Pharmaceutical Purchaser

Job Summary:

Places orders for pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies/services according to established policies and procedures; participates in industry group purchasing committees regarding vendor selection, tenders, price negotiation and vendor contracts. Sources and selects vendors for non-formulary and special program medications. Establishes and/or revises inventory levels based on pharmacy site usage and maintains the pharmacy purchasing database with new drug contract and pricing information.

Duties/Accountabilities:

Technical
• Maintains drug inventory levels for the Pharmacy by establishing and/or revising optimum re-order points based on site utilization and inventory flow patterns and by preparing and placing purchase orders with pharmaceutical wholesalers and vendors.
• Monitors delivery dates and, as required, resolves shipping problems and expedites deliveries to ensure adequate inventory levels. Determines alternate suppliers for backordered and discontinued drug products. Maintains and updates information about backordered and discontinued products on the Pharmacy intranet.
• Maintains the perpetual inventory system by conducting cyclical and spot counts; comparing the actual count with the recorded inventory level; investigating and resolving any discrepancies and referring any significant findings to the Manager.
• Adds new drug products to the computer system according to established guidelines. Maintains the drug database with new contract, supplier and price information.
• Returns outdated drug products to suppliers by contacting the vendor for return authorization, completing required documentation such as material release forms and sending products to suppliers for credit.
• Assists accounting personnel in billing enquiries to ensure correct billing details are processed
Working Relationships
• Participates, as an Interior Health Pharmacy Services representative, in industry group purchasing committees and activities such as Drug Contract Tender and Awards meetings, Product Evaluation and Vendor Quality Management committees regarding vendor selection, tenders, price negotiation and vendor contracts. Gathers purchasing and inventory distribution data and statistics as required to support drug contract management and group purchasing and Interior Health Pharmacy Services.
• Obtains pricing information and sources pharmacy dispensary and compounding equipment and supplies as necessary. Meets with vendors as required to discuss products, pricing, credits and/or to resolve problems as necessary.
• Coordinates drug recalls by notifying the Pharmacy sites of the recall and level of urgency; tracking the site responses; quarantining and returning recalled medications and maintaining documentation of the recall in accordance with Interior Health Pharmacy Services QI/Risk Management policies and procedures
Decision Making
• Sources and selects vendors for non-formulary, Special Access Program medications and special program medications (e.g. Public health, HIV prophylaxis kits) in collaboration with the Interior Health Pharmacy Formulary Manager, upon receipt of appropriate documentation
• Performs other related duties as required.

Qualifications:

QUALIFICATIONS
Education, Training and Experience
• Grade twelve (12), graduation from a recognized Pharmacy Assistant Program supplemented by recognized purchasing courses plus four years’ recent related experience or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to deal effectively with others.
• Ability to organize work.
• Ability to operate related equipment.
• Physical ability to carry out the duties of the position

Privacy Policy

Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) respects your right to privacy and takes seriously its responsibilities regarding the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. Personal information is collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of BC, section 26 (c). The personal information that we collect from you or about you when applying for a job with PHSA will be used to assess your qualifications and suitability as a potential employee of PHSA, as well as for the purposes of recruitment and onboarding. We may also collect and use additional personal information provided by you or your references in the course of the evaluation and hiring process that will become part of your employment file if you are a successful candidate

Your contact information, education and experience, desired job location and pay information, eligibility and availability, core skills, job functions, getting to know you responses, resumes, cover letters, references, pre-screening questionnaire responses and job application history is recorded in PHSA’s third-party applicant tracking system (“Brainhunter”)in Canada indefinitely and will be shared with our staff on a “need to know” basis. If you require access to your data, PHSA can provide a printout of your data and job application history. We do not sell or rent the information you provide to us to third parties. However, we do contract with a service provider to assist us in maintaining and managing our databases and to communicate with job applicants. We do not authorize this third party to make any other use of your information.

The service provider (“Brainhunter”) allows the option for you to delete your account after signing into the system. Before deletion you are advised with a warning. Your record is permanently purged / deleted from the respective site and the record will not be available in any searches. The job will have only the respective application information that you made previously

To view the third party vendor privacy policy please refer

Your information is protected using technical and administrative security measures to reduce the risks of loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure and alteration. Some of the safeguards used are firewalls, intrusion detection, physical access controls to our data centres, and information access authorization controls

Personal information will be used by authorized staff only to fulfil the purpose for which it was originally collected or for a use consistent with that purpose. We do not disclose your personal information to other public bodies, third parties or individuals except as required or authorized by law or with your consent. View our PHSA Privacy Policy for more information

If you have any questions about the management of your personal information during the recruitment process, please contact the Talent Acquisition team at , toll free or #260 – 1770 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC, V6J 4Y6. You may also contact External Recruitment at *******@phsa.ca