Dermatology Area Business Leader – San Francisco, CA

Role Summary

Dermatology Area Business Leader – San Francisco, CA. This is a field-based and remote opportunity supporting a sales team in an assigned geography. The Area Business Leader directs a team of Territory Account Specialists to deliver tailored customer experiences and clinical dialogue that compel customers to act for their patients and generate demand. Through regular face-to-face in-field interactions, the ABL mentors cross-functional collaboration with Healthcare Providers, Key Accounts and Systems of Care to identify shared priorities, deliver clinical value, and establish Novartis as a preferred customer partner. The ABL fosters a high-performance, accountable culture that motivates the team to execute the brand strategy and tactics.

Responsibilities

• Recruit, develop, retain, mentor, and lead a diverse team to deliver on strategic sales objectives and establish a cadence of accountability by communicating and supervising KPIs and engaging all levels of performance.
• Model the way for all associates by encouraging a shared vision, clear expectations, accountability, enabling others to act, and optimizing processes by challenging the status quo.
• Monitor and mentor to ensure Territory Account Specialists effectively orchestrate the total account call by coordinating deployment resources to plan, communicate, and follow through to meet customer needs.
• Develop, implement, and cultivate a customer-centric business plan in collaboration with customer engagement and cross-functional partners to optimize customer experience and product demand.
• Serve as a member of the regional leadership team contributing to the development of overall regional goals, business execution, team development and culture.
• Embed a hard-working, customer-centric culture where teams are engaged business owners that take action, solve problems, collaborate, experiment, and fail forward.
• Possess in-depth knowledge in clinical, access and reimbursement, business acumen, territory management, and appropriate use of omni-channel marketing tools to develop and mentor team members during regular field contacts and one-on-one sessions.
• Leverage analytics platforms to advise decisions and identify risks and opportunities to ensure the Territory Account Specialists deploy resources like strategic face-to-face meetings, omni-channel resources, total office calls, and cross-functional partners.

Qualifications

• Required: 2+ years’ experience as a first-line sales manager with strong, demonstrated strategic thinking and enterprise mindset.
• Required: Leadership experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, or similarly structured industries with large, geographically dispersed sales teams. Internal Sales Associates are eligible if they have completed the Novartis Emerging Leaders Development Program (ELDP), or have 2+ years of pharmaceutical/biotech sales management experience within the last two years prior to joining the company.
• Required: Demonstrated success in attracting, developing, and retaining diverse talent while building high-performing, collaborative teams.
• Required: Proven ability to drive sales growth, lead cross-functional partnerships, and execute strategic initiatives in complex, multi-regional environments.
• Required: Experience managing field organizations through change, innovation, or growth is highly valued.
• Required: Candidate must reside within the territory, or within a reasonable daily commuting distance of 100 miles from the territory border. Ability to travel 60-80% over a broad geography is required, with the ability to drive and/or fly within the territory. Must have a valid driver’s license.
• Preferred: Experience leading sales teams in promotion to large practices, hospitals, IDNs & SoC customers, with an understanding of reimbursement for both outpatient (payer) and inpatient (DRG/Medicare).

Education

• Bachelor’s degree from a 4-year college or university.

Additional Requirements

• Driving is an essential function of this role; a fully valid and unrestricted driver’s license is required. Reasonable accommodations may be provided where allowed by law and without eliminating the essential function of driving.
• For Field Roles with a Dedicated Training Period: Successful completion of initial training, including home study, eight or fewer hours per day and forty or fewer hours per week.