The opportunity
As Managing Director, Wholesale (WHS), you will hold full accountability for Sonova’s Wholesale business in South Korea. You will lead the development and execution of the country strategy, take end-to-end responsibility for financial and operational performance, and build a high-performing, values-driven organization.
In addition to strengthening the core Wholesale business, you will accelerate growth through new routes to market. These may include Retail and hybrid models, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, digital-enabled services and other innovative channels aligned with Sonova’s regional strategy.
Reporting to the President APAC, you will act as the senior accountable business leader for South Korea’s Wholesale operations and as a growth architect, expanding Sonova’s market presence and creating sustainable enterprise value.
Your responsibilities
Country leadership and strategy
- Assume full accountability for the performance of the Wholesale business in South Korea.
- Define and execute the country Wholesale strategy in line with Sonova’s corporate priorities and regional APAC strategy. Translate regional priorities into clear country-level investment decisions and execution plans.
- Identify and pursue growth opportunities across the core Wholesale business, including market share expansion, key account development, distributor performance and portfolio growth. Develop opportunities beyond the traditional Wholesale model through Retail, partnerships, joint ventures, hybrid models and alternative routes to market.
- Act as strategic sponsor and business owner for new channel initiatives, guiding them from concept and evaluation through piloting, implementation and scale.
Financial and performance management
- Hold end-to-end P&L responsibility for the Wholesale business, delivering revenue, EBITDA, balance sheet and cash flow objectives. Own the annual budget, rolling forecasts and strategic planning process.
- Monitor performance against budgets and key performance indicators, initiating corrective action when required.
- Partner with Finance to identify risks and opportunities, maintain robust financial controls and make disciplined investment decisions.
Operational and commercial excellence
- Lead the day-to-day Wholesale business, ensuring strong sales execution, key account management and distributor performance. Oversee pricing, discounts, rebates, inventory and consignment models.
- Build scalable, compliant and efficient operating models capable of supporting future channel expansion.
- Use market insights, customer data and analytics to strengthen commercial decision-making and business performance.
Customer segmentation and Salesforce adoption
- Ensure that sales resources and field activities are directed toward customers and opportunities with the highest commercial potential.
- Lead the transition from coverage-based selling to segmentation-led prioritization and execution.
- Champion Salesforce as a sales excellence and productivity platform, embedding it into daily sales routines, account planning, resource allocation, performance management and coaching.
- Establish Salesforce as the single source of truth for customer strategy and commercial performance.
Market share growth and channel expansion
- Expand Wholesale partnerships, distributor networks and key account programs.
- Identify high-potential customer segments and develop targeted strategies to increase market share.
- Design, pilot and scale new routes to market, including Retail and hybrid models, strategic alliances and digital-enabled or service-based offerings.
- Evaluate potential acquisitions and lead post-merger integration activities related to Wholesale or new-channel growth.
- Apply clear governance, milestones and success criteria to new business initiatives.
People leadership and culture
- Build and lead a high-performing, engaged and values-driven organization.
- Develop a strong leadership team with clear accountabilities and effective succession plans.
- Attract, develop and retain talent across functions and channels.
- Foster a culture of transparent communication, collaboration, accountability, inclusion and employee wellbeing.
Governance and external representation
- Ensure compliance with Sonova policies, governance standards and all relevant South Korean legal and regulatory requirements.
- Set the tone from the top by consistently demonstrating ethics, integrity and accountability.
- Represent Sonova with government bodies, industry associations, business partners and other external stakeholders.
- Support Corporate Internal Audits and ensure the timely remediation of audit findings.
Your profile
You are an accomplished senior business leader with substantial general management experience and full P&L accountability at country or multi-business level. Your background will ideally include healthcare, Retail or another environment combining B2B and B2C business models.
You have successfully led both Retail and Wholesale or distributor operations, including indirect sales channels. You understand how to strengthen an established core business while developing new sources of growth through partnerships, acquisitions, joint ventures, franchising or alternative route-to-market models.
You bring a strong record of translating regional or global strategies into measurable country-level results. This includes delivering profitable organic growth, improving productivity, optimizing margins and making sound capital-allocation decisions. You are comfortable managing the full financial agenda, including P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, budgeting, forecasting and governance.
As a people leader, you have experience leading large, diverse and cross-functional organizations. You build capable leadership teams, establish clear accountability and place strong emphasis on talent development and succession planning.
Your leadership style combines an enterprise-wide perspective with commercial judgment, entrepreneurial thinking and personal accountability. You are an effective decision-maker who can manage trade-offs across Retail, Wholesale and distributor businesses. You remain resilient and adaptable in complex or ambiguous situations and can lead an organization effectively through transformation and change.
You communicate with clarity and impact and can influence stakeholders at every level, including regional leadership, business partners, distributors, government bodies and industry organizations. Cultural awareness and the ability to operate effectively within South Korea and the wider APAC region will be essential.
Qualifications and languages
- Master’s degree in Business Administration or a related field; an MBA would be an advantage.
- Fluent English and Korean.
- Experience working in APAC markets and collaborating with regional headquarters is strongly preferred.
Join us
This is an opportunity to lead and shape Sonova’s business in South Korea, strengthen the established Wholesale organization and develop new channels that will support sustainable growth. You will combine full business accountability with the mandate to innovate, transform and expand Sonova’s presence in the market.
