Senior Technical Buyer

At Flex Medical Solutions (FMS), we help our customers bring their ideas to life and create a healthier tomorrow, by providing contract design, development, and manufacturing services to medical device OEMs.

In our role as a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), we focus on the disposable component of diagnostic tests and have significant expertise with point of care (POC) in vitro diagnostics (IVD). We provide full assay development services and have impressive in‑house manufacturing capabilities, ranging from screen printing and laser ablation of electrodes for biosensors to final device assembly, including the formulation and deposition of chemistries.

Our modern facilities are based in Livingston, central Scotland, less than 20 minutes from Edinburgh and 40 minutes from Glasgow. With a healthy mixture of UK and international clients, we are a forward‑looking organisation with an exciting future.

As an experienced and confident Technical Buyer, you will bring technical and administrative expertise to the company. Having demonstrated significant purchase and supply skills within a complex and technical environment, you will understand what it takes to meet business demands at all stages of a product lifecycle, ideally having been exposed to procurement in support of both R&D projects and commercial product supply.

The Senior Technical Buyer is responsible for delivering the planning and procurement of all materials that facilitate the organisation’s R&D and manufacturing activities.

FMS provides services to multiple clients, as such you will be competent in managing numerous complex activities simultaneously. You will work collaboratively with colleagues across the business and play a key role in assisting with the development of our Supply Chain function to improve processes and systems.

Working for a scaling organisation will provide you with a fantastic opportunity to make your mark and demonstrate your skills, helping to enhance the company’s performance.

Technical Procurement

• Implementation of business beneficial supply agreements with key suppliers
• Liaise with third parties (customers, vendors, and shipping companies) to ensure controlled and timely shipment of finished product.
• Technical procurement sourcing, negotiation, and purchase of raw materials, reagents, consumables, lab equipment, and production supplies in alignment with material specification, cost, and delivery objectives.
• Manage supplier relationships, monitor vendor performance, and resolve issues related to pricing, quality, and delivery.
• Ensure compliance with company procurement policies and the requirements of quality/regulatory standards (e.g., ISO, FDA, GMP).
• Adhere to FMS work instructions and business processes, for example, ensure approved supplier list is used for material orders, and suppliers adhere to relevant quality obligations and no change agreements.
• Maintain accurate purchasing documentation and supplier qualification records.
• Interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and bills of materials (BOMs) to define procurement requirements.
• Work closely with Engineering and R&D teams to understand technical needs and identify suitable sourcing strategies.
• Support supplier selection for technically complex or novel components e.g. diagnostics, consumables, and assemblies.
• Drive cost reduction via supplier negotiation, landed costing reviews, and price break realisations.
• Develop and maintain production and material requirement plans based on dynamic forecasts, sales orders, and inventory targets.
• Compliant and timely processing of customer purchase orders into FMS sales orders.
• Coordinate with R&D, Manufacturing, and Quality teams to ensure timely availability of materials for ongoing projects and production schedules.
• Provide timely status updates to key stakeholders and communicate challenges and issues, particularly where risk or impact to production schedules or customer orders is posed, offering mitigation steps and alternative solutions.

Inventory Management

• Monitor inventory levels and implement replenishment strategies to prevent shortages or excess.
• Support…