Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand

The Country Manager is responsible for driving revenue growth, market penetration, and customer engagement across an assigned territory through effective distributor management and direct customer interaction. This role is accountable for developing strong relationships with key customers and distribution partners, identifying new growth opportunities, and expanding MSD’s presence across academic, biopharma, biotechnology, CRO, and other life science markets.

 Sales & Revenue Generation

·         Achieve quarterly and annual revenue targets for the region through distributor performance management

·         Develop and execute strategic sales plans to achieve assigned quarterly and annual territory targets for both capital equipment and consumable revenue streams.

·         Develop and maintain accurate and reliable quarterly forecasts for instrument, consumable, and service revenue.

·         Develop and execute strategic account plans for key customers in academic institutions, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical organizations

·         Identify and qualify new business opportunities, with particular emphasis on growth in the academic sector and biotech/pharma segment

·         Conduct product demonstrations and technical presentations to researchers, lab managers, and procurement decision-makers

·         Manage the full sales cycle from prospecting through contract negotiation and close

Distributor Management

·         Manage relationships with regional distribution partners to develop and execute cohesive strategic business plans designed to meet or exceed territory objectives ensuring effective market coverage and revenue growth.

·         Establish clear performance expectations, operating cadence, and accountability measures with distributor partners to drive sustainable growth.

o   Provide distributors with product training, sales tools, and technical support to maximize their effectiveness

·         Conduct regular business reviews with distribution partners, including pipeline reviews, forecast reviews, territory planning, and growth initiatives.

o   Monitor distributor performance against agreed targets and implement improvement plans as needed

·         Collaborate with distributors on joint customer visits, events, and promotional activities

·         Ensure distributors maintain appropriate inventory levels and provide excellent customer service

·         Lead distributor onboarding, business planning, and ongoing enablement activities for new products, commercial initiatives, and market expansion programs.

Market Development

·         Develop deep knowledge of the regional market including competitive landscape, customer needs, and buying behaviors

·         Represent MSD at regional conferences, tradeshows, and scientific meetings

·         Build a strong pipeline of opportunities through prospecting, networking, and relationship development

·         Provide market intelligence and customer feedback to inform product development and marketing strategies

·         Identify emerging trends and applications that create new opportunities for MSD's technology platforms

·         Prospect for new business opportunities through direct customer engagement, networking, market development activities, and collaboration with ISR, FAS, Marketing, and distributor partners.

·         Qualify opportunities against defined commercial and technical criteria to support accurate forecasting and resource allocation.

Customer Relationship Management

·         Build and maintain strong relationships with key opinion leaders, lab directors, and procurement decision-makers

·         Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction through responsive communication and problem resolution

·         Conduct regular business reviews with major accounts to understand their evolving needs

·         Coordinate with Field Applications Scientists to provide technical support for complex customer requirements

·         Maintain accurate CRM records including account mapping, stakeholder identification, opportunity management, customer engagement history, and forecast updates to support effective territory management and business planning.

·         Develop and maintain territory plans and key account plans outlining strategies to achieve long-term growth objectives and expand customer relationships.

Cross-functional Collaboration

·         Work closely with Marketing, Field Applications, Technical Support, and Operations teams to ensure customer success

·         Provide input on regional marketing campaigns and promotional strategies

·         Collaborate with the APAC leadership team on strategic initiatives and business planning

·         Bachelor's degree in life sciences, biotechnology, or related field required.

Advanced degree (MS, PhD) preferred

·         Five to seven years of successful sales experience in the life sciences industry

·         Experience managing distribution partners or channel sales relationships

·         Proven track record of achieving or exceeding sales targets

·         Ability to effectively manage a territory in a distributor-led sales environment with changing priorities while maintaining direct customer engagement and executive-level account relationships.

·         Self-motivated with strong organizational skills, attention to detail, the ability to work independently and successfully multi-task.

·         Demonstrated experience managing complex capital equipment sales cycles involving scientific, operational, procurement, and executive stakeholders.

·         Strong business acumen with the demonstrated ability to design strategic account plans, develop new business and expand existing accounts within a particular geographic area.

·         Effective negotiation and closing skills

·         The candidate must demonstrate an analytical mindset with the ability to use data to drive decisions

·         Strong technical background with an understanding of life sciences research workflows and applications

o   Familiarity with immunoassays, biomarker analysis, or related technologies (preferred)

·         Ability to understand and communicate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences

o   Excellent relationship-building, demonstrating outstanding interpersonal communication, including presentation and training skills

·         Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English

·         Proven track record of successful team management, superior leadership skills with demonstrated knowledge of staff management practices and processes and the ability to establish accountabilities and expectations and manage performance to achieve results

·         Proficiency with CRM systems, Salesforce experience preferred

·         Proficiency in MS Office Suite

·         This position requires the ability to communicate and exchange information, utilize equipment necessary to perform the job, and move about the office.

·         Ability to travel extensively that can include overnight stays and working outside normal business hours as needed

·         This position is performed in an office environment

·         This position requires extensive travel (up to 60 to 70% of the time)