Regional Sales Manager – Companion Animals

Job description

Job Description Are you a commercially driven people leader with a passion for animal health and a talent for developing high-performing teams? Play a key role in driving growth, customer success, and team excellence across Central Italy and join us as a: Regional Sales Manager – Companion Animals About the role As Regional Sales Manager – Companion Animals, you are responsible for driving sales growth and market penetration across a portfolio of companion animal products and solutions within Emilia Romagna, Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise. You oversee regional sales performance, develop effective territory and key account strategies, and build strong relationships with veterinary clinics, hospitals, corporate veterinary groups and other key stakeholders. In addition, you provide leadership, coaching and development support to the regional sales team, fostering a high-performance culture focused on customer success and continuous improvement. Acting as a trusted advisor, you leverage your understanding of veterinary practice operations to recommend solutions that improve patient care, clinic efficiency, and business outcomes. Working closely with cross-functional teams, you support commercial initiatives, identify growth opportunities and represent the organization at customer meetings and industry events. Through a customer-centric mindset, strong commercial acumen, and effective people leadership, you drive business results while strengthening the organization's position in the companion animal market. This role requires frequent travel throughout the assigned territory, including overnight stays when required. Tasks and responsibilities include but are not limited to Develop and execute regional sales and territory plans to maximize coverage, market penetration and growth across Emilia Romagna, Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise. Lead, coach and develop Territory Managers/Sales Representatives through regular feedback, field accompaniment, training, and performance management. Foster a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing team culture while supporting talent development, onboarding and succession planning. Achieve and exceed monthly, quarterly, and annual sales targets through effective territory and account management. Build and maintain strong relationships with veterinarians, veterinary practice teams, corporate veterinary groups and key industry stakeholders. Act as a trusted advisor to customers by identifying opportunities to improve clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, and business performance. Identify and drive new business, upselling and cross-selling opportunities across the companion animal portfolio. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support customer adoption, retention and long-term value creation. Support product launches and commercial initiatives while maintaining a high level of product, market and industry knowledge. Monitor team and territory performance, identify development opportunities and implement action plans to drive continuous improvement. Represent the company at veterinary conferences, industry events, trade shows and customer education programs. Maintain accurate customer records, forecasts and sales activity within CRM systems. Your profile At least 3–5 years of success in senior commercial or customer-facing roles within animal health, companion animal pharmaceuticals, veterinary diagnostics, pet nutrition, or related industries. Bachelor’s degree in business, life sciences, veterinary science, animal science, marketing, or a related field (or equivalent experience). Strong understanding of the companion animal market, veterinary practice operations, and customer needs. Proven commercial mindset with a track record of achieving or exceeding sales targets and growing key accounts. Previous people management, team leadership, or coaching experience, with the ability to develop, motivate, and lead high-performing teams. Strong coaching, mentoring, and performance management skills, combined with excellent relationship-building and stakeholder influencing abilities. Strategic and autonomous professional with strong territory management, business planning, and execution skills. Strong technical and business acumen, with the ability to position complex products and solutions effectively. Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and interpersonal skills; fluent in Italian with professional proficiency in English. Experience with CRM systems and sales analytics is a plus, along with a passion for animal health and improving outcomes for pets, pet owners, and veterinary professionals. The salary range for this position is € 54.900 - € 93.300 This is the lowest and highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. This will be based on an individual’s experience, skills, organizational needs and compensation levels within their peer group. If applicable, employees may also be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentives or other benefits. Our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you, if applicable. This role is part of national collective labour agreement (CCNL) Chimico-Farmaceutico, Classif. " Quadro", CCNL level A3. Required Skills: Coaching Employees, Market Analysis, New Product Initiatives, People Leadership, Product Sales, Relationship Building, Retail Sales, Sales Growth, Sales Management, Sales Performance, Technical Product Sales Preferred Skills: Managing Sales Teams, Sales Objectives Current Employees apply HERE Current Contingent Workers apply HERE Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. Employee Status: Regular Relocation: VISA Sponsorship: Travel Requirements: Flexible Work Arrangements: Not Applicable Shift: Valid Driving License: Hazardous Material(s): Job Posting End Date: 07/18/2026*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.