About us

Animalcare Group plc is an international veterinary pharmaceutical business currently listed on the UK's AIM exchange. We are driven by a collective belief that healthy animals have a hugely beneficial effect on their owners and on society as a whole.

The Group has a direct commercial presence across seven European countries, serving the UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands and exports to more than 40 markets in Europe and beyond. Our portfolio spans companion animal, production animal, and equine markets, with a growing pipeline of differentiated products developed through in-house R&D, in-licensing partnerships, and strategic acquisitions.

Our flagship product, Daxocox (Enflicoxib), has achieved double-digit uptake growth in our owned markets and represents the business's commercial ambition: clinically differentiated products delivered through capable local leadership and strong veterinary relationships. Exciting R&D differentiated pipeline including anti-bodies.  With a recommended offer from CCP Paw 2 Limited underway, Animalcare enters its next chapter with a clear mandate to accelerate EU commercial performance.

Main purpose of the job

The  Commercial Operations Director Europe requires a leader with the right values and the commercial authority to drive growth, deepen veterinary customer relationships, and deliver operational excellence across seven European markets. You will be the person who truly understands the market opportunity, the science behind the portfolio, and the business model that makes Animalcare distinctive. You will bring a perspective that connects local market realities with Group ambition.

You will lead, inspire and develop a team of General Managers, creating the conditions for high performance at every level of the EU business. You will translate strategy into execution, turn market insight into commercial advantage, and act as the senior voice of the EU business within the Group. Above all, you will be a role model: for how Animalcare leads, how it builds relationships with the veterinary community, and how it grows sustainably across Europe.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Own the EU commercial P&L across all seven direct markets, driving revenue growth, margin improvement, and full delivery of annual targets.
• Set and communicate a clear commercial vision for EU operations, aligned to Group strategy and underpinned by relentless focus on profitable, sustainable growth.
• Lead strategic pricing, portfolio prioritisation, and channel strategy across markets  balancing local market dynamics with Group commercial frameworks.
• Identify and develop new revenue opportunities, including geographic expansion, commercial partnerships, and portfolio extensions.
• Monitor market performance closely; act decisively to address shortfalls, redirect resources, and escalate systemic issues where required.

• Serve as line manager for all General Managers across seven EU markets, Provide motivation, leadership, direction, coaching, and rigorous performance management.
• Build a high-performing GM community with a shared commercial culture: accountable, insight-driven, and customer-focused.
• Identify and develop talent across country operations, ensuring succession plans are in place for all key commercial leadership positions.
• Establish consistent performance standards and leadership expectations, while respecting local market and cultural nuance.
• Create conditions where GMs feel genuinely enabled, supported, and connected to the Group's broader commercial mission.

• Translate Group strategy  including brand, portfolio, and commercial excellence priorities  into clear, executable plans at market level.
• Lead the operational cadence: business reviews, forecasting cycles, performance reporting, and commercial governance.
• Work in close partnership with Commercial Excellence to distinguish between local execution gaps and systemic capability issues, ensuring root causes are addressed at the right level.
• Champion adoption of Group commercial standards and ways of working, without sacrificing local market agility or veterinary customer intimacy.
• Drive continuous learning and best practice sharing across the GM community.

• Build and sustain strong commercial relationships with key veterinary customers, distribution partners, and clinical opinion leaders across EU markets.
• Represent Animalcare at a senior level with strategic partners, including licensing partners, veterinary associations, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Manage the commercial dimensions of key contracts and partnerships, ensuring delivery of commitments while maximising long-term value for the Group.
• Provide the CEO and Board with high-quality, data-informed insight on EU commercial performance, competitive dynamics, and strategic risk.

• Collaborate across Group functions, supply chain, regulatory, marketing, and finance to ensure commercial plans are fully resourced and delivered.
• Act as the primary interface between EU operations and Group centre, maintaining an enterprise perspective and avoiding market-versus-centre dynamics.
• Actively contribute to the evolution of the Group's commercial operating model, bringing the informed voice of markets into Group design decisions.
• Support the CEO and SET in evaluating business development opportunities, in-licensing targets, and geographic expansion options.

Key Qualifications & Experience

• Degree educated, ideally in life sciences, business, or a related discipline; MBA or executive qualification an advantage.
• Fluency in English essential; additional European language (Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, or German) highly desirable.
• Comfortable operating in a publicly listed, governance-conscious environment with strong financial discipline.
• Proficient with commercial analytics, CRM, and sales force effectiveness tools relevant to the veterinary pharmaceutical sector.

Skills

• Proven senior commercial leadership experience in veterinary pharmaceuticals, animal health, or a closely adjacent specialty pharma / life sciences business.
• Demonstrable track record of driving revenue growth, improving commercial margins, and delivering results across multiple European markets simultaneously.
• Experience leading a community of country or market GMs, ideally within a pan-European or matrix organisational structure.
• Commercially astute with a strong grasp of pricing strategy, portfolio management, channel development, and go-to-market execution.
• Familiarity with the EU veterinary pharmaceutical regulatory environment and how it shapes commercial operations across different national markets.
• Experience managing distribution partnerships, licensing relationships, or commercial alliances across EU territories.
• Background in businesses with branded product portfolios and an understanding of the investment case for brand-building alongside short-term performance delivery.

• Operates with genuine enterprise mindset drives market performance while maintaining clear sight of what is best for the whole Group.
• Highly credible with senior stakeholders: able to challenge, influence, and build alignment at Board, ExCo, and country leadership level.
• Strong people developer: invests in GM capability, creates psychological safety, and builds teams that consistently outperform
• Commercially ambitious and resilient energised by the complexity and pace of multi-market European leadership.
• Analytically strong and data-informed, without losing sight of the human and cultural dimensions of commercial success.
• Collaborative and transparent; builds trust quickly across functions and cultures with differing priorities.
• Transformational in mindset  brings the drive and capability to shape a commercial organisation, not just run one.

A note on the recruitment process

This appointment is being managed by Omni Executive Search Solutions on an exclusive retained basis, led by Jo Lancaster-Towers, Director of Executive Solutions.

All candidates, whether internal or external, will go through the same structured assessment process with Omni. That means every application is evaluated against the same criteria, by the same independent assessor, with no parallel internal process running alongside it.

We've made this decision deliberately. This is a genuinely critical appointment, and we want to give every candidate a fair, rigorous, and professionally managed experience. It also means that whoever we appoint, the decision will be grounded in a consistent, independently governed assessment rather than familiarity or assumption.

If you're interested in being considered, please contact Jo Lancaster-Towers directly at jo.lancaster-towers@omnirms.com. All conversations will be handled in strict confidence.