| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Pharma |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Marketing Manager |
| Direct reports | Product Executive |
| Experience | 6 to 10 years in pharma, with field sales and product management experience |
Pharma Product Manager job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Pharma Product Manager
Department: Pharma
Reports to: Marketing Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Pharma Product Manager owns the marketing strategy for a pharmaceutical brand or portfolio. They study the therapy area and competitors, build the brand strategy and campaigns, create promotional material for the field force, and drive prescriptions and sales through doctors. The role sits in marketing and works closely with sales and medical teams. A good one builds a clear brand strategy that doctors and the field force believe in, delivers campaigns that lift prescriptions, keeps material compliant, and grows the brand's market share year on year.
Key responsibilities
- Build the marketing strategy and annual brand plan for the assigned products or portfolio.
- Study the therapy area, prescribing patterns and competitors to guide the strategy.
- Create promotional campaigns, detailing material and visual aids for the field force.
- Set brand targets and track prescriptions, sales and market share against them.
- Train and brief the field force on the brand, message and campaigns.
- Engage key opinion leaders and specialists with the medical team.
- Plan and run conferences, doctor meetings and continuing medical education programmes.
- Work with medical and regulatory teams to keep all material accurate and compliant.
- Manage the brand marketing budget and measure return on spend.
- Track brand performance and adjust the strategy to hit targets.
Requirements
- B.Pharm, BSc or life science degree, with an MBA in marketing
- Field sales or product experience in pharma
- Strong knowledge of the therapy area
- 6 to 10 years in pharma, with field sales and product management experience
KRAs and KPIs for a Pharma Product Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Brand sales | Achieve the brand's sales and prescription targets for the year |
| Market share | Grow the brand's market share in its therapy area towards target |
| Campaign impact | Campaigns adopted by the field force and lifting prescriptions |
| Field enablement | Field force trained and equipped with current brand material |
| Compliance | All promotional material medically accurate and compliant, with zero violations |
| Budget efficiency | Brand budget spent within plan with measured return |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Prescription and sales data, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, Market research reports, CRM software.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Group Product Manager, Marketing Manager
Interview questions for a Pharma Product Manager
- How would you build a brand plan for a product losing share to a competitor?
- How do you create detailing material that the field force will actually use?
- How do you decide which doctors and specialists to focus a brand on?
- How do you keep promotional claims accurate and compliant?
- How do you measure whether a brand campaign is working?
- How do you get the field force to believe in and push your brand?
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What does a pharma product manager do?
A pharma product manager owns the marketing strategy for a pharmaceutical brand or portfolio. They study the therapy area and competitors, build the brand strategy and campaigns, create promotional material for the field force, engage key opinion leaders, and drive prescriptions and sales through doctors. They own the brand's market share and marketing budget.
How do you become a pharma product manager?
Most pharma product managers start in field sales as medical representatives, move up to area management or a product executive role, and then into product management, usually with an MBA in marketing. Deep therapy area knowledge, field experience and marketing skills matter. Understanding both doctors and the field force is key to the role.
What is the difference between a product manager and a product executive in pharma?
A product manager owns the brand strategy, budget and targets and makes the marketing decisions. A product executive supports the manager: preparing material, coordinating with the field force, gathering market data and helping run campaigns. The executive learns the brand and market, then grows into a product manager role.