Bayer ANZ restructures leadership team as vision for streamlined organisation takes shape

Leadership & Management: Bayer’s shift towards a “dynamic shared ownership” model is reshaping its operations in Australia and New Zealand, cutting through traditional hierarchies and bureaucracy to expedite decision-making and transform its leadership structure. This significant transition, lead by Manoj Saxena, General Manager Pharmaceuticals ANZ, aims to drive agility and operational excellence at every level.

“We have to really reimagine ourselves and remove the obstacles which are essentially the old structures. How do we build organisations around the needs of our customers and patients? How do we co-create meaningful, innovative solutions which add value?” Saxena questioned in a recent interview with Health Industry Hub.

Acknowledging that “the unlearning component is one of the biggest challenges,” Saxena noted the critical role of these changes in creating value for both patients and investors.

Bayer ANZ, to date, has made significant progress, stripping complexity from its business, empowering decision-making within teams and transforming the field and commercial functions to become increasingly customer-centric.

The next phase of Bayer’s transformation hones in on empowering self-led teams to push the organisational model further toward its future vision, a move leading to internal restructuring at the highest levels.

Among these changes, two senior leadership roles will not be replaced in their original capacities. Sarah Bridge, Head of Market Access and Health Policy Australia & New Zealand, will leave her position by January 31, 2025, as part of the structural evolution. Meanwhile, James “Jimmy” Alexander, Head of Portfolio for Bayer ANZ, will transition to become Country Division Head in Vietnam starting February 1, 2025. Alexander’s departure will lead to the elimination of the Head of Portfolio role from the local leadership structure.

Over the past 18 months, Bayer said it has been reimagining its 160-year-old organisation from the inside out, challenging traditional hierarchies and ways of working. The company’s statement describes its vision as “ambitious” and “being led at a scale that is unparalleled in our industry.”

“We believe in this future state for Bayer and have acknowledged that we will face hard choices and challenges in bringing it to fruition,” the company stated.

“These changes to our leadership teams are aligned with Bayer’s global goals to flatten business structures and enable teams to drive forward mission-critical work with efficiency. We celebrate Sarah and Jimmy for the countless contributions they have made to Bayer ANZ and wish them success in their next roles and endeavours,” the company added.

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