Nordic Business Unit Head, Companion Animal

Zoetis Nordic

Zoetis, the world’s leading animal health company, is seeking a dynamic and strategic Nordic Business Unit Head for Companion Animals. This is a high-profile leadership role with full responsibility for driving growth, market share, and innovation across Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. As part of the Nordic Leadership Team, you will shape strategy, deliver results, and lead a talented team, while collaborating closely with colleagues across Northern Europe.

Areas of responsibility

The Business Unit Head (BU Head) is responsible for managing a complex business unit with the objective of achieving ambitious sales targets and driving market share growth. The position carries full accountability for delivering business results.

Within the unit, the BU Head oversees and develops resources across marketing, technical functions, sales, and key account management. This includes the planning and coordination of services, consultancy, and other activities essential for sustaining long-term business performance.

Furthermore, the responsibility of the Business Unit Head will include:

Financial Management:

Managing the business unit budget with strict financial control, avoiding overspends and ensuring accurate financial and volume forecasting.
Leveraging all revenue streams—products, services, technology, pricing, and consultancy—to drive both short- and long-term growth.
Using discretionary budgets responsibly and innovatively, supported by ROI analysis before and after investments.
Continuously assessing payroll costs versus ROI and leading structural changes when needed to secure optimal efficiency.

Planning:

Monitoring market conditions and anticipating fluctuations to capture commercial opportunities.
Developing strategic plans with stakeholders, based on deep customer and market knowledge.
Assessing customer growth potential through account profiling and segmentation.
Using business analytics to track and measure brand performance, market share, and positioning.
Implementing company strategies on product positioning, pricing, packaging, distribution, and customer segmentation.
Translating strategy into tactical delivery and aligning resources effectively.
Identifying opportunities for alliances, acquisitions, licensing, and partnerships to drive growth.
Contributing to the development of broader pan-cluster strategies and ensuring alignment beyond the Nordic region.

Customer proposition:

Driving the development and evolution of the customer offer, integrating products, services, and consultancy.
Refining commercial policies, customer loyalty programs, and value-added services to align with new business initiatives.
Delivering innovative services that support business goals and marketing plans while maximizing commercial potential.
Managing strategic pricing policies to align with commercial objectives and provide value to customers.
Ensuring compliance with corporate policies, codes of practice, and regulatory requirements.
Collaborating with European and Global teams to provide consistent support for international customers.

People Development:

Setting clear direction and expectations for the team, aligned with company vision, mission, values, and policies.
Leading the team through change to improve processes, performance, and results.
Driving individual and team performance through formal people processes, coaching, training, and talent succession planning.
Attracting, developing, and retaining top talent while embedding a culture of coaching, reward, and recognition.
Ensuring solution selling, field force effectiveness, and effective cross-functional collaboration are core to the team’s operations.

Relationships:

Creating channels for feedback and actively exchanging information at all levels.
Building and maintaining a broad network of industry contacts, opinion leaders, and key influencers.
Leading a business unit that prioritizes mutually beneficial relationships and win-win-win outcomes.
Collaborating with Zoetis teams beyond the region to share best practices and leverage global expertise.
Utilizing resources from the COE and the Commercial Development & Lifecycle Innovation community to maximize product portfolio value.

Your profile

Aligned with the company’s vision, the role requires extensive collaboration beyond the local market, engaging with colleagues in the Northern Europe cluster as well as globally. The BU Head is a member of the Nordic Leadership Team and contributes actively to the formulation and execution of the overall Nordic business strategy.

The role is defined by strategic leadership, financial accountability, and cross-functional collaboration. As a leader of leaders, the BU Head is expected to model outstanding leadership behaviours, foster a high-performance culture, and consistently demonstrate the Zoetis values.

Furthermore, we expect you have/are:

Experience or demonstrated knowledge of the Animal Health, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, Diagnostics or industry. Knowledge about the Animal Health industry is highly desired.
Proven experience in a strategic role and in senior leadership within large corporate environments, with the ability to operate confidently and robustly when engaging with executive leadership teams.
Experience in an international organisation with a fast-evolving environment
Extensive marketing, sales, technical or organisational leadership experience
Financial management experience – P&L and operating budget management
IT literate. Able to use standard business software and communication tools

What does Zoetis offer?

Zoetis offers the opportunity to take on a pivotal leadership role in a dynamic and growing market segment. As Business Unit Head for Companion Animals, you will have the chance to shape and execute strategy, drawing on Zoetis’ global expertise while tailoring solutions to meet local customer needs. The role provides the platform to drive innovation in products, services, and customer solutions, ensuring that Zoetis remains at the forefront of the Companion Animals market.

Additionally, you will be responsible for a talented and highly motivated team, offering the chance to mentor managers, develop talent, and foster a high-performance, collaborative culture. By engaging with key stakeholders – veterinarians, industry influencers, and global Zoetis colleagues – the Business Unit Head has a direct impact on market growth, customer satisfaction, and the evolution of the Companion Animals portfolio.

Interested?

The recruitment process is carried out in collaboration with the consulting company Compass Human Resources Group. If you want to learn more about this position before submitting your CV, please do not hesitate to contact Partner, Oliver Hauberg-Jensen at +45 28 69 88 80. As we process CVs continuously, we encourage you to submit your CV at your earliest convenience if you are interested. Please note that all enquiries will be handled with confidentiality and that we will reply to the email address from which you send your CV.

Deadline: As soon as possible
Workplace: Copenhagen
Reference: 2507.159
Company: Zoetis Nordic

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