Sales Director

1. Commercial Strategy & Business Leadership

• Develop and execute short-term, mid-term, and long-term commercial strategies aligned with CooperVision's global, regional, and Japan business objectives.
• Own and deliver revenue, market share, profit, and customer growth targets.
• Lead development of annual and multi-year business plans across key customer segments and channels.
• Identify emerging market opportunities, competitive threats, and changing customer needs to drive business growth.
• Establish clear sales objectives, forecasts, and performance metrics, ensuring robust sales execution and accountability.
• Drive commercial innovation and new business models to accelerate sustainable growth.

2. Multi-Channel Sales Leadership

• Lead all customer-facing sales organizations across:
  • Key Accounts
  • National Sales
  • Strategic New Channels
• Optimize channel mix and customer investments to maximize customer lifetime value and return on investment.
• Expand distribution opportunities by identifying and onboarding new strategic partners and accounts.
• Drive excellence in customer execution, sell-in, sell-through, and customer development programs.
• Build differentiated customer plans that create competitive advantage and long-term partnerships.

3. Key Account & Customer Relationship Management

• Own executive relationships with strategic customers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and professional networks.
• Lead major customer negotiations, contract renewals, pricing discussions, and annual business planning processes.
• Establish Joint Business Plans with key accounts to drive mutual growth and value creation.
• Position CooperVision as a trusted long-term business partner through strong customer engagement and collaboration.
• Ensure customer satisfaction and support high-quality execution across all customer touchpoints.

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Lead integrated Customer Business Teams in partnership with:
  • Marketing
  • Commercial Operations
  • Finance
  • Supply Chain
  • Regional and Global Teams
• Align sales plans with:
  • Product launches
  • Promotional activities
  • Pricing strategies
  • Demand planning
  • Inventory management
  • Customer engagement initiatives
• Provide market and customer insights to influence company strategy and investment decisions.

5. Commercial Excellence & Digital Transformation

• Drive data-driven decision making through effective use of analytics, dashboards, CRM systems, and KPI management.
• Improve forecasting accuracy and sales productivity.
• Implement best practices across sales operations, performance management, customer planning, and field execution.
• Continuously challenge the status quo and identify opportunities to improve organizational effectiveness.

6. Leadership & People Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing sales organization while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous growth.
• Build strong organizational capability and succession pipelines by attracting, developing, and retaining top talent.
• Create and communicate a compelling vision for the future of the CooperVision Japan sales organization, inspiring teams around long-term growth opportunities and strategic priorities.
• Lead organizational transformation by challenging existing assumptions, driving change adoption, and building a future-ready commercial organization.
• Demonstrate an ownership mindset by delivering results despite ambiguity, resource constraints, and market challenges, while maintaining a strong focus on solutions and business outcomes.
• Demonstrate courage to make difficult decisions, elevate performance standards, and adapt leadership approaches based on feedback, learning, and evolving business needs.
• Serve as a role model for CooperVision values and leadership behaviors.

7. Financial & Operational Management

• Own sales budget management, forecasting, and resource allocation.
• Ensure effective deployment of commercial investments for maximum business impact.
• Review business performance regularly and implement corrective actions where necessary.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, contract governance requirements, legal standards, and industry regulations.
• Maintain strong business controls while supporting growth initiatives.

• Strong commercial and business acumen.

• Demonstrated track record of delivering significant sales growth.

• Exceptional strategic thinking and execution capability.

• Excellent negotiation and customer relationship management skills.

• Strong analytical skills with ability to translate data into actionable insights.

• Experience leading large, complex organizations and organizational transformation.

• Proven ability to build, develop, and retain top talent.

• Ability to influence across functions, cultures, and organizational levels.

• Strong executive presence and stakeholder management capability.

• Entrepreneurial mindset with a bias for action and problem solving.

• Exceptional organizational leadership and coaching capability.

• Strong presentation, communication, and storytelling skills.

• Excellent English and Japanese communication skills, both written and verbal.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, matrixed, multinational environment

• Demonstrated ownership mindset with a proven ability to deliver results despite ambiguity, resource constraints, and market challenges, while maintaining a strong focus on solutions, accountability, and business outcomes.

• Demonstrates learning agility, intellectual curiosity, and openness to new ideas, continuously adapting leadership approaches based on feedback, experience, and evolving business needs.

• Based in Tokyo, Japan.

• Regular travel within Japan.

• Periodic regional and global travel.

• Frequent interaction with APAC and Global leadership teams across multiple time zones.

• 20+ years of progressive experience in Sales, Key Account Management, Trade Marketing, Commercial Leadership, or related functions.

• Minimum 10 years leading large sales organizations (100+ employees preferred).

• Significant experience managing national and strategic customer relationships.

• Experience across multiple commercial channels including retail, key accounts, field sales, and e-commerce.

• Experience within healthcare, OTC, medical device, consumer healthcare, FMCG, or related industries preferred.

• Contact lens, ophthalmic, vision care, or medical products industry experience is advantageous but not required.

• Proven record of developing high-performing teams and achieving ambitious business goals.

• Bachelor's Degree required.

• MBA or equivalent advanced degree preferred.

• International business exposure and/or overseas experience is advantageous.