Senior Manager, Global Upstream Marketing

This role will be responsible for leading the global upstream marketing team tasked with bringing new products through the Product Development Process, from idea through launch. This position works closely with cross-functional partners based in Minneapolis, France, Denmark and other locations worldwide. This role is global, and responsible for leading the development of long-term product strategies for the Interventional Urology (IU) business. This person will lead the team that is the key product management interface with the technical community as well as the key partner for the Business Development group for M&A, equity and distribution partnership opportunities.

Major Areas of Accountability:

• Define and communicate a global product portfolio strategy and roadmap for IU, based upon unmet customer needs, compelling value propositions and competitive strategy 
• Responsible for the portfolio strategy of IU – from early-stage product development, through launch, maintenance and eventually end-of-life rationalization of products 
• Establish, direct and operationalize short- and long-range critical initiatives in alignment with Coloplast goals and priorities. 
• Define and update IU’s global product roadmap and targeted physician and patient populations 
• Collaborate with a global, multi-functional team to deliver regular, impactful and innovative updates to products (understand customer needs, business needs, prioritize features, etc.) 
• Articulate clear global product roadmap and strategy with clear choices made 
• Help progress the Product Development Process - work closely with R&D, QA, Regulatory and other functional groups to ensure the right product is built, on schedule and in-line with customer needs. 
• Lead tradeoff analysis in the product development process to optimize for right balance of time to market, product features, global requirements and technical risk 
• Acquire and analyze feedback from key opinion leaders, current and potential customers, third party market research, and internal stakeholders to inform product development and develop investment thesis 
• Make data driven decisions, review market research and trends to anticipate and react to competition and customer desires. 
• Initiate / recommend new VOC research as needed 
• Work closely with Downstream Marketing in the execution of product launch prep, launch and maintenance 
• Maintain a solid understanding of the global market by monitoring the competitive market, pricing, and reimbursement information, identifying trends or changes that will impact business, and recommending actions and contingency plans to maximize opportunities for Coloplast
• Lead, coach and manage a team of Global Upstream Product Managers to achieve the goals above, and to be the internal subject matter experts on their product 
• Responsible for ensuring that department understands and complies with quality standards and requirements as documented 
• Responsible for portfolio strategic plan in the long-range financial plan 
• Support interactions with physicians and potential partner companies, including ability to build core relationships 
• Collaborate with the global sales leaders to understand the potential for new products after launch, assist in enabling commercial strategics for sales leaders’ businesses 
• Conform with Coloplast Code of Conduct and all local Compliance Standards (http://connect.coloplast.com/groups/corporate-communications/corporate-responsibility/pages/codeofconductpackage.aspx) 
• Conform with Coloplast Q/EHS Policy (http://www.coloplast.com/About/responsibility/Documents/QEHS%20policy.pdf) 
• Must be able to travel up to 25% (Global & U.S.) 
• Other duties as assigned

Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree 
• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in upstream marketing 
• 5+ years of experience hiring, leading and mentoring a group of product managers 
• Urology and/or gynecology experience is preferred 
• Conceived, developed, launched and /or managed medical device products with a global scope 
• Ability to learn and become a subject matter expert for a variety of therapy areas, communicate trends and strategic rationale 
• Ability to develop relationships with key opinion leaders and to modify strategies and tactics when necessary, based on voice of customer and emerging trends. 
• Cross-functional team leadership experience preferred. 
• Strong strategic thinking and planning skills 
• Strong financial and analytic skills and ability to compose and evaluate business cases 
• Made repeated, high quality, fact-based decisions to drive new products or product enhancements through VOC, primary and secondary data and engagement with R&D testing results 
• Demonstrated ability to balance all of the tradeoffs required in product development