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Marketing and Sales
Introduction
A career in marketing or sales lets you experience first hand how we can change the lives of patients by offering a broad portfolio of high quality products.
In marketing it is our role to tap into the needs of doctors, nurses and patients and make these needs known to our colleagues in other areas of the company to make sure we develop and offer the most adequate solutions.
In sales you are at the front line of our business. The prime task is to support healthcare professionals and to do our utmost to help them deliver the best possible care to their patients. You will bring new and better therapies and services to their attention, advise on optimal treatment and educate in the appropriate use of our products.
Working together, marketing and sales guarantee that the investment we make in world-class research and development in new products reaches the millions of people around the world that need the treatments we offer.
If you are ready for a life-changing career in marketing or sales then read on!
We make a difference
It takes about 10 years to turn an idea into a product. Part of marketing and sales’ responsibility is to pave the way for our product and ensure that they become successful and benefit our customers.
1 out of 10,000
It is estimated that out of 10,000 ideas that are born in the lab, just one may reach the market. The entire development process represents some of the largest investments that Novo Nordisk makes, both in terms of capital and manpower.
In general, hundreds to thousands of Novo Nordisk employees have taken part in a product’s development by the time it hits pharmacy shelves.
It is the role of marketing and sales to ensure that these investments come to realisation. Excellent research results in high quality products. However, to become truly successful, these products must be supported by the implementation of effective marketing and sales strategies.
All the employees who have been working on our products’ development are relying on us to ensure that they have not wasted their time and brilliant ideas. The patients are relying on us to educate healthcare professionals about new products – that could really changes lives for the better.
How we are organised
In Novo Nordisk, Marketing and Sales are two separate functions that work closely together.
Corporate Marketing is responsible for strategic decision making regarding our products. It is divided into three areas – the Global Marketing team, the Victoza® team and the New Product Planning team. They are located at our headquarters in Denmark and also in our regional office in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Sales function is responsible for executing our marketing strategies and educating healthcare professionals about our products. Our Sales functions are located at our regional offices in Zurich, the US and Japan and also more locally in our affiliate offices.
About us
A career in marketing at Novo Nordisk can offer international experience: Corporate Marketing is located at our headquarters in Denmark and Zurich, and we have local marketing in 70 affiliates. Our products are marketed in 179 countries.
Marketing at Novo Nordisk involves everything we do to educate our customers about our company, products and services. This includes engagement through different channels such as events and meetings, advertising, direct marketing, internet marketing, public relations, strategic partnerships and networking.
Our customers are first and foremost the people who use our products and services. Equally important are healthcare professionals who prescribe our products, payers and policy makers.
It can take approximately 10 years from initial research for a new therapy until it is launched. Marketing is involved in various stages of development, to ensure that this investment becomes a successful product for the company that can change the lives of people around the world.
Corporate Marketing is responsible for strategic decision making regarding our products. This function is divided into three areas – Global Marketing, Liraglutide and New Product Planning.
Global Marketing
Around 200 employees work in Global Marketing, which is based in our headquarters in Denmark and at our regional office in Zurich, Switzerland. It includes over 30 different nationalities, with a range of diverse backgrounds including doctors, pharmacists, business and sales representatives.
In Global Marketing, we provide early business input to discovery projects and prepare long-term marketing strategies. We prepare the markets for product launches and ensure execution of marketing strategies locally. We are also responsible for managing our global key opinion leader relationships successfully.
Liraglutide
In the Liraglutide organisation we develop the launch and marketing strategies for Victoza®, which is currently being launched in a number of countries around the world. We are also responsible for developing marketing strategies for future product launches within the entire GLP-1 class portfolio, among others obesity. The Liraglutide organisation is based in our headquarters in Denmark and in our regional office in Zurich, Switzerland and consists of around 65 employees.
New Product Planning
In New Product Planning we are responsible for providing senior management with unbiased strategic input for decision making on early projects in R&D. We enable prioritization of projects within the R&D portfolio and develop commercial assessments on in-licensing and opportunities for mergers and acquisitions. New Product Planning is based in our headquarters in Denmark and consists of around 15 employees.
Regional and local marketing
We have regional and local marketing teams in approximately 70 countries around the world. In these teams, we handle local adaptation and tactical implementation of the marketing strategies and product launches developed by Corporate Marketing. We work closely with our local sales and medical teams to develop our sales strategy and tactics and key opinion leader relationships.
Who we are looking for
Employees in Corporate Marketing have a variety of educational backgrounds. However, all employees do also share some common personality traits: they are ambitious, results-oriented and responsible.
