Commercial Sales Manager - South Africa

Fresenius Medical Care North America; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading medical technology company seeks a Regional Sales Leader based in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The role encompasses extensive sales strategy development, market insight analysis, and leadership of the sales team to ensure profitable growth and customer engagement in the medical field. Candidates should have a strong customer focus, leadership experience, and a solid understanding of the healthcare sector.

Qualifications

• At least 6 years professional experience in sales and people management.
• Experience in project management and/or project leadership.
• Professional experience in the field of medical technology is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Prepare, monitor, and manage the annual regional Sales budget and performance.
• Develop long-term sales strategies and tactical plans.
• Negotiate prices aligned with strategic initiatives.

Skills

Strong customer orientation

Confident negotiation skills

Strong communication skills

Ability to represent FME towards customers

Education

Business studies (Bachelor or Master)

Job description

1) Main tasks:

• Tasks performed regularly which form the essential characteristics of the position.
• Local Management and Steering

• Prepare, monitor and manage the annual regional Sales budget and performance
• Provide the commercial lead with the necessary information and data for the development of the overall cluster strategy
• Propose the Commercial Leader with long-term sales strategies for the respective region, transferred into tactical plans, the annual business plan and budget

Operations:

• Get market insights and provide Head of Sales Regional Hub SSA with market / competitor data, prices, trends in order to determine market demand and market potential as well as competitors’ market shares
• Sell and promote products
• Further develop the product range as well as market entry into new fields of therapy for the respective countries in close collaboration with Head of Sales.
• Define actions for the respective region (strategy into operations)
• Conduct feasibility studies regarding investments which are necessary to develop the market
• Process tenders in close collaboration with Head of Sales and Sales Contract Analyst/Commercial Excellence.
• Prepare contracts in close collaboration with Legal.
• Partner with Supply Chain to execute S&OP processes, manage stock levels, and avoid stock-outs or overstocking in the region
• Negotiate prices with targeted segment aligned to strategic initiatives.
• Systematically gather, analyze, and translate market intelligence (including competitor activity, customer behavior, pricing trends, regulatory shifts) into actionable business insights
• Develop and maintain a structured market insight reporting cadence (monthly/quarterly), ensuring relevant data is shared across commercial, supply chain, and marketing functions
• Guide direct reports in market sensing and data capture, ensuring team-generated insights are incorporated into strategic planning
• Present regional insights and progress updates in standardized reporting formats to Head of Sales and broader leadership forums
• Respond to HQ queries (database, market info, lists, Market and Competitor Survey) in alignment with Head of Sales
• Facilitate audit requirements
• Key Account Management and mentorship - Ensure quality service and profitable business growth by managing a portfolio of complex customer relationships and/or a small team of account managers.

Relationship Management

• Maintain existing customer contacts and create new contacts
• Maintain contacts and negotiations with, end-users, KOLs, Nephologist consultants , institutions and key accounts
• Steer and guide new customers
• Engage actively in local healthcare communities and networks
• Keep up a strong customer orientation
• Collaborate closely with internal and external Clinical Trainers and Training Leads to ensure regional training needs are aligned with commercial strategy and customer expectations
• Contribute to the design and execution of internal and external training programs, including sales team upskilling, therapy adoption enablement, and partner education
• Structure joint planning cycles to integrate training interventions into sales execution plans, product launches, and tender deployments
• Colaborate with the Tech Ops team to drive best in class service and repairs to our customers

Leadership ·

• Defines targets for direct reports and follows up on achievement
• Set the overall direction for regional activities considering the corporate strategy and the big picture of internal and external aspects in coordination with the Head of Sales.
• Support team selection and set-up according required expertise, in close cooperation with the related line managers
• Ensure a highly motivated team and a professional, customer oriented and solution focused way of working within the team
• Drives people development by identifying and coaching talents and ensuring a transparent and participative communication
• Identifies and drives changes in a future-oriented, solution-oriented and proactive manner.

Performance Management

• Manage and report on the performance of the function / business area; set appropriate performance objectives for direct reports and hold them accountable for achieving these
• Take appropriate corrective action where necessary to ensure the achievement of annual business objectives

Management & Steering ·

• Is responsible for the operational results of business in area of responsibility.
• Drives and monitors business results and initiates corrective actions.
• Ensures the proper implementation of all relevant corporate strategies, policies and standards
• Ensures compliance with all relevant regulations.

Commercial & Finance

• Participates in the development and preparation of short-term and long-range business plansand budgets based upon broad organization goals and objectives. Recommends their adoption and implementation in region of responsibility
• Participates in the preparation of forecast reports on sales and marketing strategies and plan, organize and implement the strategies to achieve sales targets and company’s profitablility
• Directs internal operations to achieve budgeted results and other financial criteria
• Manage work processes, schedules and plans to ensure service delivery in accordance with the company commitments and client (patient, doctor, funder) requirements and contracts
• Appraises and evaluates the results of overall operations regularly and systematically, and reports these results to the Commercial Lead and GM
• Lead/collaborate with commercial excellence to maintain monthly and quarterly sales forecasting processes aligned with financial targets.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain to ensure sales commitments are aligned with product availability and logistics timelines

Human Resources

• Implement HR strategies and initiatives aligned with the overall business strategy
• Foster employee relations by addressing demands, grievances or any other employment issues including conflict management to ensure a healthy work environment
• Managing the recruitment and selection process in conjunction with HR
• Conduct orientation, train and coach the sales team in execution of daily tasks and to maximize productivity
• Nurture a positive working environment
• Drives a high-performance culture by managing and overseeing performance standards of team.
• Strong support for the compliance standards
• Ethical leadership style through integrity and exemplary behavior
• Observance and implementation of corporate values in daily business

2) Secondary tasks:

• Top line revenue for Care Enablement
• Profit as per budget
• Reduce DSO and bad debt
• Customer Retention
• KOL management: customers and competitors
• Align region segmentation with staff routine: Gold customers and Silver customers
• Contract management
• Tender management
• People management and development
• Ability to work in a matrix
• Legal compliance and regulatory
• Research on latest renal articles – keep updated with latest news
• Stakeholder management

1) Required training and education:

• Business studies (at a university or university of applied sciences, Bachelor or Master) specialising in Business, Marketing and/or relevant qualification.

2) Required professional experience (in years):

• At least 6 years professional experience in a comparable field of responsibility oriented to sales and people.
• Experience in project management and/or project leadership
• Profession experience in the field of medical technology would be an advantage

3) Important personal qualities:

• Strong customer orientation and ability to represent FME towards the customers
• Confident negotiation skills and skills in approaching people
• Confident, convincing and motivating
• Strong professional attitude characterized by a result, quality, patient and customer oriented working style
• Strong structured approach leading to pragmatic and effective solutions
• Strong ability to set priorities and take decisions even under changing conditions
• Strong ability to work as a self-starter and self-managed
• Strong communication skills
• High level of flexibility, openness and empathy, well balanced with high resilience, persuasiveness, self-confidence and good ability to work in a structured way even under pressure

4) Other specialized knowledge:

Technical knowledge

• Excellent understanding of country healthcare sector as well as pronounced understanding of market and political environment and related interdependencies
• Customer and country specific knowledge
• Excellent moderation and presentation skills
• Ability to close complex deals and ensure contract management post deal closure

This role is based in Gauteng.