Job Description

The Junior Buyer role will support the Trading & Parallel Imports Manager in sourcing, pricing, and managing parallel-imported pharmaceutical products for the Irish market within the Supply Chain and Retail division. This role will assist with supplier administration, market research, pricing analysis, order management, and product availability tracking to help deliver a competitive portfolio that supports achieving budget.
Working as part of the RX & OTC Commercial team, the Junior Buyer will provide day-to-day support across PI buying activities, helping to monitor market dynamics, supplier & trading account performance, pricing trends, and supply opportunities while ensuring processes are completed accurately and in line with internal governance and regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities

Buying Support & Market Research

• Support the Trading & Parallel Imports Manager with the delivery of the parallel import procurement plan across selected medicinal categories.
• Assist in identifying new product, sourcing, and export opportunities by gathering market, pricing, and availability information.

Supplier & Stakeholder Support

• Support day-to-day communication with internal partners, parallel distributors, wholesalers, and EU market partners.
• Assist with pricing comparisons, supplier information requests, rebate tracking, and commercial administration.
• Monitor EU market conditions, product availability, currency impacts, and regulatory updates, escalating key changes where required.

Operational Excellence

• Assist with demand forecasting, stock planning, purchase order follow-up, and supply continuity tracking for PI products and export opportunities.
• Maintain awareness of relevant EMA, HPRA/MHRA, and EU parallel trade requirements as they relate to buying support activities.
• Ensure buying administration, supplier records, and procurement support activities are completed accurately and in line with internal processes, legal frameworks, and governance requirements.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the Trading & Parallel Imports Manager to support PI sourcing, pricing, reporting, and supplier follow-up.
• Support KPI tracking, reporting, and continuous improvement activity across the PI buying area.
• Work closely with the Retail Buying team to help identify opportunities to reduce external supplier spend.
• Collaborate with Allphar, Wholesale & Retail Commercial, Finance, QA, and Logistics teams to support product availability and commercial delivery.
• Support engagement with the bModesto team to help identify margin opportunities within Uniphar PLC.

Commercial & Operational Support

Support Cost of Goods Reduction and Margin Improvement

Assist with pricing analysis, supplier comparisons, and market research to help identify opportunities to procure licensed medicines at competitive prices from other EEA markets.

Support Product Availability and Supply Resilience

• Support tracking of supplier availability and alternative supply options.
• Help maintain supplier and product information to reduce dependency on single-country supply.
• Escalate potential shortages and support sourcing activity across multiple EU markets.

Support Market Competitiveness

• Provide analysis and administrative support to help deliver a competitive market proposition in an environment influenced by reference pricing, competitive tendering, and short line wholesaler activity through:
• Supporting pricing checks and competitor comparisons
• Helping maintain and develop product range information
• Providing timely updates on market changes and product opportunities

Support Regulatory Compliance and Quality Assurance

• Support the completion and maintenance of supplier and product records in line with GDP/GMP, repackaging, and relabelling requirements.
• Assist with documentation required for batch traceability and pharmacovigilance processes.
• Work with QA and relevant stakeholders to ensure buying support activity aligns with EMA and national authority requirements.

Support Supplier Relationship Management Across the EEA

• Maintain regular supplier contact and support the development of trusted PI distributor relationships, with internal PI businesses given preference where appropriate.
• Support follow-up on priority access to high-value SKUs.
• Assist with tracking terms, rebates, and volume commitments agreed by the Trading & Parallel Imports Manager.
• Support preparation for supplier meetings and trade events where required.

Skills & Experience Required

• Previous experience in buying, procurement, supply chain, commercial administration, or a similar support role is desirable.
• Interest in pharmaceutical procurement, parallel imports, and regulated supply chains.
• Good analytical skills with the ability to compare pricing, product data, and supplier information accurately.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate records and reports.
• Good communication skills with the confidence to work with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Ability to work in a fast-moving, regulated environment while managing competing priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree or qualification in Business, Supply Chain, Life Sciences, Pharmacy, or a related field is desirable but not essential.
• Experience working with wholesalers, suppliers, procurement systems, or commercial reporting would be an advantage.
• Strong Excel skills and confidence working with pricing, product, and supplier data would be beneficial.

Uniphar – Who we are

With a workforce of more than 3000 employees spread across Ireland, United Kingdom, Mainland Europe, MENA, and the USA, Uniphar is a trusted global partner to pharma and MedTech manufacturers, working to improve patient access to medicines around the world. Uniphar provides outsourced and specialised services to its clients, leveraging the strong relationships with 200+ of the world’s best known pharmaco-medical manufacturers across multiple geographies, enabled by our cutting-edge digital technology and our highly expert teams. Uniphar is organised into three key divisions: Supply Chain Retail & On Demand, Uniphar Med Tech and Uniphar Pharma.

Supply Chain & Retail

Supply Chain Services provides both pre-wholesale and wholesale distribution of pharmaceutical, healthcare and animal health products to pharmacies and hospital nationwide. The business supports a diverse customer base through the provision of strong service levels coupled with innovative commercial initiatives. In addition, the business provides services and supports that help independent community pharmacy to compete more effectively in an increasingly difficult environment and runs a network of Uniphar-owned pharmacies under the Life, Allcare, McCauleys and Hickeys symbol brands.