Senior Buyer | Pharmaceutical Procurement & Supply Chain

Optimal Balance Pharmacy; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Annual bonus

Health, dental, and vision insurance

PTO + holidays

Medication benefits

Career growth opportunities

Job summary

Optimal Balance Pharmacy seeks an experienced Buyer / Procurement Planner to own purchasing, material availability, inventory planning, and supplier coordination across its nationwide compounding operations. You will manage POs from creation to receipt, negotiate terms, and optimize supplier performance to ensure uninterrupted production.

In this role, you will forecast demand, monitor lead times, and develop contingency plans to minimize shortages, waste, and capital tied up in inventory while

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in procurement, purchasing, inventory planning, or a Buyer/Planner role.

Responsibilities

• Own purchase of APIs, excipients, components, packaging materials, lab supplies, and related items.

Skills

Procurement

Inventory Planning

ERP

MRP

Vendor Management

Negotiation

Data Analysis

Excel

Tools

ERP systems

MRP systems

Job description

This is an opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the purchasing and material-planning function within one of the fastest-growing compounding pharmacies in the country.

Over the past few years, we have grown from a local compounding pharmacy into one of the fastest-growing national compounding operations in the country.

Today, Optimal Balance Pharmacy has approximately 150 employees, is licensed in 35 states with additional states in process, supports a nationwide sales organization of approximately 70 sales representatives working directly with physicians and medical practices, and offers more

than 250 compounds across our formulary.

Our ambition is to build Optimal Balance into one of the largest and most recognized compounding pharmacy brands in the country. Reaching that level will require an entirely new level of operational infrastructure, leadership, technology and discipline.

We are looking for an experienced Buyer / Procurement Planner who will take ownership of purchasing, material availability, inventory planning, and supplier coordination across our pharmacy operations.

This is not simply a purchase-order processing position.

The person in this role will be expected to understand our production needs, anticipate demand, identify supply risks before they affect operations, and ensure our compounding teams have the materials and supplies they need to meet production requirements.

What You'll Own

• Purchase APIs, excipients, components, packaging materials, laboratory supplies, operational supplies, and other materials required by the pharmacy
• Manage purchase orders from creation through receipt and resolution
• Develop strong working relationships with existing suppliers while identifying qualified alternative sources
• Negotiate pricing, lead times, minimum order quantities, payment terms, and other commercial terms
• Track outstanding orders and aggressively resolve delays, shortages, backorders, and discrepancies
• Identify opportunities to reduce purchasing costs without compromising quality or reliability
• Maintain accurate supplier, pricing, lead-time, and purchasing information within company systems

Inventory Planning

• Maintain appropriate inventory levels based on prescription volume, production requirements, supplier lead times, and expected demand
• Establish and continuously improve reorder points, minimum/maximum inventory levels, safety stock, and purchasing quantities
• Analyze historical usage and current demand to anticipate future material requirements
• Identify potential shortages before they disrupt compounding or fulfillment
• Monitor slow-moving and aging inventory to minimize expiration, waste, and unnecessary working capital
• Partner with inventory and receiving teams to investigate and resolve inventory discrepancies
• Develop contingency plans for critical materials with long lead times or limited supplier availability

Production & Demand Planning

• Work closely with compounding leadership to understand upcoming production requirements
• Translate prescription and production volume into material purchasing requirements
• Ensure materials are available before scheduled production begins
• Identify supply constraints that could prevent the pharmacy from meeting production goals
• Support new compound and product launches by coordinating sourcing, purchasing, lead times, and initial inventory requirements
• Adjust purchasing plans as prescription volume and product demand change

Quality & Compliance

• Work closely with Quality and Compliance when onboarding or changing suppliers
• Purchase materials only from approved and appropriately qualified suppliers
• Maintain complete and accurate purchasing and supplier documentation
• Support traceability of APIs, excipients, components, and other materials
• Assist with documentation requests related to audits, inspections, investigations, recalls, and supplier issues

Reporting & Accountability

Develop and maintain reporting around:

• Critical shortages
• Open purchase orders
• Supplier lead times
• Inventory levels
• Inventory turns
• Stockouts
• Purchase-price variance
• Cost savings

Provide leadership with visibility into current supply risks and recommended actions.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this position means our compounding teams are not discovering material shortages when they are ready to produce.

You are planning ahead.

You understand what we're using, what we're likely to need, what's on order, what's delayed, what's at risk, and what alternatives are available.

The right person will help OBP build a procurement operation that becomes increasingly predictable, data-driven, scalable, and proactive as the company grows.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in procurement, purchasing, inventory planning, supply planning, or a Buyer/Planner position
• Experience in pharmaceutical, compounding pharmacy, healthcare, manufacturing, biotechnology, medical device, or another regulated environment strongly preferred
• Strong understanding of purchasing and inventory-management principles
• Experience working with ERP, MRP, inventory-management, or purchasing systems
• Strong analytical and Excel/data-analysis capabilities
• Experience managing vendors and negotiating commercial terms
• Ability to analyze consumption, lead times, inventory levels, and purchasing requirements
• Strong organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-growing environment where priorities and demand can change quickly
• Strong communication skills and ability to work across Procurement, Operations, Compounding, Quality, Finance, Receiving, and Inventory teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience purchasing pharmaceutical APIs, excipients, packaging, or compounding materials
• Experience with pharmaceutical or compounding-pharmacy suppliers
• Understanding of supplier qualification and material traceability requirements
• Experience with controlled-substance purchasing requirements
• Experience establishing reorder points, safety-stock models, and demand forecasts
• APICS CPIM, CSCP, CPSM, or similar supply-chain certification

Why Join Optimal Balance Pharmacy?

You will also be joining a highly experienced executive and leadership team with deep knowledge of the 503A compounding pharmacy industry, spanning quality, regulatory and compliance, pharmacy operations, compounding, technology, sales and commercial leadership.

Our ambition is to transform Optimal Balance Pharmacy from a successful

high-growth compounding pharmacy into one of the largest, most operationally

sophisticated and most recognized compounding pharmacy brands in the country.

We offer:

• Very Competitive compensation
• Annual performance bonus
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 18 days of PTO plus 6 paid holidays
• Free prescribed medications with a valid prescription
• A fast-growing environment where strong performers can take on significantly greater responsibility