Senior Program & Strategy Manager, Consumer Eyecare
1 day ago
Birmingham
Job Title Senior Program & Strategy Manager, Consumer Eyecare Location Birmingham, UK Division Consumer Markets Reports to Head of Global Business & Operations, Consumer Eyecare Contract Permanent, Full-time (Hybrid - 3 days per week in Birmingham office) The Senior Program & Strategy Manager, Consumer Eyecare Purpose of this role The Senior Program and Strategy Manager, Consumer Eyecare combines rigorous program governance with strategic business development. This individual… • Owns end-to-end program governance and the integrated timeline and critical path to deliver Consumer Eyecare launch readiness across regions (Global/US/China) and workstreams, ensuring disciplined execution on the critical path, • Enables timely decision-making through stage-gate readiness, clear escalation, robust reporting, and strategic recommendations grounded in evidence, • Aligns internal functions and external partners to deliver on time, within budget, and in full compliance with regulatory and quality requirements, • Shapes the future direction of Consumer Eyecare by contributing to long-term strategy development 80% focus: Program governance & execution • Own the integrated timeline: Build and maintain the timeline and critical path; ensure consistency/quality of workstream plans; manage dependencies and the critical path, • Run program governance end-to-end: SteerCos, weekly/bi-weekly cadences, workstream reviews, risk reviews; standardized agendas, pre-reads, minutes, action tracking, and follow-ups, • Drive cross-functional and cross-regional alignment: Align functions and teams, proactively resolve blockers, accelerate decisions, • Institutionalize RAID management and mitigation tracking: ensure risks/issues are surfaced early, owned, and actively closed, • Drive stage-gate readiness: Orchestrate gate deliverables, coordinate cross-functional inputs, and ensure timely delivery & decisions, • Manage external partners and timelines (e.g., contract manufacturers): Together with Procurement, manage and track delivery, cost, and timing of external partners, • Support financial steering: Track cost center spends vs. plan, support forecasting, and quantify execution impacts (delay cost, scope changes), • Lead quarterly OKR planning and review cycles across functions and regions: Ensure measurable outcomes, accountability, and transparent progress reporting, • Institutionalize ways of working: Templates, standards, routines, playbooks, and lessons learned to scale the Consumer Eyecare PMO 20% focus: Strategy and Business Development • Lead market analysis for new market expansion: Conduct comprehensive assessments of target markets including market sizing, competitive landscape, regulatory environment, and entry barriers to inform go/no-go decisions for expansion, • Develop and support business cases: Partner with Finance, Commercial, and Regional teams to build robust business cases for new initiatives, product launches, and market entries—including revenue projections, cost modeling, and ROI analysis, • Monitor competitive and market intelligence: Track competitor activities, market trends, regulatory changes, and emerging technologies; provide regular strategic briefings to leadership, • Support strategic decision-making forums: Prepare materials for Board reviews, investment committees, and strategic planning sessions; ensure data quality and strategic coherence of recommendations Role requirements • 5-8 years of combined experience in program/project management, strategy, management consulting, or business development-ideally in (Consumer) Healthcare, MedTech, or related industries, • Proven track record delivering multi-country product launches and/or large-scale programs with measurable outcomes (time, cost, quality), • Strong governance and execution experience: integrated planning, RAID discipline, action management, escalation judgment, and executive-ready reporting, • Proven experience conducting market analysis, building business cases, and delivering strategic recommendations to senior leadership, • Ability to drive accountability; excellent stakeholder management across functions, regions, and seniority levels, • Strong dependency management and structured problem-solving; comfortable translating ambiguity into executable plans, • Advanced proficiency with project management and reporting tools (e.g., Smartsheet/MS Project), plus advanced skills in MS PowerPoint/Excel, • High-quality written and verbal communication; able to synthesize complex inputs into clear management narratives, • Comfortable operating across time zones and cultures; high reliability, ownership mindset, and resilience under pressure Diversity is a part of ZEISS. We look forward to receiving your application regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, philosophy of life, disability, age, sexual orientation or identity.