Abbott Established Pharmaceuticals (EPD) is looking for its new
Commercial Strategy Director Emerging Markets
to be based in our Global Divisional EPD Headquarter in Basel, Switzerland.
Primary Job Function
Since its creation in 2013, the Emerging Markets Business Unit (EM BU) has grown at a 6-year CAGR of 9.7%. Local market dynamics, commercial execution and business development activities, have led to disparate growth rates among the affiliates in EM. EM BU ($xxMM sales, $xxMM margin) is at the cusp of a transformational change in key markets to unlock topline growth and realize margin savings to reinvest in business to make the organization more agile, efficient and improve structural processes and systems.
EM BU is creating within the Commercial Development and Sales organization, a core team of commercial specialists to act as change leaders to drive commercial transformation in the markets. The team will be tasked with (1) Unlock topline growth in the EM markets (2) Shape the organization for effectiveness to release margin improvement (3) Diagnose the structure of EM BU to make it more agile and responsive and (4) Ensure the sustainability of the processes and operating model defined under the first three objectives.
The strategic importance of the role that would directly influence sales and margin together with the complexity of EM markets spread in 4 different regions, justify the creation of a department where a project manager together with commercial profile would complement the Commercial director in this endeavor. The team would need to influence GMs and their teams, work with a variety of senior leaders and role model behavior to achieve the objectives.
The Commercial Director would be responsible for structuring, designing, diagnosing and rolling out end to end topline and margin improvement initiatives across all functions in a given market.
Key focus areas of the team would be to diagnose the current state of the market across the value chain from Demand to Supply, identify organizational transformation initiatives (driven with internal and external capabilities) and to implement the initiatives that would yield efficiencies and deliver defined targets set at the end of each diagnostic.
The role will support SVP EM BU in defining and articulating effective resource management across the organization, across each of the EM BU markets, design of internal and external insights framework and in creating visibility through a structured risk framework.
The role will lead BU internal and external cross-functional teams (comprising of internal or external resources) to assess optimal process and organizational design, and make recommendations around the structure, operating set-up and ultimate end state.
In addition, the team will lead capability building throughout the organization through 4 structured modules built around (1) Change management (2) Problem Solving (3) Critical Thinking and (4) Storytelling
The intent is to leverage best practices across the BU. The organization is being built around having linkages with functions and countries / regions.
This role will work in a matrix across the BU and support functions to enable a consistent and structured approach and buy in from GMs and Regional Functions. This role will represent BU’s interest within EPD and will also work closely with EPD SMO.
Core Job Responsibilities
Unlock topline growth and carry shared goals together with the GMs of the affiliates
Drive efficiency improvement to increase margin and reinvest in strategic projects for EM BU (shared goal with EM BU leadership – SVP and Controller)
Build capability, enhance skills and drive a culture of continuous improvement
Lead affiliate transformations within the commercial team covering a broad scope of strategic and operational activities
Continually refine the strategy of the affiliate to stay close to market trends. Develop structured processes to ensure sustainability of the business.
Identify and conduct detailed design of strategic / transformational initiatives and projects, bringing in best practices and insights from internal and external sources (market, competition and other industries) into the project design.
Influence BU leadership team members on changes arising out of key project recommendations, with sound logic and supporting insights.
Assess what BU needs to do differently, what capabilities this will require and how this compares with BU organizational capabilities today
Assess and challenge all departmental processes with an eye towards innovation and operational excellence
Proactively identify opportunities to drive continuous improvement and smart ways to solve business problems
Supervisory/Management Responsibilities
The role will have 2 direct reports to meet the challenging objectives to generate value for EM BU. It will also work with a set of cross functional teams from local, region and division to achieve the shared goals.
Profile Requirements
Minimum Education:
Post Graduate from a reputed institute
Minimum Experience/Training Required
10 + years of total experience required with experience of working directly with C-suite level.
Prior experience in driving strategic projects and cross functional teams is a must.
Prior experience in emerging markets is a must
Experience leading complex change and transformation initiatives is required
Exposure to various parts of the organization in a variety of roles preferable
Familiarity with EPD is critical.
Skills and Competencies Required
The role requires a deep understanding of Abbott EPD business, ideally with experience working across multiple functions
Strategic and Project Management conceptualization and articulation skills
Ability to effectively communicate and influence in a matrix and at Sr. Management level
Problem solving skills, business acumen, industry knowledge and project management skills
Data analytics and quantitative skills
Accountability for delivering high quality results