Area Manager (Regional Business Manager)

The Institutional Regional Business Manager/First Line Sales Manager (i-FLM) is responsible for leading a high-performing institutional sales team for driving institutional business growth by effectively navigating the government and public healthcare ecosystem, building advocacy among key healthcare professionals and decision-makers, and enabling access for innovative, concept-driven brands. The role requires a strong understanding of reimbursement pathways, procurement processes, and institutional treatment landscapes, coupled with the ability to influence stakeholders through scientific engagement, strategic account management, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver sustainable patient access and business outcomes.

Location-BangaloreKey Responsibilities:Lead, coach, and develop the team to achieve sales, productivity, and performance objectives through effective field coaching, call planning, and disciplined execution.Drive business growth for innovative, concept-driven brands across government and institutional healthcare accounts by developing and executing strategic account plans.Navigate the Indian public healthcare ecosystem, including Central and State Government institutions, CGHS, ESIC, Defence, Railways, and leading government medical colleges, to maximize brand access and utilization.Build and strengthen advocacy among healthcare professionals, institutional decision-makers, and key opinion leaders through scientific engagement and evidence-based value discussions.Facilitate inclusion and sustained utilization of company brands within institutional formularies, treatment protocols, and clinical pathways through compliant stakeholder engagement.Identify, map, and engage key stakeholders across institutional accounts, including department heads, formulary committee members, procurement authorities, pharmacists, administrators, and clinical influencers.Assess and address patient access barriers by collaborating with cross-functional teams to develop and implement effective market access solutions.Monitor institutional business performance, analyze account trends, and implement corrective actions to achieve both short-term targets and long-term strategic objectives.Develop and execute regional and territory business plans aligned with brand strategy, including targeting, coverage planning, quarterly priorities, and cycle plan execution.Leverage sales analytics, prescription insights, and market intelligence to enhance targeting, improve field effectiveness, and drive timely corrective actions.Ensure flawless implementation of brand strategies and KPI governance, including coverage, call quality, demand generation, product availability, and risk management across competition, access, and supply.Adhere strictly to company policies, ethical standards, and compliance requirements.Collaborate with Marketing, Medical, Value & Access, Supply Chain, and other cross-functional teams to execute regional initiatives, resolve customer challenges, and improve patient access.Build organizational capability through structured coaching, joint field work, role plays, performance reviews, onboarding, talent development, and succession planning.Own forecasting accuracy, business hygiene, budget management, expense control, and timely reporting/documentation.Partner with distributors and trade channels to ensure product availability, primary-secondary sales alignment, and effective stock and expiry management.Drive omnichannel execution while maintaining high standards of data quality, privacy, and approved content usage.Continuously monitor competitive activities, clinical guidelines, and emerging evidence, translating insights into actionable strategies to protect and grow market share.Essential Requirements:Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences, Pharmacy, Business Administration, or a related discipline.MBA/PGDM preferred.6-10 years of pharmaceutical sales experience, including 3-4 years managing Institutional/Government business.Experience in Immunology, Vaccines, Oncology, Cardiovascular, or Specialty Care therapeutic areas preferred.2-4 years of people management experience with a demonstrated ability to coach, develop, and drive high-performing teams.Proven experience navigating the Indian government healthcare ecosystem, including:Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS)Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)State Government Health ProgramsIndian RailwaysDefence ServicesEx-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS)Municipal CorporationsMajor Government Medical Colleges and InstitutionsDemonstrated success in launching or scaling innovative therapies within institutional and government healthcare segments is highly preferred.Strong analytical capabilities with proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.Excellent communication, influencing, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.Strong ethics and compliance mindset, with working knowledge of pharmaceutical promotional codes and SOPs.Prior experience within a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) team will be an added advantage.High field orientation with willingness to travel extensively across the assigned region.Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion / EEO paragraph: Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams’ representative of the patients and communities we serve. Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture Benefits and Rewards: Read our handbook to learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally: https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards