Quality Director ROI & Group

Full Time Permanent

Citywest

Objective

Uniphar is seeking an experienced and dynamic Director Quality to lead and oversee the Quality function across its operations in Ireland, encompassing the Supply Chain and Pharma, divisions along with building out our central quality function. This senior leadership role will play a pivotal part in advancing Uniphar’s commitment to excellence by driving the implementation of robust quality systems and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across all business units.

The successful candidate will also be instrumental in the establishment and development of a centralised Quality Audit Function for the Uniphar Group. This will be achieved in close collaboration with the Director of On-Demand Quality and the Global Director of Quality Systems, ensuring a consistent and effective approach to auditing across the organisation.

This role is a key member of the Global Quality Leadership Team and will provide strategic direction and operational oversight to ensure ongoing compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, industry standards, and internal policies.

It will also support divisional quality leaders in the design and execution of quality strategies that align with Uniphar’s global objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Oversight

Provide strategic leadership for the Quality function across all Uniphar divisions operating in Ireland.
Act as a senior quality advisor to divisional and functional leaders, influencing decision-making and quality strategy.

Central Quality Audit Function

Lead the design and implementation of a centralised quality audit function for Uniphar.
Collaborate with the On-Demand Quality Director and Global Quality Systems Director to ensure global audit alignment and best practices.

Regulatory Compliance

Ensure all operations comply with applicable regulatory and quality standards (e.g., HPRA, EMA, FDA, ISO, GDP, GMP, GxP, MDR)
Oversee inspection readiness, audits, and regulatory engagements across the Irish business units.

Quality Management Systems

Support the development, harmonisation, and continuous improvement of Uniphar’s global Quality Management System (QMS) in collaboration with the Global Quality Systems Director
Drive alignment of local quality processes with global policies, ensuring consistency and scalability.

Continuous Improvement & Risk Management

Promote a proactive, risk-based approach to quality and compliance across all business functions.
Champion continuous improvement initiatives, leveraging root cause analysis, CAPA management, and quality metrics to drive performance.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

Work cross-functionally with commercia, operational and other departments to promote and embed quality culture
Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support quality goals and regulatory expectations.

Team Development

Provide leadership and mentoring to quality personnel across the Irish business units.
Support capability building and succession planning within the quality function.

Quality Support for Strategic Projects

Provide guidance and oversight on critical business and operational projects, including new product launches, supply chain transformations, system integrations, and expansion initiatives.
Partner with project managers, regulatory teams, and operational leads to proactively identify risks, implement mitigation strategies, and ensure project deliverables meet both regulatory and internal quality standards.

Key Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in a life science, pharmaceutical, engineering, or related discipline (master’s or professional certification preferred).
Previous RP/QP experience
Minimum of 10 years' experience in a senior Quality role within the pharmaceutical, medical device, or healthcare supply chain sectors.
Strong knowledge of international quality and regulatory standards (e.g., GDP, GMP, ISO 13485, FDA CFR 21, MDR).
Proven experience in leading quality audits and establishing audit frameworks.
Demonstrated success in driving continuous improvement initiatives and quality culture change.
Exceptional leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills.
Experience working within a matrixed and global organisational structure.

Company Background

Uniphar Group PLC is one of two full line pharmaceutical wholesalers operating in the Irish market. With a turnover expected to be in excess of €1.2billion for 2015, Uniphar is one of Ireland’s most successful indigenous companies, managed and run from our headquarters in Citywest, Dublin. The full line wholesaler is the middle man between the Manufacturers and the Pharmacy, who receive in bulk and breaks down and delivers the medicine in average units of 2 across 12,000 products twice daily.

Active right across the pharmaceutical/health supply chain, the Uniphar Group has wholesale depots located in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Sligo, the company has now built the strongest wholesale depot structure in the Irish market. Our Citywest Distribution Centre (CDC) is a €65M state of the art warehousing and distribution facility and is one of the most technologically advanced of its kind in Europe. This ensures that we offer an excellent distribution service to meet the needs of manufacturers, community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and veterinary surgery across the country.

Set up 40 years ago by community pharmacists to allow them to control their own supply chain, the roots of the Uniphar Group remain in community pharmacy and ownership is still held largely by community pharmacists. Today Uniphar Group employs approximately 550 people.

In 2013, Uniphar acquired Cahill May Roberts, one of its main competitors, and since then has undertaken a serious investment in IT and infrastructure, including SAP, while integrating the two businesses. Entrepreneurial and fast moving, the company is expected to list on the stock exchange in the next few years.

In 2015 Uniphar continues to grow and has recently acquired Star medical a UK business who provides a full outsourcing and resourcing solution that delivers sales, marketing, medical and clinical people for Pharma, Medical Devices & Technology, Clinical Research and Healthcare Communications businesses; Star’s tailored services include dedicated teams, vacancy management, direct to headcount recruitment, consultancy and master vendor. Uniphar also acquired Point of Care Point who is Ireland’s leading community specialist healthcare provider. It provides services in the community that allow patients to be cared for in a more comfortable and less costly alternative to hospitalisation.

People & Culture

At the core of Uniphar Group are its people and our employees are the driving force of the business. Uniphar is passionate about hiring and developing high-potential individuals and giving them fast track, long-term careers.

The company hires more than anything on cultural fit and potential to grow within the business. It is a fast moving business in an industry that is going through a lot of change – this means our people have to be adaptable, quick thinking and focused on results.

In order to succeed in Uniphar you will be smart, down to earth, highly commercial and driven. You will need to be flexible in how you think and a strong problem solver. You will also need to be a good leader, able to get the best from your own team and also to work cross functionally and interact effectively with people at all levels of the business.

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Quality Director ROI & Group

Job Description