Head of Commercial Excellence

THE POSITION

We're seeking an inspirational and strategically minded Head of Commercial Excellence to elevate the performance of our UK & Ireland Animal Health (AH) business. As a pivotal member of the Animal Health Leadership Team (AHLT), you'll shape commercial strategy, drive organisational effectiveness, and enable teams to deliver above market growth. You will lead the full Commercial Excellence function-spanning data & insights, digital excellence, sales force effectiveness, pricing & rebate management, CRM and training-ensuring our capabilities, platforms and people continue to advance at pace. This is an influential, high visibility leadership role at the heart of transforming customer experience and commercial impact across the organisation.

TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic & Cross Functional Leadership

• Act as a key contributor to AHLT, influencing strategic decisions and embedding a culture of cross functional collaboration.
• Partner with UK species teams and global Commercial Excellence groups to prioritise CE initiatives that enhance capabilities, processes and insight generation.
• Ensure UKIE financial performance is delivered within agreed operational budgets while driving sustainable growth.

Commercial Policy, Pricing & Rebate Excellence

• Lead and coach the pricing and rebate team to apply commercial frameworks that optimise value creation.
• Oversee annual commercial policy reviews, ensuring compliance with legislation, data protection and industry codes.
• Embed best practices informed by deep market and internal performance insight.

Sales Force Effectiveness & Key Account Management

• Direct and develop SFE & Digital leadership to embed high standards in sales excellence and strategic account management.
• Own the sales and key account training curriculum, including online/offline customer engagement fundamentals.
• Ensure segmentation, targeting, incentive schemes and reporting frameworks drive motivation, clarity and performance.

Data, Insights & Analytics Leadership

• Coach and guide the Data & Insights team to foster a truly insights led decision making culture.
• Oversee delivery of critical reporting across customer analytics, pricing, field force performance, competitive intelligence, brand monitoring and more.
• Govern data quality, validation, security and best practice use across the organisation.

Digital Excellence

• Champion digital transformation and the development of high quality, customer centric digital channels.
• Promote multi channel customer engagement approaches aligned to evolving business needs.
• Ensure digital is fully leveraged as a driver of value, efficiency and customer experience.

CRM and Platform Strategy

• Provide direction to the Head of Data & Platforms to maintain and evolve the AH CRM ecosystem.
• Combine strategic and technical acumen to ensure platforms enhance customer experience and business integration.
• Lead assessment and implementation of system enhancements alongside AHLT colleagues.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach and develop a high performing Commercial Excellence team across the UK & Ireland.
• Foster a collaborative, cross-functional culture and ensure robust succession planning and talent development.
• Champion adherence to SOPs, regulatory frameworks and compliance requirements.

REQUIREMENTS

Essential Experience & Expertise

• Deep understanding of commercial processes including sales, marketing, negotiation and key account management.
• Proven leadership capability with the ability to inspire, set direction and influence across all organisational levels.
• Track record in people leadership, including coaching, recruitment and talent development.
• Strong business analysis and strategic planning skills with experience evaluating internal and external market environments.
• Expertise in financial forecasting, cost centre planning and commercial performance optimisation.
• Skilled in digital marketing and multi channel engagement strategies.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with IT and commercial stakeholders to deliver data and digital programmes.

Desirable Attributes

• Ability to lead through influence in matrix or global organisational structures.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and comfort working with complex internal and external networks.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to transform data into actionable insight and strategic direction.
• Strong working knowledge of NOAH/VMD regulations and legal frameworks governing animal health product promotion.

Job Impact

• Lead, govern and transform the end-to-end customer experience, acting as the voice of the customer across all leadership forums.
• Drive organisational adoption of Commercial Excellence principles, ensuring sustained commercial performance and customer focused decision making.
• Oversee rebate and discount schemes, ensuring strategic optimisation and compliance.
• Manage an operational expenditure budget, ensuring ROI and value creation.
• Enable the organisation to deliver exceptional commercial execution today-and build the capabilities needed for tomorrow.