Country Manager Sweden

Company Description

Santen is a global ophthalmology-focused pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, employing over 4,200 individuals worldwide. With a heritage spanning more than 130 years, the company is committed to enhancing patients' lives by combining a patient-first philosophy with deep expertise and advanced technologies in eye care. Santen’s product portfolio is robust, featuring treatments for broad disease areas with focus on glaucoma, dry eye and myopia across international markets, in addition to retinal conditions within Japan. 

In 2025, Santen introduced a new medium-term strategic growth plan designed to: 

• Establish its presence as a trusted ophthalmology leader ex-Japan (incl. EMEA) 

• Create markets in new disease areas (Myopia and Ptosis) tailored to each region’s medical environment 

• Expand its Rx portfolio and pipeline to support commercial long-term growth 

• Continue to enhance operations through the fortification of supply and productivity to enable flexible responses to changes in the business environment 

Santen exceeded its financial targets in 2024, with revenues of 300 billion JPY (approximately €1.7 billion), representing ~8% year-on-year growth. Operating profit reached 59.4 billion JPY (around €346 million). With a footprint in over 50 countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Santen continues to lead in ophthalmology while undergoing a period of significant transformation and expansion in these regions. 

Job Description

We are seeking a dynamic and strategic Country Manager to lead and grow our pharmaceutical business in Sweden. This pivotal role is responsible for the overall performance of the local affiliate, including full P&L ownership, strategic direction, compliance, and the development and execution of commercial strategies tailored to the local market. 

As Country Manager, you will play a dual role—both strategic and hands-on—requiring an entrepreneurial mindset, strong leadership skills. You will be instrumental in shaping the future of our business in the country, fostering a high-performance culture, and ensuring operational excellence. 

What you will do 

• Ensure full compliance with local laws, compliance with company policies and procedures and adherence to company values.  

• Follow the general and local Santen policies and ensure that the local Sales Team shall follow-up and complete all required administrative duties in due course/date 

• You will be responsible for collecting and reporting all safety information in a timely manner to Santen Oy PV unit as set out in the applicable SOP 

• The position holder is responsible for reporting all complaints (product quality related) in a timely manner to Santen Oy QA department as set out the applicable SOP 

• You will ensure that all subordinates are knowledgeable and trained in the applicable SOPs for reporting of safety information (pharmacovigilance) and complaints (product quality) 

• The position holder is knowledgeable about GDP and applicable processed within region and about the requirements associated with the position as set out in Company SOPs and likewise knowledgeable about regulatory guidelines from NCA. In given situations the country manager acts together with the Santen Pharma AB/Santen Oy Responsible Person 

Qualifications

• Economic and/or Life sciences, Marketing, university degree or similar. 

• Leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry with track record of driving revenue growth and exceeding sales targets. 

• Demonstrated understanding of all the operational and functional areas of a company, the management of a P&L, what it takes to build operations and to establish a team.  

• Profound experience in Sales management. 

• Experience in managing organizational change successfully in a global matrix environment 

• Strong market access and pricing skills. 

• Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills. 

• Strong understanding of Swedish healthcare landscape and market preferrable 

• Fluency in English and proficiency in Swedish is an advantage. 

• Significant travel requirement both domestic and abroad. 

Ready to make a difference?  

Apply today and help us shape the future of eye health. 

Additional Information

Grow your career at Santen

A career at Santen is an opportunity to make a difference. Through our long-term vision outlined in Santen 2030, we are committed to be a Social Innovator - addressing the social and economic needs of people with visual impairments. We have team members around the world using their diverse talents to unlock new modalities and drive innovations for patient outcomes, education and treatment. At Santen, we believe in empowering all our team members with flexible ways of working and a highly inclusive work environment.

The Santen Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building diverse teams and ensuring a safe and inclusive physical and virtual workplace for every one of our team members. All employment decisions are based on business needs, role requirements and individual qualifications regardless of race, color, ethnicity, national origin/ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/ expression, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you require any kind of accommodation during our recruitment process, please let the recruiter from our team know.