
• Assures compliance of managed care pharmacy operations with Federal and State laws and regulations, and standards from accrediting bodies;
  
• Designs, develops, and monitors key performance indicators on a scheduled basis to communicate pharmacy performance to health plan senior staff, internal committees, contracted groups, and regulators with regards to pharmacy utilization, quality metrics, pharmacy provider access, and drug trends;
  
• Assumes responsibility of overseeing the third-party Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) personnel engaged in delegated pharmacy activities;
  
• Coordinates matters relating to the utilization and control of medication, special investigational drugs, or non-formulary drugs;
  
• Edits, revises, and maintains the Valley Health Plan formularies and notifies appropriate entities of approved drugs, utilization management edits, and clinical criteria;
  
• Analyzes pharmacy vendor data to determine opportunities for mitigation of fraud, waste, and abuse, and improvement of overall vendor performance and assumes responsibility for implementing process improvements for identified issues;
  
• Develops drug utilization reports identifying strategic initiatives and recommends/proposes solutions to CMO, Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee, Special Cases Unit, or other health plan committees to improve clinical outcome, improve efficiency in drug usage, and manage drug cost savings;
  
• Directs the strategy, planning and implementation of VHP pharmacy systems migrations and information technology application enhancements/updates;
  
• Participates, researches, and validates materials for both internal and external program audits, and performs scheduled audits of delegated activities, and reports outcomes;
  
• Serves as a subject matter expert and point of contact for all health plan pharmacy related activities for all internal County Departments and external regulators, partners, or vendors;
  
• Resolves escalated VHP pharmacy issues;
  
• Provides pharmacy guidance to various departments within VHP;
  
• Actively participates as a voting member of Valley Health Plan's Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and standing member for other committees at the health plan and outside the health plan representing pharmacy related performance and activities;
  
• Represents Valley Health Plan Pharmacy Department to internal and external stakeholders;
  
• May be assigned as a Disaster Service Worker, as required;
  
• Performs related work as required.

Employment Standards

Sufficient education, training, and experience to demonstrate the possession and direct application of the following knowledge and abilities:

Training and Experience Note: The knowledge and abilities required to perform this function are attained through possession of a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree

and

Three (3) years of experience planning, organizing, evaluating, and directing the work of professional and paraprofessional pharmacy personnel, and two (2) years of experience within a managed care organization or health plan pharmacy. The supervisory experience may be inclusive of the managed care or health plan pharmacy experience.

Special Requirements

• Possession of a valid license to practice as a Pharmacist in the State of California at the time of appointment.
  
• Ability to travel to alternate locations in the course of work. If driving, possession of a valid California driver's license prior to appointment and the ability to qualify for and maintain a County driver authorization.

Knowledge of:

• Principles of supervision, training, organization, and personnel management;
  
• Federal and State laws and regulations governing managed care pharmacy services;
  
• Health plans, provider networks, contracts, pharmacy benefits managers, Department of Managed Health Care regulations, utilization management, quality improvement, case management, and other accrediting bodies, including but not limited to National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC);
  
• Established standards in a managed care pharmacy program; drug costs, quality, and compliant service; utilization management, and formulary maintenance;
  
• Functions and services provided by a health maintenance organization.

Ability to:

• Develop department goals, policies, and procedures within a managed care organization;
  
• Plan, organize, evaluate, and direct the work of professional and para-professional pharmacy personnel and contractors;
  
• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with those contacted in the course of work;
  
• Analyze data, assess clinical or operational needs, and establish performance or quality improvement plans;
  
• Operate independently with minimal supervision;
  
• Prepare clear and comprehensive correspondence and reports.

Please answer the following questions. Completion of the following supplemental questions is REQUIRED and is an integral part of the evaluation process. Initially, it will be used to determine minimum qualifications. For those applicants meeting the employment standards, this information will be critical in the subsequent competitive assessment to identify those candidates to be invited to continue in the examination process. Your responses to the questions may also be reviewed and scored in a Competitive Rating evaluation process based on pre-determined rating criteria. Your answers should be as complete as possible, as no additional information will be accepted from applicants once the Competitive Rating evaluation has begun. A response of "see resume" or "see application" will deem your application incomplete.
Include a detailed description of your work experience in the following format for EACH employer referenced, in each answer:
a) Employer name(s)
b) Job title(s)
c) Start/end dates of employment
d) Total hours worked per week
e) Description of task(s) performed

Do you understand the requirement to provide complete answers in order to determine relevant experience for each area in question?

• Yes
• No

02

What is the highest level of education you have completed?

• None
• High School or GED equivalent
• College (1 to 29 semester units / 1 to 44 quarter units)
• College (30 to 59 semester units / 45 to 89 quarter units)
• College (60 to 89 semester units / 90 to 134 quarter units)
• College (90 to 119 semester units / 135 to 179 quarter units)
• College (120 or more semester units / 180 or more quarter units)
• Associate's Degree
• Bachelor's Degree
• Master's Degree
• Doctoral Degree

03

Do you possess a valid license to practice as a Pharmacist in the State of California?

• Yes
• No

04

If you possess a license to practice as a Pharmacist in the State of California, please indicate your license number. If none, please indicate "N/A".
05

How many years of experience do you have planning, organizing, evaluating, and directing the work of professional and paraprofessional pharmacy personnel?

• No Experience
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five to less than six years
• Six to less than seven years
• Seven to less than eight years
• Eight to less than nine years
• Nine to less than ten years
• Ten or more years

06

Describe your planning, organizing, evaluating, and directing the work of professional and paraprofessional pharmacy personnel. In your response, please include the name of your employers, job titles, dates of employment, and hours worked per week. If none, type N/A.
07

How many years of experience do you have working within a managed care organization or health plan pharmacy?

• No experience
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five to less than six years
• Six to less than seven years
• Seven to less than eight years
• Eight to less than nine years
• Nine to less than ten years
• Ten or more years

08

Describe your experience working within a managed care organization or health plan pharmacy. In your response, please include the name of your employers, job titles, dates of employment, and hours worked per week. If none, type N/A.
09

How did you find out/hear about this job?

• In Person Job Fair
• Contacted by County Recruiter
• Email Newsletter
• Virtual Event
• Community Event
• Social Media: Facebook or Instagram
• County of Santa Clara Job Interests Email Notification
• Student Career Center
• Handshake
• Professional Association
• Contacted by an External Staffing Firm
• Hospital Website
• Search Engine (Google, Bing, online search, etc.)
• Governmentjobs.com
• LinkedIn
• Indeed
• Employee Referral: Friends, Families and Coworkers
• County of Santa Clara Career Website
• Other (Specify in the next question)

10

If you selected an event/fair or other in the question above, please specify. If not, type N/A.
11

Would you like to be contacted for other vacant positions within VHP?

• Yes
• No

Required Question