Professional Medical Sales Rep, Oncology – Johannesburg needed at AstraZeneca

Typical accountabilities will include:

Role model some capabilities core competencies

•  Self-motivation, development & awareness
•  Shows clear understanding of his / her own strength and areas for development.
•  Sets goals for own personal development.
• Proactively seeks and implements feedback and advice from others.
• Makes observable efforts to bring a positive energy to the team and colleagues.
• Demonstrates an open mind and embraces change.

Individual& interpersonal effectiveness

• Recognizes and modifies own communication approach when working with colleagues and customers.
• Demonstrates versatility when working with a variety of contacts within the customer organization.
• Works cross-functionally, sharing information that will help address the needs of individual accounts and decision makers.
• Is innovative in the generation of new ideas and solutions to problems.
• Can influence complex decision-making processes.

Selling skills

• Develop a deep understanding of the customer/account.
• Derives insights from understanding how both the wider and local healthcare environment influences decision making.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the patient journey, disease progression and impact upon the patient of different treatment choices.
• Understands and gathers insights regarding the customer’s role in the decision-making unit, their personal style, preferences and situation.
• Can articulate how the call fits within a series of calls to achieve a commercial objective, and captures this in a pre-call plan.
• Establishes the unmet need.
• Opens the call with impact, articulating the insight for single brand or portfolio in alignment with customer agenda and brand strategy, linking back appropriately to previous calls.
• Establishes and aligns with the customer on an unmet need relating to specific patients or groups of patients.
• Creates positive tension by appropriately challenging customers’ current views based on high levels of insight. Listens and drill down on all feedback.
• Demonstrates active listening skills, to enable greater understanding of the customers values and viewpoints.
• Uses a range of questioning techniques to elicit information relating to the unmet need and treatment options and to maintain positive tension.
• Seeks and confirms partial agreements. Personalizes the message and handles objections.
• Delivers a compelling personalized message to highlight how the clinical benefits of the AZ brand or portfolio will address the unmet need.
• Leverages a high level of brand and disease area knowledge relevant to brand or portfolio.
• Acknowledges, clarifies and handles objections and evaluates the customer’s response (ACHE) closes with actions
• Seeks commitment and actions in line with commercial objectives for single brand or portfolio and with needs of customer and patients.
• Updates appropriate records and profile information and communicates relevant information to cross-functional team.

Results Driven

• Effectively prioritizes accounts using data and tools available.
• Sets SMART customer objectives.
• Effectively determines the key stakeholders in the account.
• Sets SMART account objectives.
• Identifies opportunities and strategies to improve positioning of AZ’s specialist portfolio.
• Drives cross-functional and cross-regional collaboration to fully leverage AZ’s account management capabilities.
• Shares information, insight and expertise with sales team members.

Drives the Business

• Builds and adapts sales plans to ensure business impact and goal achievement in a timely manner.
• Takes decisions and actions to adapt current approach in response to market changes.
• Seeks to identify opportunities and actions that will help to achieve more strategic objectives.
• Drives sales performance by ensuring sales targets are met or exceeded and budgets are managed.
• Drives successful implementation of key account strategies and business plans.
• Drives a process that pulls on cross-functional resources to deliver the targeted account insight and outcome.

Business Acumen

• Understands the wider business environment and incorporates this into their territory action plans.
• Applies knowledge of business principles e.g. SWOT analysis, to support sales efforts.
• Analyses appropriate internal/external data to develop their sales strategy.
• Positions relevant market access solutions in the context of AZ’s value proposition (including where appropriate cost of diagnostic testing).
• Demonstrates detailed knowledge of the issues stakeholders & accounts face with reimbursement and budgeting, in the interconnected specialist ecosystem.

Knowledge: Healthcare Environment

• Shows detailed knowledge of their healthcare ecosystem for their therapeutic area.
• Understand how broader healthcare issues / trends will affect their customer decision making.
• Keeps abreast of the latest developments in the industry and new regulations.
• If appropriate, understands the Diagnostic environment, i.e., companion diagnostics, and potential barriers to effective treatment.

Customer

• Understands the local healthcare environment, patient pathway and individual HCPs role and situation.
• Understands individuals within the decision-making unit and their key drivers and objections.
• Understands customer’s personal profile, style and attitude.
• Develops and manages long-term external relationships, focusing on relevant senior stakeholders within high-value accounts.
• Credibly engages influential stakeholders across the broader specialist ecosystem to collaboratively develop win-win-win solutions.
• At private sector may be required to handle basic managed healthcare (medical aid scheme) discussions at the doctor’s practice

Compliance

• Follows correct procedures and SOPs for all activities and planned meetings.
• Behaves in an ethical manner in response to requests or challenging situations.
• Ensures AZ’s products meet with national and local guidelines and the product license.
• Ensures compliance with the AZ Code of Conduct, Global External Interactions Policy and Standards, and Privacy Policy and standards.

Disease, Science, Therapy, Product, & Competitors

• Demonstrates solid scientific and disease area knowledge in their therapeutic area
• Continually builds their scientific and disease area knowledge.
• Possesses detailed knowledge of relevant clinical trials and data.
• Demonstrates extensive understanding of their product portfolio and relevant competitor product

If this sounds appealing, please read on to understand the experience and skills we’re looking for…

Essential

• Must have a Tertiary qualification in Heath Sciences; Life Sciences and/or Human Anatomy ie: B.Sc
• Must have relationships with Oncologists in the Jhb area and KZN.
• Jhb-based role, the candidate must reside in Johannesburg
• 4-5 years of proven sales experience with a Specialist Oncology track record is desirable.
• Essentially must have 6 – 8 years plus specialist medical Sales experience.
• Valid driver’s license and own vehicle.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with and influence peers
• Demonstrated communication and platform skills
• Strong analytical ability.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Excellent communication skills: clear and concise messaging.
• Ability to work closely in collaboration with cross-functional business areas.
• Valid driver’s license.