Marketing Roles at Kizuna Edge Talent Hub

Job Purpose

• To lead our commercial organization in Kenya and deliver sustainable revenue, gross-margin and market-share growth across our OTC, prescription (Rx), nutrition and healthcare portfolio. The Head of Commercial has end-to-end responsibility for commercial strategy and execution across Sales, Marketing, Hospital Key Account Management, Trade / Channel Development and, where assigned, E-commerce. The role is accountable for translating portfolio and principal strategies into strong in-market execution, building high-performing teams, developing priority customers and channels, improving forecasting and commercial discipline, and ensuring that we become a preferred commercialization partner for healthcare brands in Kenya. The position requires substantial experience in both OTC and Rx commercialization and a strong understanding of the Kenyan pharmaceutical, pharmacy, medical and hospital markets.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Strategy and P&L Leadership

• Develop and execute the Kenya commercial strategy in line with our overall business objectives, portfolio priorities and principal commitments.
• Own commercial performance across revenue, gross margin, market share, operating investment and other agreed P&L measures.
• Translate annual objectives into channel, brand, customer and team plans with clear targets, accountabilities and timelines.
• Identify growth gaps and lead corrective actions across pricing, distribution, demand generation, account development, portfolio mix and execution.

Sales Leadership and Field Force Effectiveness

• Lead the national sales organization across pharmacy, medical and other approved healthcare channels, including Sales Managers and Medical Representatives.
• Set sales targets, territory priorities, call strategies, customer segmentation and productivity expectations aligned with commercial objectives.
• Establish disciplined sales-force management through regular field coaching, performance reviews, pipeline reviews and execution tracking.
• Drive growth in active customers, product availability, order frequency, average order value, priority SKU penetration and productive coverage.
• Ensure strong coordination between sales execution, collections, stock availability, customer service and commercial planning.

Marketing, Brand and Portfolio Leadership

• Lead the Marketing function in developing brand strategies, annual brand plans, product-launch plans and demand-generation programmes for OTC, Rx and healthcare products.
• Ensure marketing investment is prioritized behind the highest-value brands, customer segments and growth opportunities.
• Review brand performance, market insights, campaign effectiveness and return on marketing investment, reallocating resources where necessary.
• Ensure Sales and Marketing operate against one integrated commercial plan with clear product priorities, target audiences and execution standards.
• Provide commercial input into new-product evaluations, portfolio rationalization, pricing and launch sequencing.

Hospital and Key Account Management

• Lead the Hospital Key Account Management function and strategy for priority hospitals, hospital groups, clinics, institutions and strategic healthcare accounts.
• Establish account segmentation, account plans, stakeholder maps, revenue targets and engagement strategies for high-value institutional customers.
• Support negotiations on listings, contracts, tenders, pricing, supply arrangements and commercial terms within approved governance.
• Build senior relationships with procurement, pharmacy, clinical and administrative decision-makers in strategic accounts.
• Ensure strong follow-through on opportunities, service issues, collections and account-growth initiatives.

Trade Marketing and Channel Development

• Lead trade and channel strategy across pharmacy chains, independent pharmacies, wholesalers, distributors and other priority outlets.
• Develop channel-specific commercial plans covering assortment, pricing architecture, promotions, visibility, merchandising and customer activation.
• Ensure trade investments are commercially justified, well executed and measured against agreed objectives.
• Improve numeric and weighted distribution, product availability, shelf presence and priority SKU penetration in targeted outlets.
• Monitor competitor pricing, promotions, trade terms and channel activity and respond with appropriate commercial actions.

E-commerce and Digital Commerce

• Where E-commerce falls within the commercial remit, set online revenue, customer-acquisition, conversion and profitability objectives in coordination with Marketing.
• Oversee the performance of our direct-to-consumer platforms and relevant online marketplaces, ensuring strong availability, pricing, content and promotional execution.
• Integrate digital commerce into brand plans and channel strategies rather than managing it as a stand-alone activity.
• Use digital sales and customer data to identify cross-channel opportunities, improve targeting and support portfolio decisions.

Pricing, Revenue Management and Commercial Investment

• Establish disciplined pricing, discount, rebate and commercial-investment frameworks that protect brand positioning and gross margin.
• Review customer and channel profitability and challenge commercial arrangements that do not meet agreed financial thresholds.
• Approve or recommend pricing, promotions and investment proposals within delegated authority and ensure appropriate governance.
• Work with Finance to track net revenue, gross margin, trade spend, marketing spend, collections and customer credit exposure.

