Sales and Customer Service Director

This is a high-impact commercial leadership opportunity in Turkey, with responsibility for leading the sales organization and customer service function to drive business performance, strengthen customer engagement and support the sustainable growth of the local affiliate.

The Sales & Customer Service Director will play a critical role in defining and executing the commercial agenda, translating the country strategy into clear sales priorities, disciplined execution and measurable business outcomes. The role will focus on strengthening sales force effectiveness, building trusted relationships with key customers and market stakeholders, and ensuring a consistently high-quality customer experience.

As a member of the local leadership team, this position will contribute to the strategic direction, market development and overall performance of the Turkish affiliate, partnering closely with the Managing Director and cross-functional leaders to drive growth, operational excellence and long-term value creation.

In this role, you will lead:

Sales Strategy & Commercial Planning

• Develop and implement national sales plans aligned with the Turkey affiliate strategy and overall company objectives.
• Translate sales targets into clear regional priorities, action plans and KPIs for the sales organization.
• Contribute to the annual budget, forecast and business planning processes with robust sales assumptions, market insights and risk/opportunity analysis.
• Monitor market trends, customer needs, competitor activity and regional performance to identify growth opportunities.

Sales Leadership & Target Delivery

• Lead and manage the sales organization to achieve and exceed sales targets across Turkey.
• Drive sales execution through regular performance reviews, regional business follow-up and corrective action plans where required.
• Monitor sales performance by region, customer segment, product category and sales representative.
• Ensure disciplined execution of commercial priorities, product launches, campaigns, pricing guidance and promotional activities.

Regional Sales Management & Sales Force Effectiveness

• Lead, coach and develop the Regional Sales Managers, ensuring strong accountability and consistent execution across regions.
• Improve sales force effectiveness through clear routines, visit planning, pipeline management, customer segmentation and opportunity tracking.
• Set clear objectives for the sales team and ensure regular follow-up on performance, capabilities and development needs.
• Identify capability gaps and work with HR, Marketing and regional teams to strengthen sales competencies and the leadership pipeline.

Key Account & Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key customers, distributors, retailers, healthcare professionals and relevant market stakeholders.
• Support Regional Sales Managers in developing and executing account plans for strategic and high-potential customers.
• Identify and pursue new business opportunities, partnerships and customer development initiatives.
• Strengthen customer retention, loyalty and share of wallet through disciplined account management and high-quality service.

Customer Service Leadership

• Lead and continuously improve the customer service function to ensure efficient, reliable and customer-focused support.
• Define, monitor and improve customer service KPIs, including response time, order handling, complaint resolution, service quality and customer satisfaction.
• Ensure strong collaboration between Sales, Customer Service, Supply Chain, Finance and Marketing to improve the end-to-end customer experience.
• Implement operational improvements, tools and processes that simplify customer interactions and increase responsiveness.

Market Insights & Commercial Excellence

• Conduct regular market, customer and competitor analysis to inform sales priorities and business decisions.
• Use sales data and performance insights to identify risks, opportunities and improvement actions.
• Drive commercial discipline around pricing, discounts, customer prioritization and margin protection, in alignment with Finance and the MD.
• Promote fact-based decision-making and continuous improvement across the sales and customer service organization.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Local Leadership

• Act as an active member of the Turkey leadership team, contributing to the overall performance and development of the affiliate.
• Work closely with Marketing, Finance, Operations, HR and regional teams to ensure aligned priorities and effective execution.
• Support the Managing Director in local business reviews, strategic initiatives and organizational transformation.
• Ensure sales and customer service priorities are aligned with broader regional and company objectives.

Compliance, Governance & Ethical Standards

• Ensure all sales and customer service activities are conducted in compliance with local laws, company policies and internal compliance standards.
• Reinforce ethical business practices in customer interactions, pricing, discounts, commercial agreements and stakeholder engagement.
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting of sales activities, forecasts, customer service KPIs and business risks.
• Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, customer focus and integrity across the sales and customer service teams.

Your background:

• 10+ years of sales experience in the Turkish market, with a strong track record of driving business growth, leading change and delivering results in a competitive commercial environment.
• Experience managing teams and developing high-performing sales organizations, ideally with exposure to sales force effectiveness, funnel management and structured commercial execution.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships with customers, partners, internal teams and senior leaders.
• Commercially strong, customer-oriented and entrepreneurial, with solid communication and negotiation skills, strong organizational discipline and a clear results orientation.
• Experience working with ERP systems and bring strong product understanding, with the ability to quickly translate market and customer needs into commercial actions.
• Demonstrate strong ethical values, integrity and sound business judgment in all customer and stakeholder interactions.
• Collaborative and intrinsically motivated leader, diligent, curious, externally focused and future-oriented, with a strong desire to win in the marketplace.
• Experience in the medical, pharmaceutical or consumer goods industry would be highly relevant.
• Experience working in a global matrix organization.
• Fluency in Turkish and English is required.
• Experience acting as a change agent and leading teams through transformation would be highly valued.