Managing Director, Central and Eastern Europe

Job Description
CEE MANAGING DIRECTOR, ED

Job Title Managing Director, Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), Animal Health
Executive Summary Drive Strategic Growth and Innovation Across CEE Markets
We are committed to becoming the leading research-driven biopharmaceutical company, pioneering advancements in animal health through innovative solutions that improve disease prevention and treatment. As the Managing Director for Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), you will be instrumental in delivering our innovative Animal Health product offering and technology solutions to customers across a diverse portfolio of countries, including Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and the CEE Alliance Markets (Baltics, West Balkan, Bulgaria, and Ukraine).

This executive role offers an outstanding opportunity to lead and inspire a high-performing team, drive commercial success, and foster impactful collaborations. Reporting to the Sub-Regional AVP of South East EURAM, Animal Health, and participating as a member of the Sub-Regional Leadership Team, you will have direct accountability for commercial strategy, financial performance, and operational excellence. This means you are the ultimate owner of the region's P&L, strategic direction, and organizational health, tasked with translating global and regional ambitions into tangible, market-specific results.

Main Responsibilities

• Lead the development of operating budgets, sales forecasts, and profit projections in alignment with the strategic objectives of the EEMEA Sub-Region and EURAM Region.You will personally direct the annual financial planning cycle for the CEE cluster, scrutinizing assumptions and validating inputs from the different business units to build a robust and defensible operating plan. This includes detailed forecasting of sales volumes, pricing strategies, gross-to-net deductions, and operating expenses (A&P, headcount, T&E).
• Prepare and execute strategic plans to ensure sustainable business growth and diversification, proactively shaping market practices where appropriate. You will architect the 3-to-5-year strategic roadmap for the CEE region. This involves conducting deep-dive analyses of each market segment (e.g., companion animal vs. livestock), identifying white-space opportunities, and defining specific, measurable initiatives for growth. Execution requires you to allocate capital and human resources to the highest-impact projects, establish clear KPIs and governance frameworks to track progress, and personally lead quarterly business reviews to ensure strategic initiatives remain on track and adapt to changing market realities. "Shaping market practices" means you will spearhead initiatives like launching new digital sales channels, pioneering value-based pricing models, or establishing new standards of care through key opinion leader engagement.
• Monitor industry trends and competitive activities to inform strategic decisions. This is an active, not passive, responsibility. You will establish and oversee a systematic competitive intelligence process across the CEE cluster. This includes analyzing competitors' product pipelines, go-to-market tactics, pricing actions, and organizational changes. You are expected to synthesize this data into actionable insights, anticipating competitive moves and developing preemptive or responsive strategies to protect and grow our market share.
• Guide, coach, and motivate country teams, fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture focused on shared success. Your leadership will be demonstrated through direct, hands-on engagement with your Country Managers and their teams. This involves traveling regularly to key markets, conducting in-field visits with sales teams, and leading regional town halls and leadership meetings. You will implement a structured coaching framework to develop your direct reports, focusing on their strategic thinking, financial acumen, and people leadership skills. Fostering a "shared success" culture means you will design and implement cross-border collaboration projects and incentive structures that reward collective regional achievements over siloed country performance.
• Establish and maintain relationships with key customers, distributors, opinion leaders, and authorities to enhance communication and build customer loyalty. You will be the executive face of the company in the CEE region. This requires you to personally manage relationships with the CEOs of our largest distribution partners, the presidents of national veterinary associations, and key officials in regulatory or government bodies. Your objective is to move beyond transactional interactions to build long-term strategic alliances, securing preferential partnerships, influencing policy, and ensuring our company is viewed as the partner of choice across the animal health ecosystem.
• Ensure full compliance with company policies and applicable regulations, promoting a values-driven work environment. You are the ultimate steward of our company's reputation and ethical standards in the CEE region. This means you are personally accountable for the compliance framework, ensuring all employees are trained on and adhere to anti-corruption laws, pharmacovigilance reporting, and industry marketing codes. You will lead by example, championing a "speak-up" culture where ethical concerns can be raised without fear of retaliation and taking decisive action to investigate and remediate any compliance breaches.

Qualifications Required

• Expertise in Profit and Loss (P&L) management and financial planning
• Exceptional execution and strategic planning skills
• Demonstrated ability to lead change and drive results
• Strong leadership and people management skills
• Language Skills Fluent in English; Polish or Hungarian is an advantage.
• Education Bachelor's degree from an accredited university in fields such as Veterinary, Pharmacy, Medicine, Engineering, Economics, BA, or Finance. Advanced degrees (MA, MBA, MD) preferred.
• Travel Around 30–40% within the cluster.

Preferred

• Experience in coaching, talent development, and team building
• Proven networking and partnership skills
• Track record of motivating and inspiring diverse teams
• Commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion

Personal Attributes

• Authentic leadership style with credibility and integrity
• Proven ability to build strong teams and develop talent
• Smart risk-taker with a positive, energetic approach
• Openness to learning and embracing cultural diversity
• Calm and resilient under pressure
• Self-aware and receptive to feedback
• Driven to achieve outstanding results

Required Skills
Accountability, Accountability, Business Decisions, Business Development, Business Growth, Commercial Strategies, Decision Making, Disease Prevention, Financial Acumen, Financial Management, Financial Performance, Go-to-Market Strategies, Leadership, Management Process, Market Development, Operational Decisions, Operational Excellence, People Leadership, Pharmaceutical Industry, Product Management, Profit and Loss (P&L) Management, Regulatory Compliance, Results-Oriented, Sales Operations, Strategic Initiative {+ 2 more}

Preferred Skills
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Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

Employee Status
Regular

Relocation
Domestic/International

VISA Sponsorship
Yes

Travel Requirements
50%

Flexible Work Arrangements
Hybrid

Shift
Not Indicated

Valid Driving License
Yes

Hazardous Material(s)
n/a

Job Posting End Date
01/20/2026

• A job posting is effective until PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.

Requisition ID
R377721