Educational backgrounds
The primary profiles of employees in our Corporate Marketing function are marketers with a business and/or sales background and medical directors with a background as medical doctors. In addition, we employ a variety of employees with other backgrounds including pharmacists, engineers and health economists.
About you
Stakeholder management is a key competence within Corporate Marketing. You will be responsible for creating constructive relationships with your stakeholders and building your own network across the various business areas and geographies.
Your job includes being curious and courageous in your work. Being innovative in your approach and always aim to explore new ways of thinking and working where relevant. You must strive for continuous improvement.
We pride ourselves of a cross-functional, horizontal hierarchy, meaning that all doors are open to you. An open-minded environment that welcomes individual ideas, no matter your role and title, is what keeps us innovative and dynamic. Further, we believe this enables us to make the best possible decisions based on collective input.
Everything we do and every decision we make has the patient at its core. We expect the same from you. We are changing diabetes. We are changing possibilities in haemophilia. We are changing lives. You will be key to making this happen so be ready for change continuously.
Your opportunities
In Corporate Marketing we expect you to be ambitious and your manager to support your ambitions. You own your career and must drive it actively. We ask all employees to review our values regularly, reflect on them and what they mean to you and your behaviours and then put them into action.
Developing your talent
When you start in Novo Nordisk you will receive training in our products and project management and in the skills and competencies needed for stakeholder management, such as diversity training.
As you gain experience, you will have the opportunity to receive further training and take on more challenging roles, including mentoring and coaching.
Career paths
In Corporate Marketing we have a transparent career development system which includes potential opportunities within the following main areas: brand teams, medical affairs, commercial excellence and marketing analysis. There are also many possibilities for global assignments.
Managing a team
For those who wish to develop people management skills, managing and motivating a team provides a uniquely invaluable experience. We support our new managers with training in the skills needed for them to deliver results, in a way that also allows the people in their teams to realise their own development needs.
About us
At Novo Nordisk our sales organisation helps drive our commercial success by providing information and training to healthcare professionals on the latest therapies, and thereby supporting them so that they can deliver world-class treatment to patients.
Supporting healthcare professionals is a key priority to Novo Nordisk. By so doing, Novo Nordisk will continue to achieve competitive business results which allows us to spend the necessary resources on research and development of new and improved therapies for people with diabetes and other chronic conditions.
Teamwork
Sales are not seen as a stand alone function within Novo Nordisk. We work hand-in-hand with the marketing, medical, clinical and regulatory teams, rolling out the strategies and developing and applying tactics. This is followed by evaluating successes and areas for improvement, gathering healthcare professionals’ opinions and information about their constantly changing needs.
Our patients’ ambassador
We hold the patients close to our hearts and minds, and so we act as their ambassador within our company. We aim to be the first to discover what is working well and what our patients need. This knowledge we use to shape our marketing campaigns and support services.
Product safety
Product safety is a top priority in Novo Nordisk, and with this top priority, sales have an invaluable role.If a patient or healthcare professional raises a question or concern regarding safety we must immediately pass this information on to the relevant experts for investigation.
Who we are looking for
People in sales share a common objective: you care about what you do and want to make a difference. A sales role with Novo Nordisk really allows you to have that impact.
You are results oriented and enjoy having ambitious sales targets that you ultimately want to exceed.
You are self-motivating, organised and driven. You thrive on the trust that comes from having the freedom to plan your own workload, and enjoy fulfilling that trust.
You are a communicator and good listener. You are good at picking up on signals from your customers and colleagues and support them in the best way possible. You communicate enthusiasm about your brands, your company and your role.
You are more ‘we’ than you are ‘me’. You want your team to succeed and support your colleagues to achieve their goals. You want to be number one personally, but you also celebrate the success of others.
Your opportunities
Novo Nordisk has a strong focus on the development and training of the people who are the face of our company to the outside world - our sales representatives.
Developing your talent
When you start in Novo Nordisk you will receive extensive training in our products and also in the skills and competencies needed to support the work of the healthcare professionals with whom you will be interacting.
As you gain experience, you will have the opportunity to receive further training and take on more challenging roles, including mentoring and coaching. Senior and experienced representatives contribute to the development of company strategies and how we can improve the way we work.
Managing a team
For those who wish to develop people management skills, managing and motivating a team of sales representatives provides a uniquely invaluable experience. We support our new managers with training in the skills needed to ensure they deliver results, in a way that also allows the people in their teams to realise their own development needs.
Changing roles
Success in sales and sales management over a number of years provides a good platform for moving into other areas of the company as either a project or product/brand manager. Sales experience is highly valued for all our marketing roles.
