Group Product Manager Lower (m/f/d)

About the Company:

Since its beginnings in 1945, the KARL STORZ family company has grown into a global manufacturer and distributor of endoscopes, medical instruments, and devices. We are no giant on an international scale but a leader in the things that matter creativity, flexibility, and expertise. Our range of endoscopic instruments for human medicine and veterinary medicine now includes more than 15,000 products. The most recent KARL STORZ developments are in digital documentation systems and comprehensive operating room concepts. As a system supplier, the company combines its expertise in endoscopy with software solutions to achieve integration in the operating room and to support clinical process and resource management. In Karl Storz, we enable our healthcare partners to perform at their very best every day to improve patients' lives around the world. As an independent family-owned company, we continuously think in generations instead of quarters. We are a recognized leader in high-quality and innovative solutions that create unique value for our customers. Based on our success we sustainably increase revenues and profits. As a global family company, KARL STORZ is active worldwide to support and consult customers around the globe. Across all continents, KARL STORZ is represented by more than 70 KARL STORZ subsidiaries in over 40 countries. Committed staff members at our production, sales, and marketing companies ensure optimal customer and market support worldwide.

The main objective of this role is to lead the comprehensive solutions strategy within the company’s portfolio for a specific business unit (Lower or Upper Endoscopy), ensuring its competitive positioning, sustained growth and alignment with KARL STORZ’s commercial objectives. The GPM acts as a bridge between product solutions by managing the portfolio, driving launches, optimising inventory and developing initiatives that generate economic value and market differentiation.

Specific duties and responsibilities:

1. Responsible for the division’s annual marketing plan:
Responsible for defining the strategic direction: Review of commercial and positioning objectives by business unit. Market, competitor and trend analysis (benchmarking). Identification of key segments and customer needs. Alignment with the sales plan and growth objectives.
Planning the product launch pipeline: Launch schedule and portfolio updates. Communication and promotion strategy by channel. Training activities for internal teams and customers. Support materials: technical data sheets, presentations, videos.
Strategic definition of events and customer experiences: Planning of national and international conferences. Activities at the Training and Innovation Centre. Events sponsored with medical societies. Experiential activations and product exhibitions. Digital Marketing & Communication, Social media strategy and brand positioning. Content management: articles, videos, interviews, clinical cases. Multi-channel digital campaigns. Definition of KPIs by activity.

2. Head of Strategy and Ecosystem Solutions Definition:
Mapping current and future solutions by medical speciality.
Identifying synergies between products, services, training and technology.
Customer segmentation and definition of customer journeys by profile.
Designing integrated value propositions (product + service + training).
Aligning with GPMs and PMs in the Integrated Solutions area to integrate launches into the ecosystem.
Creating solution maps by speciality.
Developing communication and training materials for internal and external teams.
Designing presentations and sales kits based on the ecosystem.
Support in the implementation of consultative selling strategies.
Training sales teams on the integrated solutions approach.
Development of key events to present the ecosystem to customers.
Identification of opportunities for improvement in the customer experience.

3. Product lifecycle management and monitoring:
Responsible for the execution of product launches, in strict accordance with the actions defined in the procedure.
Responsible for securing inventory and demo resources where required, subject to prior approval from finance.
Responsible for analysing the portfolio and making decisions regarding how the launch will affect it.
Responsible for communication and coordination between departments when it is necessary to discontinue a product that is to be replaced by the product to be launched.
Responsible for training and aligning the sales team with the upcoming launch, so that they are prepared when the product is launched. Support for the sales team through training, communication and product tools.
Coordination of launch and promotional activities.
Defining differentiation, positioning and growth strategies.
Identifying business opportunities and driving continuous improvement.

4. Responsible for contributing to Operational and Commercial Excellence:
Driving the quality, efficiency and economic value of solutions and products to enable a direct contribution to increased revenue and market share through:
account segmentation.
Portfolio supervision and analysis, IBP and decision-making regarding product availability to customers.
Working closely with departments such as Management, Operations, Quality, Legal, Finance, IT and Project Management.
Ensuring compliance with defined objectives and the implementation of defined strategic initiatives.
Monitoring and ensuring accuracy regarding where efforts are focused in product demonstrations and the efficient allocation of resources.
Participating in cross-functional and global projects to stay up to date.
Preparing monthly reports to provide updates on the progress of the areas: Comments of the Month, Business Follow-up Meeting and Monthly Activity by Area, QBR, RAS (Kickoff) and Town Hall Meeting.

Qualifications and experience:  

A university degree is essential, and an MBA or a Master’s degree in Marketing will be highly regarded.
Minimum 5–8 years’ experience in Marketing, Product Management or Business Management. 
2–3 years’ experience in team management.
Knowledge of medical sector products and associated clinical procedures will be an advantage. 
Languages: B2 level in English. Knowledge of other languages would be an advantage.

Skills, qualities and attributes:    

Solid knowledge of medical technology, medical devices, healthcare software or pharmaceutical products, and in-depth knowledge of healthcare regulations
Familiarity with clinical processes, medical conditions, and workflows in hospitals or healthcare centres.
Ability to interpret clinical, market and product usage data.
Proficiency in market analysis, benchmarking and the evaluation of business opportunities.
Proficiency in analysis and visualisation tools: (Power BI / Tableau), advanced Excel.
Skills in visual design and communication (Canva).

Karl Storz is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.