Forecasting, Supply and Inventory Coordination

• Own the commercial demand forecast and ensure it reflects customer plans, seasonality, promotional activity, launches and realistic market assumptions.
• Work closely with Supply Chain to align demand, inventory, inbound supply and launch requirements while minimizing stock-outs, overstock and expiry risk.
• Establish regular sales and operations planning routines and hold commercial teams accountable for forecast quality.
• Prioritize constrained inventory based on strategic customer, product and profitability considerations.

Principal and Partner Commercial Management

• Act as the senior commercial counterpart for our principals and brand partners once products enter commercialization.
• Translate contractual commitments and joint business plans into clear sales, marketing, channel and launch deliverables.
• Lead regular business reviews covering revenue, market development, investments, forecasts, stock, risks and corrective actions.
• Build principal confidence through transparent reporting, disciplined execution and proactive identification of growth opportunities.

Organization Leadership and Commercial Excellence

• Build a high-performing, accountable commercial organization with clear roles, targets, decision rights and performance standards.
• Coach and develop Sales, Marketing, Hospital KAM, Trade and E-commerce leaders and establish succession and capability-development plans.
• Implement dashboards, CRM discipline, customer segmentation, performance reviews and commercial operating rhythms that support data-based decisions.
• Promote strong cross-functional collaboration with Business Development, Finance, Supply Chain, Regulatory and Quality teams.
• Ensure all commercial activities, product communications and customer engagements comply with company policies, approved product information and applicable healthcare requirements.

Key Performance Indicators

• Revenue growth: Achievement of monthly, quarterly and annual net revenue targets and sustainable growth versus prior periods and plan.
• Gross margin: Delivery of agreed gross-margin targets through portfolio mix, pricing discipline and effective management of commercial investment.
• Market share and distribution: Growth in market share where reliable data exists, together with product availability and distribution across targeted channels and accounts.
• Sales-force performance: Target achievement, productive coverage, active-customer growth, priority SKU penetration and field-force productivity.
• Hospital / key accounts: Revenue growth, listings, tenders, account penetration, retention and strategic development of hospital and institutional accounts.
• Brand performance: Achievement of brand-plan objectives, launch performance, demand generation and return on marketing investment.
• Trade execution: Quality and ROI of trade programmes, promotional execution, visibility, assortment and distribution improvement.
• Forecast accuracy: Accuracy and bias of the commercial demand forecast and quality of sales and operations planning inputs.
• Working capital support: Commercial contribution to collections, credit discipline, stock health, expiry-risk reduction and inventory efficiency.
• E-commerce performance: Online revenue growth, conversion, customer acquisition and profitability where E-commerce is within the role’s scope.
• Principal delivery: Achievement of agreed joint business-plan commitments, launch milestones, reporting standards and principal satisfaction.
• Team effectiveness: Delivery of team objectives, talent development, succession readiness and adoption of agreed commercial processes and tools.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy, Life Sciences, Business Administration, Marketing, Commerce or a related field; an MBA or other relevant postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
• At least ten years of progressive commercial experience within pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare or healthcare distribution, including significant senior leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated commercial experience across both OTC and prescription (Rx) portfolios is required, together with strong knowledge of the Kenyan pharmaceutical, pharmacy, medical and hospital markets.
• Proven experience leading multi-functional commercial teams across Sales and Marketing; experience with Hospital KAM and Trade / Channel teams is strongly preferred.
• Experience within a pharmaceutical or healthcare distributor is strongly preferred, particularly in an environment managing multiple international principals or brands.
• Demonstrated P&L ownership and strong capability in revenue planning, pricing, gross-margin management, budgeting, forecasting and commercial-investment decisions.
• Proven record of delivering sales and brand growth, launches, key-account development and principal business plans; practical understanding of digital and e-commerce channels is an advantage.

Core Competencies

Commercial and Technical

• Kenya commercial strategy and P&L leadership
• OTC and Rx commercialization
• Sales-force leadership and effectiveness
• Brand and portfolio management
• Hospital and key-account management
• Trade marketing and channel development
• Pricing, forecasting and revenue management
• Principal and distributor management

Behavioural

• Commercial leadership
• Strategic thinking with execution discipline
• People leadership and coaching
• Customer and market orientation
• Influence and negotiation
• Financial judgement
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Ownership, integrity and accountability

Key Working Relationships

Internal

• Chief Executive Officer / General Manager
• Head of Business Development
• Sales Managers and Medical Representatives
• Marketing Brand Manager
• Hospital KAM and Trade teams
• E-commerce / Digital team as applicable
• Finance, Supply Chain, Regulatory and Quality

External

• Pharmaceutical and healthcare principals / brand partners
• Pharmacy chains, independent pharmacies and wholesalers
• Hospitals, clinics and institutional customers
• Healthcare professionals and key opinion leaders
• Commercial and procurement decision-makers
• Agencies, digital partners and trade-service providers

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy, Life Sciences, Business Administration, Marketing, Commerce or a related field; an MBA or other relevant postgraduate qualification is an advantage.

