Associate Director Marketing

Santen is a specialized company with a proud 130-year heritage focused exclusively on eye health. As a Japan-originated, global company with our footprint in over 60 countries and regions, our mission is to provide essential and significant value to patients and society through our products and services created from our expertise in ophthalmology and from the patient’s perspective.

As Associate Director Marketing, you will be responsible for defining, leading and owning the development and execution of the France brand plans for Santen’s Dry Eye and Glaucoma portfolio (prescription and CE devices), with full accountability for strategic choices, long-term value creation and business performance, in close alignment with Cluster and EMEA Marketing leadership. You will act as a key contributor to country business strategy and a strategic partner to General Management, driving sustainable growth, market shaping initiatives and portfolio prioritization. In this role, you will develop and execute market shaping and penetration strategies to maximize access and growth of this key franchise, while tracking in-market performance and adapting plans to achieve commercial objectives.

What you will do:

• Lead the cross-functional development of the French annual brand/therapeutic area plan in alignment with the EMEA brand/therapeutic area plan, demonstrating strong brand management experience and skills in brand and portfolio management
• Own the French marketing strategy and portfolio prioritization decisions
• Provide strategic recommendations to the Country Leadership Team
• Anticipate market evolutions and shape long-term franchise strategy (3–5 years)
• Lead and influence EMEA strategic discussions, represent France as a key strategic market, and act as workstream lead or country representative in regional/global initiatives
• Work with agency partners to develop and execute appropriate multichannel strategies aligned with target customer profiles and needs, ensuring an integrated marketing and external engagement plan leveraging all available channels
• Act as Senior Santen representative with key opinion leaders, patient support groups, key customers, and other healthcare organizations to identify and monitor significant developments and ensure delivery of key projects
• Coordinate and ensure Santen has a strong presence at key congresses and events in collaboration with Medical Affairs, including promotional and medical education activities, and provide thought leadership at major congresses and industry forums
• Provide input into EMEA marketing campaigns and ensure national campaigns are localized and launched in line with local market needs, selling cycles, and EMEA strategy
• Work with sales leadership, training, and cross-functional teams to ensure campaigns are effectively rolled out and executed in the field in line with brand strategy
• Track key brand commercial performance metrics and ensure relevant KPIs are defined, monitored, and achieved; lead development of annual country plans, budgets, and forecasts, and contribute to operational efficiency initiatives with Finance and Market Insights
• Maximize brand performance and profitability while controlling promotional expenses, including development and management of promotional budgets, tracking expenditures, and identifying savings and efficiencies
• Collaborate effectively with EMEA marketing teams, sales, and other cross-functional stakeholders
• Analyze market and competitor trends, share insights, and recommend business opportunities and adjustments to plans based on findings
• Hold full P&L responsibility for the marketing scope, ensuring ROI, effective investment trade-offs, and long-term profitability, and actively participate in financial governance and business reviews with Finance and General Management.

What you will bring to the role

• 8–10+ years of progressive marketing experience
• Experience in the pharmaceutical industry within an Rx company is required. Experience in ophthalmology is considered a strong advantage
• University degree or equivalent in science and/or business, marketing
• Understanding of IT solutions used in marketing/sales
• Proven track record in launching products is required
• Cross-functional leadership at country or regional level
• Deep marketing expertise in market & customer insights, product commercialization and branding
• Strong strategic thinking/planning/analytical skills
• Executive-level stakeholder management
• Fluent French & English.

Ready to make a difference?  

Apply today and help us shape the future of eye health. 

What we offer:

• Competitive Salary: A market‑aligned base salary starting from €90 000 – €120 000, depending on experience and location.

Grow your career at Santen
A career at Santen is an opportunity to make a difference. We aspire to contribute to the realization of “Happiness with Vision” by providing eye health products and services to patients, consumers, and medical professionals around the world. Guided by our CORE PRINCIPLE, “Tenki ni sanyo suru”, Santen is engaged in the global research & development, manufacturing, and sales and marketing of pharmaceutical products in ophthalmology. We have team members around the world using their diverse talents to unlock new modalities and drive innovations for patient outcomes, education and treatment. At Santen, we believe in empowering all our team members with flexible ways of working and a highly inclusive work environment.

The Santen Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building diverse teams and ensuring a safe and inclusive physical and virtual workplace for every one of our team members. All employment decisions are based on business needs, role requirements and individual qualifications regardless of race, color, ethnicity, national origin/ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/ expression, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you require any kind of accommodation during our recruitment process, please let the recruiter from our team know.