Head of Strategic Account Management
by Johnson & Johnson in Pharmaceuticals
The Head of Strategic Account Management (Pharmaceutical Market Access) role at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is a senior leadership position within the Market Access function responsible for leading the Strategic Account Management (SAM) strategy across key healthcare institutions in the Kingdom. The role focuses on driving market access, pricing strategy, reimbursement strategy, and formulary inclusion for pharmaceutical products while aligning closely with internal functions including Marketing, Sales, Health Economics Market Access and Reimbursement (HEMAR), Medical Affairs, Operations, Supply Chain, Tenders and Pricing, and Commercial teams. The position oversees the development and execution of account business planning and customer-centric strategies that strengthen partnerships with healthcare institutions, regulators, and key opinion leaders while delivering sustainable financial performance. The SAM Lead is responsible for building long-term relationships with major stakeholders including ministries, regulatory authorities, hospitals, distributors, and procurement entities such as NUPCO and the Ministry of Health (MOH). The role includes negotiation of pricing strategies, tender management processes, and reimbursement pathways while ensuring optimal product availability and preventing stock shortages, excess inventory, or expiries across healthcare sectors. The position requires collaboration with HEMAR leads to develop health economics models and value propositions that support reimbursement and listing strategies. The Head of Strategic Account Management also drives cross-functional coordination across marketing, commercial, and medical teams to align tactical initiatives with broader business objectives. Responsibilities include translating market trends, healthcare system insights, and competitive landscape analysis into actionable strategies, communicating customer insights to leadership, and briefing the Saudi leadership team on changes in the healthcare environment and emerging strategic opportunities. The role requires leading and mentoring Strategic Account Managers, ensuring team capability development, workforce planning, and performance management while maintaining financial accountability for key account targets and business objectives. The position requires extensive experience in pharmaceutical key account management, direct engagement with government healthcare systems including MOH and procurement bodies such as NUPCO, and strong understanding of health economics, healthcare market access frameworks, regulatory compliance requirements, pricing strategies, and tender operations within the pharmaceutical industry.