Senior Buyer – External Manufacturing (Pharmaceutical)
Location: Dublin
Contract: 12-Month Fixed-Term Contract
Industry: Pharmaceutical / Life Sciences/ Healthcare / Medical Device
A pharmaceutical company in Dublin is looking for an experienced Senior Buyer to manage purchasing for its external manufacturing network on a 12-month contract.
This is a hands-on role for someone who has run the full purchasing cycle in a high-volume, regulated business, and who is as comfortable managing stakeholders and internal customers as they are working in the ERP system.
You will be the link between external manufacturing partners (CMOs and CDMOs) and the internal teams who depend on them, including Quality, Regulatory, Finance, Labelling and Supply Chain.
Key Responsibilities
• Own the end-to-end purchasing cycle in the ERP system for finished goods, APIs, excipients and packaging, from requisition and purchase order through to goods receipt and invoice matching.
• Process high volumes of orders accurately and keep supplier master data, pricing and purchasing records up to date.
• Act as the main point of contact for internal customers. Answer queries quickly and keep teams informed on order status, lead times and supply risks.
• Build strong working relationships with Quality, Regulatory, Compliance, Finance, Labelling and Supply Chain, and balance their priorities against what suppliers can deliver.
• Manage day-to-day relationships with CMOs, CDMOs and other external manufacturing partners, and resolve delivery, documentation and invoice issues as they arise.
• Track supplier performance against agreed service levels and escalate problems early, with a clear plan to fix them.
• Support supplier governance, compliance activity and business reviews.
• Identify process and system improvements that reduce errors, rework and invoice holds.
Requirements
• Proven experience as a Senior Buyer, or in a similar purchasing role, within pharmaceutical, healthcare or medical device manufacturing.
• End-to-end ERP purchasing experience (requisition to invoice) in a high-volume environment. SAP is preferred; Oracle, JD Edwards or similar systems will also be considered.
• Strong stakeholder management. You have worked across several functions and levels of seniority and can manage competing priorities.
• A genuine customer service focus. You respond quickly, communicate clearly and follow issues through until they are resolved.
• Experience managing supplier relationships, including performance issues and escalations.
• Comfortable working in a regulated, compliance-driven environment (for example GMP).
• Strong negotiation and communication skills.
Highly Desirable
• Experience buying from or working directly with CMOs or CDMOs.
• API, excipient or pharmaceutical packaging procurement experience.
• Exposure to external manufacturing operations and supplier governance.
• Involvement in an ERP implementation, upgrade or purchasing process improvement project.
• Supplier quality, regulatory or technical operations experience involving external manufacturing partners.
What We're Looking For
We want an experienced Senior Buyer who takes ownership of the whole purchasing process and treats internal teams as customers. You will be organised enough to handle high order volumes without losing accuracy, and confident enough to manage stakeholders and suppliers when priorities clash.
If you have run end-to-end purchasing in a pharmaceutical, healthcare or medical device business and want a 12-month role with real responsibility, we would like to hear from you