Sanofi’s Country Lead Karen Hood talks equal voice, resources and support for women on International Women’s Day

Welcome to Health Industry Hub’s Women in Leadership Series – connecting, engaging and empowering women in the Pharma, MedTech and Biotech sectors by celebrating and sharing the journey of inspirational and passionate women leaders in the industry.

In celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021, Health Industry Hub talks with three inspirational and passionate industry leaders.

The first interview features Karen Hood, Country Lead and General Manager of Primary Care at Sanofi Australia and New Zealand. Karen shares her inspirational story and what the IWD 2021 theme #ChooseToChallenge means to her, the most admired traits in leaders that empower teams, assumptions she experienced and overcame along her leadership journey, and how gender equality is evolving during her career.

Karen closes the interview with a twist on “If you could write a business book that was guaranteed to be a best seller, what would you write about?”

About Karen Hood

With a career spanning more than 20 years, Karen is currently the Country Chair for Sanofi Australia and New Zealand, and the General Manager of the company’s Australia & New Zealand General Medicines business.

Karen’s strengths span the areas of transformational change, navigation and management of complex business issues and a sizeable knowledge and expertise in healthcare sales and marketing. Her experience has seen her lead teams through industry, environmental and organisational change. She is also an expert across the pharmaceutical product lifecycle from launch, to growth and later stage marketing.

In recent years Karen has overseen the Australian delivery of a number of major global acquisitions and integrations. She has also delivered large scale structural and organisational initiatives, for the business, in support of Sanofi’s global Roadmap. Since becoming Country Chair, Karen has focused on cross business collaboration and integration to drive growth.

Karen is a passionate proponent of the healthcare industry, its commitment to patients and the ability of her team members to be equipped to deliver on their shared purpose each day. She is also a strong advocate for women in leadership and an active member of Sanofi’s Women in Leadership Council for the Japan and Pacific Region.