Not all pharmacy employers hire the same way. Among the 1,380 vacancies tracked by PharmSee, one regional chain — Cohens Chemist, operating primarily across the North of England — presents a hiring profile that looks nothing like the national multiples.
Cohens currently lists 65 open roles. But the composition is what makes it distinctive.
The breakdown
| Role type | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Trainee Pharmacy Assistant | 16 | 24.6% |
| Qualified Pharmacy Assistant | 15 | 23.1% |
| Delivery Driver | 13 | 20.0% |
| Pharmacist (Manager) | 8 | 12.3% |
| Checking Technician | 3 | 4.6% |
| Maintenance | 2 | 3.1% |
| Other (Head Office, Dispensing Technician, Trainee Counter Assistant, Trainee Pharmacist, Relief Pharmacist, Other) | 8 | 12.3% |
Source: PharmSee vacancy tracker, Cohens Chemist source, as at 12 April 2026.
Trainee roles dominate
Nearly a quarter of all Cohens vacancies are for trainee pharmacy assistants. Add the qualified assistants, and support staff account for almost half the total. This contrasts sharply with national chains, where pharmacist and dispenser roles typically dominate:
| Employer | Pharmacist share | Dispenser/assistant share | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boots (n=200 sample of 542) | 28% | 68% | 4% |
| Asda (n=54) | 81% | 0% | 19% |
| Cohens (n=65) | 15% | 48% | 37% |
Cohens' pharmacist share — just 10 roles out of 65, including 8 pharmacist-manager positions — is the lowest among employers with more than 50 vacancies.
The delivery driver signal
Thirteen of Cohens' 65 vacancies are for delivery drivers — 20% of its total listings. No other tracked employer lists delivery roles at anything close to this proportion. Rowlands lists one driver in 20 vacancies; Boots and Asda list none.
Pharmacy delivery has grown in importance since the pandemic, particularly for chains serving elderly or housebound patients in residential areas. A regional chain with a strong community dispensing base may have higher per-branch delivery demand than a high-street or supermarket operator.
Pharmacy manager concentration
Cohens lists eight pharmacist-manager roles — more management vacancies than some employers have total listings. This suggests either expansion, turnover in senior roles, or a deliberate effort to upgrade branch-level leadership. Without knowing Cohens' total branch count, the proportion is difficult to benchmark, but it is notably higher than other tracked employers as a share of total listings.
What the salary data doesn't show
One limitation of the Cohens dataset is salary transparency: none of the 65 listings include a published salary figure. For jobseekers comparing offers, this means the hourly rate or annual salary for a Cohens trainee pharmacy assistant is not publicly visible through its job listings. By contrast, Well Pharmacy — which lists just 10 roles — includes specific hourly rates on eight of them.
You can compare salary data across employers and roles on PharmSee's salary page.
A different model, not a lesser one
Cohens' hiring profile suggests a staffing model built around developing talent internally. Sixteen trainee roles and a trainee pharmacist programme (advertising for July and October 2027 intake) indicate a pipeline approach — hiring at entry level and training up, rather than competing for qualified pharmacists on the open market.
Whether this translates to better retention or career progression is not something vacancy data can answer. But the shape of the hiring profile is distinctive enough to be worth noting for anyone considering pharmacy careers in the North of England.
Browse pharmacy vacancies by employer on PharmSee's job search, or explore pharmacy locations near you on the pharmacy finder.
Data: PharmSee vacancy tracker, 11 sources, snapshot 12 April 2026.