End Date 13th Nov 2026

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Job Purpose

• To develop and execute the brand and marketing strategy for our health and wellness portfolio, driving brand awareness, professional recommendation, product adoption, revenue and market-share growth. The role translates business objectives and market insights into clear brand plans, campaigns, product launches and pharmacy- and medical-channel programmes.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Strategy and Planning

• Develop annual and multi-year brand strategies aligned with our commercial priorities.
• Prepare annual brand plans covering target audiences, positioning, channel strategy, product priorities, investment and expected returns.
• Define clear value propositions and approved messages for priority brands and products.
• Establish measurable brand objectives, implementation timelines and performance indicators.

Pharmacy and Medical-Channel Marketing

• Develop programmes for pharmacies, pharmacists, doctors, nutritionists and other healthcare professionals.
• Plan pharmacy activations, professional education, medical meetings and customer-engagement initiatives.
• Develop sales aids, product guides, point-of-sale materials and approved educational content.
• Work with Sales team to prioritize outlets, healthcare stakeholders and geographic opportunities.

Campaign and Content Management

• Plan and execute integrated campaigns across pharmacy, medical, digital and consumer touchpoints.
• Prepare campaign briefs, messages, creative requirements, execution guidelines and measurement plans.
• Coordinate production of marketing materials and ensure consistent brand identity across all channels.
• Evaluate campaign performance and optimize activities based on evidence and commercial impact.

Portfolio and Product Launch Management

• Lead the marketing workstream for new product and SKU launches.
• Develop launch plans covering positioning, audience, pricing input, communication, channel priorities and promotional support.
• Coordinate launch readiness across Sales, E-commerce, Supply Chain, Finance and external partners.
• Monitor portfolio performance and recommend investment, repositioning, reformulation or rationalization actions.

Market, Consumer and Professional Insights

• Analyse category trends, customer behaviour, healthcare-professional needs, competitor activity and pricing.
• Commission or conduct appropriate market research and convert insights into practical growth initiatives.
• Establish structured field-feedback processes with the Medical Representative and Business Development teams.
• Maintain competitor reviews and provide management with clear commercial recommendations.

Marketing Budget and Return on Investment

• Prepare and manage the annual marketing budget by brand, channel and activity.
• Track expenditure, commitments and performance against approved budgets.
• Evaluate expected and actual return on marketing investment and reallocate resources toward stronger opportunities.
• Maintain complete documentation for events, samples, media, agencies, materials and trade activities.

Agency and Supplier Management

• Prepare effective briefs for creative, digital, research, event, production and printing partners.
• Evaluate proposals based on quality, capability, strategic fit, timing and cost.
• Manage agency deliverables, timelines, quality and performance.
• Ensure marketing materials are reviewed and approved before publication or distribution.

Sales Enablement and Brand Governance

• Train and equip the sales team on brand positioning, approved messages, priority products and campaign execution.
• Participate in key customer presentations and sales reviews where required.
• Maintain an organized library of approved brand assets and ensure consistent use of names, logos and visual standards.
• Protect brand reputation and ensure marketing communication is accurate, responsible and aligned with approved product information.

Key Performance Indicators

• Brand growth: Revenue growth; priority product performance; market-share improvement where reliable data is available.
• Brand-plan delivery: Achievement of annual objectives, milestones and agreed launch or campaign timelines.
• Campaign effectiveness: Reach, engagement, lead generation, conversion and attributable sales impact.
• Channel development: Pharmacy and healthcare-professional engagement; distribution and recommendation growth.
• Innovation and launches: Launch readiness, speed to market, early sales performance and distribution achievement.
• Investment efficiency: Budget adherence; return on marketing investment; cost efficiency by activity.
• Sales enablement: Quality, adoption and field effectiveness of marketing tools and training.
• Brand governance: Consistency, approval compliance and quality of all brand communication.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, Pharmacy, Nutrition or a related discipline.
• A postgraduate marketing or business qualification will be an advantage.
• At least four years of relevant marketing or brand-management experience.
• Experience in consumer healthcare, pharmaceuticals, vitamins and supplements, nutrition, wellness or FMCG is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing brand plans, managing campaigns, coordinating launches and controlling budgets.
• Experience working with agencies, sales teams and pharmacy or healthcare-professional channels will be a strong advantage.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, Pharmacy, Nutrition or a related discipline.
• A postgraduate marketing or business qualification will be an advantage.