Regional Fieldforce Lead – Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa

Role Overview

This position takes charge of the entire field-based commercial operation across multiple English-speaking markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, acting as the bridge between regional strategy and frontline execution. You will spend your time shaping how field teams engage with healthcare professionals and pharmacies, removing executional bottlenecks, and converting commercial targets into concrete, measurable action on the ground. Your leadership directly determines how effectively the company’s brands reach customers, how consistently messaging is delivered, and whether the region meets its growth and market-share ambitions.

Key Responsibilities

• Fieldforce strategy & operations: lead all fieldforce activities across several African markets, including call-cycle design, territory mapping, and resource allocation so that every team member covers the highest-value customers without overlap or wasted effort.
• Hybrid engagement execution: ensure field teams seamlessly combine face-to-face detailing, virtual interactions, and digital touchpoints with healthcare professionals and pharmacy networks, adapting the approach to local realities and preferences.
• Commercial delivery: convert regional business plans into clear, quarterly field plans with brand-level priorities, detailing targets, and in-pharmacy campaigns that directly drive sales growth and increase market share.
• Performance monitoring: track fieldforce KPIs using CRM and other dashboards, identifying underperforming territories or individuals early and implementing corrective plans before gaps widen.
• Team capability building: recruit, coach, and mentor hybrid team leaders and their reports, conducting regular accompaniment in the field to observe interactions and offer real-time feedback that lifts selling skills and product knowledge.
• Cross-functional collaboration: coordinate with marketing, medical, supply chain, and market access teams so promotional material, medical information, and product availability are aligned with what field staff are promising customers.
• Governance and compliance: uphold ethical promotion standards, ensure reporting discipline around expenses and activities, and verify that all engagement complies with industry codes and company policies.
• Business reviews: prepare and lead periodic reviews for senior leadership, presenting market intelligence, competitor insights, and fieldforce performance data while recommending tactical shifts to address emerging challenges.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Education: bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, life sciences, pharmacy, or a related field; an MBA or other postgraduate qualification is preferred but not mandatory.
• Regional experience: at least 8–10 years in pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare, or FMCG sales leadership, with a proven track record of leading field teams across more than one country or significant geographic territory in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• People leadership: demonstrated success building, motivating, and developing multi-level sales teams, including field managers or district supervisors, with strong coaching and talent-review capabilities.
• Commercial acumen: deep understanding of how to drive prescribing behavior and pharmacy recommendations through targeted engagement, coupled with experience managing promotional budgets and forecasting sales outcomes.
• Analytical and digital skills: strong command of CRM platforms (such as Veeva or equivalent), Excel-based reporting, and data interpretation to spot performance trends and resource deployment gaps.
• Strategic execution: ability to think regionally while acting locally—balancing the need for consistent process rollouts with the flexibility required by differences in market maturity, infrastructure, and regulatory environments.
• Communication and influence: excellent stakeholder management across functions and seniority levels, with clarity in presenting complex information to both sales teams and executive audiences.
• Willingness to travel: readiness to spend significant time visiting remote teams, customers, and markets across the Anglophone region, not just work from a central office.