Head of Business Development, East and Southern Africa

Nairobi, Kenya

This is an unordinary opportunity to lead regional business development and sales growth across a diverse region — shaping access to innovative diabetes and obesity care while developing your leadership career in a global healthcare company.

Your new role

Based in Nairobi, you will own sales and market development across East & Southern Africa, delivering commercial results by translating strategy into operational plans and by leading the sales and business development team. Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the East & Southern Africa BD team, inspiring superior performance
• Own regional sales and operating profit, deliver sales at and above targets by identifying and maximising opportunities across manned and unmanned markets.
• Translate Middle Africa’s commercial strategy into clear, measurable operational plans and ensure targets are met.
• Build and nurture trustful relationships with KOLs, health authorities, regulators, distributors, customers and relevant patient associations to strengthen Novo Nordisk’s reputation and access.
• Provide leadership as part of the affiliate management team and collaborate cross‑functionally to deliver business results.
• Regularly visit priority markets to support execution, performance improvement and stakeholder engagement.

Your new department

You will join Novo Nordisk Middle Africa’s commercial organisation focused on improving access to innovative medicines for people living with diabetes and obesity. The East & Southern Africa BD Unit has nine employees in six countries, spans a total of 24 countries and offers high‑impact commercial and development opportunities. You will work closely with the rest of the affiliate management team and cross‑functional partners to scale sustainable solutions across the region.

Your skills & qualifications
We are looking for a commercially driven leader who combines hands‑on field experience with the ability to lead at regional level.

• Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy, Medicine, Finance, Business, Marketing or a related field.
• Proven track record of delivering strong sales results, owning a P&L with measurable business impact in multi‑country markets and demonstrated ability to translate insight into execution.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in sales management or equivalent commercial leadership roles.
• Background in pharmaceuticals, healthcare or multinational FMCG with strong pan‑African exposure.
• Experience managing field teams and coaching sales representatives to improve performance.
• Fluency in English.
• Ability to travel frequently across the region.
• Regional African market experience is a plus.
• Experience working with distributors and external stakeholders (KOLs, patient associations).

Working at Novo Nordisk
Every day we seek the solutions that defeat serious chronic diseases. To do this, we approach our work with an unconventional spirit, a rare determination and a constant curiosity. For over 100 years this unordinary mindset has seen us build a company unlike any other. One where a collective passion for our purpose, mutual respect and a willingness to go beyond what we know delivers extraordinary results.

What we offer

There is, of course, more on offer here than the uniqueness of our culture and the extraordinary results we produce. Being part of a global healthcare company means opportunities to learn and develop are all around us, while our benefits are designed with your career and life stage in mind.

Deadline
7th of January 2026.

(Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis)

Novo Nordisk is currently in the process of adjusting job titles globally. Please note that the job title listed in this advertisement may be subject to change. More detailed information will be provided during the recruitment process.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants. 

We’re not your typical healthcare company. In a modern world of quick fixes, we focus on solutions to defeat serious chronic diseases and promote long-term health. Our unordinary mindset is at the heart of everything we do. We seek out new ideas and put people first as we push the boundaries of science, make healthcare more accessible, and treat, prevent, and even cure diseases that affect millions of lives. Because it takes an unordinary approach to drive real, lasting change in health.