Associate Director, Regional Marketing - Japan (APAC)

Key responsibilities:

The ideal candidate for this position will have a strong knowledge of the genomics market in Japan with demonstrated success in developing product market strategies, both short and medium term, including planning and executing regional strategies for new product introductions and increasing market penetration.

You are the key contact person of the marketing department for Japan and will be in close alignment with regional commercial teams, regional marketing functions, and the global marketing teams. You will be responsible for implementing the company’s global marketing and sales-focused strategies, identifying regional business growth needs, and developing relevant local marketing plans to drive the company’s strategic business growth in the region.

Main duties:

Lead Regional Marketing Growth Strategies

• Develop and implement comprehensive marketing strategies that are translated to operational plans in Japan, focusing on growing sales and increasing profitability aligned with the company's strategic priorities.

• Use regional market knowledge and customer insights, articulate regional marketing strategies, and identify the region’s market growth opportunities to reach local vital customer segments, including the delivery of the global messaging and local deployment plans across Japan.

• Understand the regional market trends, short- and long-term opportunities for our technology and products, and create strategies and plans aligned with the central marketing team.

• A key element of the role will be collecting, evaluating, reacting to, and communicating field information to the global teams. They should ensure that customer feedback is shared with the teams in order to influence Oxford Nanopore’s product development strategy and roadmap, as well as commercial goals and objectives.

• Pilot, incubate, iterate profitable local programs/initiatives, and execute global marketing/commercial marketing programs in the region.

• Implement and maintain consistency of the central marketing SOPs, standards, and measurement metrics in Japan.

• Follow the central marketing guideline, ensure the company’s core value, brand, ethos and tone of the voice are applied and consistent in Japan.

Support Marketing Campaigns in Japan

• Work with regional Marketing Operations and Events teams to implement and manage regional marketing activities (including local campaigns and events) in Japan, where local insight, execution support, and language translation are appropriate.

• Support monitoring budget allocated for marketing plan execution.

• Support regional Marketing Operations to track and report of marketing campaigns results using agreed KPIs.

Support Sales and Key Commercial Channels

• Support both direct sales and indirect channel partners/dealers, deliver trainings and programmes as appropriate.

• Work with global marketing team, provide local competitor information with a set of sales tools that help regional sales teams to position and sell the company’s product portfolio.

• Support the creation, translation and/or the delivery of marketing materials/collaterals (digital and print; English and/or Japanese translated) as appropriate in the region.

• Support sales by attending customer meetings and presentations as appropriate.

• Partner with thought leaders to design and manage collaboration opportunities that support our commercial goals.

• Setting, communicating and maintaining timelines and priorities, including expectation management on multiple projects.

• Any other duties as might be required within the remit and responsibilities of the post.

Key requirements:

• Solid understanding of the life science/genomic market in Japan.

• Experience and understanding of genetic technologies and how they can be utilised in a variety of applications.

• Minimum BSc in biological sciences discipline; MSc/PhD preferred. An MBA degree would be a plus.

• Previous marketing experience (5-8+ years) within a life science and/or genomic sequencing industry.

• Demonstrable experience in the development of strategic and execution of tactical marketing plans.

• Experience in working with distributors, dealers and channel partners.

• Working in a global and matrixed environment, with the ability to influence across an organisation at all levels, including previous experience in a highly matrixed organisation would be preferred.

• Experience working with marketing automation platforms/SFDC.

• Excellent organization and presentation skills, must have exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Proven ability to work efficiently with external agencies and internal stakeholders, with an eye for detail.

• Strong project management skills and a passion for driving activities to a high-reaching timescale.

• A detailed, focused, and analytical approach to problem solving.

• Comfortable travel up to 30-40% within the region.

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