Commercial Innovation Manager
Business Development ~ Commercial
Gauteng – South Africa
Our client in the pharmaceutical industry is seeking an experienced and commercially driven Commercial Innovation Manager to lead the end-to-end commercial innovation and new business development pipeline across a dynamic consumer healthcare portfolio. This role is responsible for driving strategic innovation from opportunity identification through to successful launch and post-launch review, while ensuring commercially viable, compliant, and execution-ready innovations that accelerate business growth and optimise the product portfolio.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end commercial innovation, portfolio optimisation, acquisition, in-licensing, and new product development initiatives from concept through post-launch review.
- Develop business cases, commercial feasibility assessments, ROI analysis, profitability models, and route-to-market strategies for new opportunities.
- Drive innovation governance, launch readiness, forecasting, artwork approvals, packaging, customer listings, and go-to-market execution.
- Partner with Marketing, Regulatory Affairs, Quality, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Finance, and Sales teams to deliver successful cross-functional projects.
- Identify, assess, and mitigate commercial, regulatory, quality, technical, and supply chain risks throughout the innovation lifecycle.
- Build and manage supplier, licensing, and third-party partnerships to support innovation and portfolio growth.
- Continuously improve innovation processes, governance frameworks, reporting dashboards, project tools, and business processes.
- Lead and develop team members while fostering a high-performance, collaborative, and results-driven culture.
Minimum Requirements
- Appropriate tertiary qualification in Business, Marketing, Sciences, Pharmacy, Project Management, or a related commercial discipline.
- Minimum 5 years’ experience in commercial innovation, new business development, product launch execution, portfolio management, or complex cross-functional project management.
- Experience within the pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare, FMCG, or other regulated product environment is essential.
- Ability to prepare executive-level business cases, governance documentation, and presentations.
- Experience using project management and collaboration tools.
- Previous people management or leadership experience advantageous.
- Strong commercial, financial, analytical, and project management capability.
The ideal candidate is innovative, commercially astute, and highly collaborative, with the ability to lead complex cross-functional projects from concept to market. Strong stakeholder management, strategic thinking, commercial decision-making, governance, and people leadership skills are essential for success in this role. If you are passionate about driving innovation, leading strategic projects, and shaping the future of consumer healthcare, apply now using the link below.