Area Manager, North America

Vestergaard Frandsen is seeking a talented and energetic Area Manager (AM), responsible for developing and maintaining effective public health business partnerships and for top-line growth of the firm's public health product portfolio among customers based in North America. The AM will be part of a dynamic organization passionate about making a difference, work in close cooperation with many parts of the organization, and report directly to the Regional Director for North America.

Vestergaard Frandsen has been a family-owned company for more than 50 years, and operates under a unique "humanitarian entrepreneurship" business model that is dedicated to creating and deploying technologies that improve the lives of people in developing countries.

We are driven by an abiding desire to lessen the burden on the most vulnerable populations and we have aligned our business objectives with the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. Vestergaard Frandsen is not content with "business as usual," and has been at the forefront of innovation of disease prevention in the developing context.

Backed by research in the lab and in the field, our disease-control products include cutting-edge PermaNet® 3.0 bed nets, ZeroVector® Durable Lining, and ZeroFly plastic sheeting; award-winning and widely used LifeStraw® and LifeStraw® Family water filters; and innovative frameworks to reach those in need, like our LifeStraw Carbon for Water campaign, and the integrated CarePack®. Thanks to our robust product portfolio, more than half a billion people in the developing world will enjoy a brighter and healthier future.

Our staff design, develop, test, refine and support the distribution of these products to NGOs, aid agencies, faith-based organizations, ministries of health, and socially responsible companies. We work closely with those distributing our products to ensure that beneficiaries are satisfied; our presence in the field is a point of pride, and is essential to understanding the needs of the end users of our innovations.

Our global headquarters is in Switzerland, with regional offices in Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the US, and Vietnam ensuring a global reach.

Position Overview:

The Area Manager for Public Health will be responsible for the maintenance and growth of the company's product line and services within Canada and the United States. This position will require timely and responsive support to both external and internal customers focused in the areas of emergency response and communicable and non-communicable diseases within the vector-borne, waterborne, HIV, cancer, hygiene and sanitation sectors.

Ideal candidates will be able to identify, evaluate and cultivate relationships with key U.S. government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), faith based organizations (FBOs), trade associations and other public and private humanitarian-driven partners in North America. The position is based in the Washington, DC office.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the overall success of the North America office in terms of its core business metrics, including both quantitative and qualitative objectives as established by headquarters.
• Conceptualize, prepare and provide strategic and tactical plans for key customers by product or type of program and provide these plans for review, approval and execution with Regional Director.
• Meet NGO and FBO customers and evaluate their product portfolio opportunities, and set specific quantitative targets per the annual action plan and budgets.
• Provide timely response to customer quote requests and process orders.
• Ensure collection of payments within the agreed payment or credit period.
• Resolve customer concerns and discrepancies.
• Develop educational content for both targeted diseases and products and create value propositions on integrating Vestergaard Frandsen tools as solutions to minimize progression of diseases.
• Maintain awareness and current status of competing products.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree; MBA or MPH preferred
• Legally eligible to work in the US
• Have minimum 3 years of business development and key account management experience.
• Pharmaceutical or public health industry knowledge and/or experience a plus.
• Confident self-starter with a competitive drive.
• Have sharp analytical and planning skills and have an innovative approach to challenging perceptions and to introducing new concepts to both new and existing markets; skilled in transitioning from conceptualization to implementation and delivery.
• Work under pressure, proactively and with a sense of urgency.
• Establish priorities and follow through on commitments.
• Have strong negotiation skills.
• Maintain an "everything is possible" attitude, breaking habits and challenging assumptions.
• Strong team player who drives results by securing the commitment and buy-in of others.
• Have excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills.
• Willing to travel between 30 and 50 percent of the time.
• Have a good sense of humor.

To Apply:

If you possess the above qualifications and would like to be considered for our team, please send your cover letter enclosing your CV and preferred contact number.