The Strategic Key Account Manager will be responsible for Public Sector, HBDC sales, and support Commercial Key accounts in South Africa. They will take strategic leadership for market development and achieve sales targets. They should be able to drive strong stakeholder engagement, work cross-functionally, and be autonomous in making good strategic decisions. Responsible for growth and expansion of direct sales and profit margins within assigned accounts and territory/region on products or services. Establishes professional relationships with key personnel in customer accounts. The incumbent is expected to provide dynamic leadership and motivate the team to execute the strategies that achieve profitable sales revenue ensuring the growth of the business while maximizing business opportunities and growing revenue across the full product portfolio in the Laboratory, Hospital, Clinic, and Point of Care market segments.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Provide strong direction, leadership, and planning to achieve and exceed sales targets and be a critical Cepheid South Africa Leadership Team member.

• Develop and manage effective customer relationships including key opinion leaders and liaise with other senior managers in the Healthcare industry in the South African market as appropriate.

• Steer the team to actively engage with clinicians, KOLs, laboratory, buyer groups, policymakers, and other stakeholders as required to drive product acceptance.

• Apply CRM and funnel management tools to continually improve processes such as prospecting, building opportunity pipelines, and territory management.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Achieve Sales and Growth targets for the RSA Public Sector market including NHLS, as agreed upon at the beginning of each year

• Participate in all key meetings with the NHLS leadership, NGO Funders, and Department of Health both Nationally and Provincially to position Cepheid products for utilization across all targeted disease categories

• Develop and implement the sales strategy and positioning for assigned Key Accounts, ensuring competitive positioning and participation in respective Tenders

• Develop the mid and long-term growth strategy for the Public Sector by reviewing historical trends, analyzing existing business environment, identifying and exploring growth opportunities, and preparing the implementation strategies annually, to increase account penetration, menu expansion, and market share for Cepheid products

• Initiate and implement marketing messaging & activities in conjunction with Marketing by providing inputs, designing activities, and implementing as required.

• Proactively respond to market changes, maintaining competitive knowledge to create & adjust sales and marketing strategies where appropriate, evaluating & identifying trends that can be integrated into innovative Cepheid solutions.

• Collaborate with Global Access Teams to position Cepheid as a key partner in public health, influencing key policies and implementation of global guidelines.

• Manage effective brand awareness by reviewing customer requirements, identifying opportunities, sourcing appropriate materials, and placing with customers as required.

• Working with Customer Care teams to ensure availability of Installed Base and achievement of service KPIs for the Key Accounts

• Provide customer service excellence by identifying and tracking key responsible contacts, providing ongoing liaison with customers through contact, interactions and communications and responding to customers within the local legal and regulatory framework as required.

• Liaise with Cepheid support functions and coordinate actions effectively to continuously improve the level of customer service excellence Cepheid provides.

• Report any customer complaints, identifying additional information as relevant and forwarding to the appropriate platform for resolution as required

• Negotiate conference and advertising participation, identifying additional opportunities, finalizing the agreement cost and participation level for Cepheid as required.

• Learn and Leverage DBS toolkit, mindset and culture to continuously drive growth.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Education or Experience (in years): Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of experience OR Master’s degree with 3+ years of experience

• Medical background an advantage

• Sales Key Account Management experience in the Diagnostics or Device industries would be an advantage.

• Experience in Healthcare, existing relationship with NHLS, and relevant postgraduate qualification would be an advantage.

• Knowledge and skills:

• Ability to work in a team & highly matrix environment and organization to drive results

• Enthusiasm, strong interpersonal and motivational skills; scalable to future assignments.

• Ability to work collaboratively across the organization including sales, service, technical support, marketing, and business management functions

• Excellent communication skills including verbal and written and presentation skills required, along with a strong financial and business acumen, flexibility and good judgment.

• Preferably has some exposure working with sales tools and CRM.

• The statements in this description represent typical elements, criteria and general work performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills for this job.

At Cepheid we believe in designing a better, more sustainable workforce. We recognize the benefits of flexible, hybrid working arrangements for eligible roles and are committed to providing enriching careers, no matter the work arrangement. This position is eligible for a hybrid work arrangement in which you can work part-time at the Company location identified above and part-time remotely from your home. Additional information about this hybrid work arrangement will be provided by your interview team. Explore the flexibility and challenge that working for Cepheid can provide.

At Danaher we bring together science, technology and operational capabilities to accelerate the real-life impact of tomorrow’s science and technology. We partner with customers across the globe to help them solve their most complex challenges, architecting solutions that bring the power of science to life. Our global teams are pioneering what’s next across Life Sciences, Diagnostics, Biotechnology and beyond. For more information, visit www.danaher.com.

At Danaher, we value diversity and the existence of similarities and differences, both visible and not, found in our workforce, workplace and throughout the markets we serve. Our associates, customers and shareholders contribute unique and different perspectives as a result of these diverse attributes.