Top 10 Country Managers - 2022

A Country Manager is responsible for business development in a new country or region. They are particularly important for companies that are expanding internationally, as they deal with the launch, development and management of local service/product offerings from production to marketing on distribution networks.

Country managers represent their company in a foreign country. Country managers work within growing industries experiencing global expansion. They manage all operations in a particular region, including recruitment, budgets, planning, and submitting reports. Country managers might also require specialized skillsets and industry related knowledge.

They are generally recruited for their understanding of the local area, language and market involved, their goal is to define and introduce the right strategy and make sure their business establishes itself successfully in the region, with the help of frequent competitor analysis. They wear many hats, including those of regional CEO, marketing director, intermediary between the parent company and subsidiary, sales manager and support team and some times a wide range of other headwear too. A key factor in a business’ success on a market, a Country Manager should prove the market has potential. This also means bringing in revenue.

To be a good Country Manager, one needs to be a strategist, unafraid to get things done, and someone the team can rely on. As a brand ambassador and country representative they must educate the company about the country’s needs so it can successfully establish itself and brief the teams working on the company’s expansion plan about the needs, priorities, KPIs and reasons behind the applied strategy.     

In this issue of the CEO Insights magazine, a list of 'Top 10 Country Managers - 2022', crafted by a team of industry veterans, CEOs and VCs and the CEO Insights editorial team, delivers detailed information about the leadership journey and the inspiring stories.