Head of Business Operations

Job Description

Position: Head Business Operations, Emerging Markets

Location: Pune, India

Reporting To: President

Position Summary

Head Business Operations, Emerging Markets will lead the strategic and operational management of Company's Emerging Markets business. The role carries end-to-end accountability for driving sustainable and profitable growth across diverse international markets by integrating commercial excellence, supply chain effectiveness, regulatory execution, business development, and market expansion initiatives.

The incumbent will own regional P&L performance while partnering closely with Country Managers, Commercial Heads, Regulatory Affairs, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, Medical Affairs, and Quality teams to build scalable and profitable businesses across branded formulations, institutional sales, and government tender channels.

This role requires a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with extensive international business experience, strong commercial acumen, operational leadership, and the ability to navigate complex regulatory and market environments.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute the overall business strategy for Emerging Markets aligned with Emcure's global growth objectives.
• Drive profitable revenue growth while strengthening market share across Africa, Southeast Asia, LATAM, CIS, and other emerging geographies.
• Identify and prioritize new market opportunities, therapeutic segments, strategic partnerships, and business expansion initiatives.
• Lead annual operating plans, strategic reviews, and long-term growth roadmaps.

P&L Ownership

• Assume complete responsibility for regional revenue, profitability, margins, working capital, and overall business performance.
• Monitor business performance against budgets and KPIs, ensuring timely corrective actions.
• Optimize portfolio profitability through pricing strategies, product mix, lifecycle management, and channel optimization.

Commercial Excellence

• Strengthen commercial execution across distributor-led, direct, institutional, and government tender businesses.
• Drive sales productivity, market penetration, and customer engagement initiatives.
• Develop robust go-to-market strategies tailored to individual regional dynamics.
• Collaborate with Country Heads to achieve ambitious commercial targets.

Supply Chain & Operations

• Lead end-to-end supply chain planning to ensure product availability while optimizing inventory and working capital.
• Coordinate demand forecasting, production planning, logistics, and distribution for international markets.
• Resolve operational bottlenecks affecting product supply and customer service.
• Improve supply chain responsiveness, efficiency, and cost optimization.

Regulatory & Market Access

• Partner with Regulatory Affairs to accelerate product registrations and lifecycle management.
• Ensure regulatory strategies support timely product launches and uninterrupted business continuity.
• Monitor changing regulatory landscapes across multiple countries and proactively manage associated risks.

Business Development & Market Expansion

• Evaluate new country entry opportunities and expansion into adjacent therapeutic categories.
• Lead due diligence and execution of strategic alliances, licensing arrangements, and distribution partnerships.
• Identify inorganic growth opportunities where appropriate.

Tender & Institutional Business

• Develop strategies to strengthen participation in government tenders, donor-funded programs, and institutional procurement.
• Improve tender planning, pricing competitiveness, execution, and profitability.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Build strong collaboration across Commercial, Finance, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Medical Affairs, Quality, and Legal functions.
• Ensure alignment between global priorities and local market execution.
• Drive governance, business reviews, and performance management processes.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead and mentor a multicultural, geographically dispersed leadership team.
• Build organizational capability through succession planning, coaching, and talent development.
• Foster a high-performance, customer-centric, and execution-focused culture.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy, Life Sciences, , or a related discipline.
• MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification from a reputed institution preferred.

Experience

• 18–20 years of progressive experience within the pharmaceutical industry.
• Significant leadership experience managing international or emerging markets businesses.
• Proven success in P&L management for multi-country pharmaceutical operations.
• Strong exposure to branded generics, formulations, institutional business, and government tenders.
• Demonstrated experience across Africa, Southeast Asia, LATAM, CIS, or comparable international markets.
• Experience leading cross-functional, multicultural teams in a global environment.

Knowledge & Competencies

• International pharmaceutical business management
• Commercial strategy and execution
• Financial and P&L management
• Supply chain and S&OP
• Regulatory frameworks across emerging markets
• Market access and tender management
• Distributor and partner management
• Business development and market expansion
• Strategic planning and execution
• Risk management and governance
• Negotiation and influencing skills
• Data-driven decision-making
• Executive stakeholder management

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic thinker with a global mindset
• Strong commercial orientation and business acumen
• Results-driven with operational excellence
• Exceptional leadership and people development capability
• High adaptability across diverse cultural environments
• Excellent communication and executive presence
• Collaborative, decisive, and execution-focused
• Resilient and capable of managing complexity and ambiguity