Vaccines Director

Job Purpose Statement:

• To influence the strategic direction and achievement of profit objectives of East Africa by providing commercial leadership for Vaccines business – private and public sectors and for Pharmaceuticals  public business.
• The strategic priority is – to increase Access to Vaccines and Medicines through Universal Mass Vaccination programmes and Public Medicine Procurement by delivering more products of value and building trust with stakeholders, payers and governments
• To manage the Commercial functions of the Vaccines business in East Africa to ensure achievement of strategic objectives.
• To foster relationships between and key external stakeholders like Country MOH relevant departments, Country EPI Managers, GAVI, WHO, UNICEF, Public Medicine procurement institutions and NGO’s among others to influence positive outcomes for Vaccines business.

Scope & Responsibility for the Vaccines business in East Africa which entails:

• Delivering Vaccines revenue targets.
• Managing the Vaccines business in line with the operating budgets.
• Managing the Vaccines Sales and Marketing teams in East Africa, including Vaccines business functional role of the Country Managers
• Stakeholder management including Key External experts, Key Opinion leaders, MOH relevant departments, WHO, GAVI, UNICEF, Country EPI’s, Country Public Procurement agencies like KEMSA, PFSA, NMS, JMS among others.
• Providing strategic guidance on marketing and business development of private market vaccines business by ensuring robust implementation of brand plans.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Financials

Responsibility for Vaccines business by ensuring:

• Realistic and ambitious budgets are set, aligned and tracked to meet overall organizational financial objectives.
• 24 month rolling forecasts for Vaccines are reviewed regularly to ensure stock availability and supply consistency.

Strategy

Facilitate the development and implementation of strategic commercial plans that deliver financial and organizational objectives and ensure year on year growth of sales and profit by:

• Reviewing Overall and Country brand plans annually to ensure brand strategies are robust and based on analysis of socio-economic health and competitor trends in the vaccines sector.

• Driving alignment of overall brand plans with Area, Regional and Global brand plans to ensure the strategic direction of Vaccines is in line and required resources are available for execution of the brand plans.
• &#149Ensuring optimum resourcing and appropriate organisational structure to drive execution of the brand plans and delivery of strategic objectives of vaccines.
• Timely, diligent and focused execution of commercial plans to achieve strategic objectives of tender business.

Stakeholders

Building networks within and outside the organization and using these relationships to support / influence / achieves shared goals.

• Identify, build and maintain good relationships with Heads relevant departments in MOH, Key Opinion Leaders, External experts, Key stakeholder groups like WHO, UNICEF, CHAI, GAVI, McHIP, professional doctor associations like EAPA, KPA, UPA, Policy and public procurement institution Heads among others.
• Encourage and facilitate the development of relationships by Vaccines team managers at corresponding appropriate levels in different stakeholder groups mentioned above.

Performance

Build a performance culture by using systems of measurement to continuously improve on teams’ performance indicators by:

• Monitoring and evaluating effective execution of strategic plans.
• Monitoring marketing and selling expenses to deliver targets within operational budgets
• Monitoring and reviewing external / competitive environment to mitigate / address potential barriers or obstacles in achieving outstanding performance

Customer Focus

Sustaining a culture which fundamentally raises the importance of customers in the organization.

• Executing strategies where everyone understands is a patient focused business
• Ensuring appropriate customer interactions in line with  Code of conduct and company policies.
• Driving business initiatives designed to deliver added value to customers.

People development and talent management

Creating a climate which values cross-functional collaboration and teamwork that encourages the teams to maximize the skills, experience and expertise of individual members to achieve organizational goals.

• Setting up plans to support developmental and learning oriented environment
• Coaching and mentoring as agreed with HR
• Recognise and reward in line with organization’s pay for performance metrics
• Identify and manage key talent within business integrated talent management framework.

Competencies: 

• Broad understanding of Sales/Marketing/Compliance/Finance and Distribution functions in pharmaceutical sector
• Good understanding of the economic and socio-political influences in the public health and general pharmaceutical environment.
• Insight into and an understanding of the customers’ decision making process
• Detailed knowledge of  area, regional and global strategic objectives.
• Sales and Marketing competencies.

Qualifications:  

• Undergraduate degree Pharmacy, Medicine or Biological Sciences
• At least 5 years Marketing / Medical /Sales Management experience
• Broad experience across a wide geographical region/s (more than one country)
• MBA would be an added advantage