Overview
You sell medical devices (sports medicine, orthopaedics, trauma products) to surgeons in Perth. You're in operating theatres 60-70% of the time providing product support during procedures, and the rest is account management, competitive conversions, and administrative work. This is a relationship territory - surgeons are loyal to their reps and switching is hard.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Territory Account Executive (Medical Device) |
| Sales Motion | Relationship-based / In-theatre support |
| Deal Complexity | Consultative / Clinical |
| Sales Cycle | 6-18 months for new surgeon adoption |
| Deal Size | $50K-200K annual revenue per surgeon |
| Quota (est.) | $1M+ annually |
Company Context
Stage: Public / Established global player
Size: Large multinational (1000s of employees globally)
Growth: Mature market with incremental growth from new procedures and competitive conversions
Market Position: Established player competing against other major medical device companies (likely competing with Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Arthrex, Zimmer Biomet depending on product line)
GTM Reality
Pipeline Sources:
- 70% Existing surgeon relationships - protecting current usage and growing procedural volume
- 20% Competitive conversions - trying to flip surgeons from competitor products
- 10% New surgeon credentialing - residents finishing fellowship, new hospital hires
SDR/AE Structure: No SDRs - you own the entire territory soup to nuts
Clinical Support: You ARE the clinical support - you're in cases providing product expertise
Competitive Landscape
Main Competitors: Other global medical device companies in ortho/sports med/trauma space
How They Differentiate: Product design features, clinical outcomes data, ease of use, instrumentation, pricing/contract terms
Common Objections: "I've used [competitor] for 15 years and know it well", "Your price is higher", "I don't want to learn new instrumentation", "My hospital has a contract with someone else"
Win Themes: Clinical superiority, better outcomes, surgeon preference, OR efficiency, instrument simplicity
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
In Theatre (60%) | Account Management (20%) | Admin/Internal (20%)
Key Activities
- OR Coverage: You're scrubbed in or standing by in operating theatres during procedures. You hand instruments, advise on product selection, troubleshoot issues, ensure surgeons have what they need. Early morning cases (6-7am starts) are common.
- Inventory Management: You manage consignment sets at multiple hospitals. You're constantly checking stock levels, moving inventory between sites, processing orders, and ensuring nothing expires.
- Surgeon Relationship Building: Coffee meetings before cases, lunch-and-learns, dinner programs, golf. You're educating surgeons on new products and techniques, showing clinical studies, and staying top of mind.
- Competitive Displacement: Identifying surgeons using competitor products and working (slowly) to get them to trial yours. This means getting into their cases to observe, finding pain points with current products, and strategically introducing yours.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- Your schedule is dictated by OR schedules - early mornings (5:30am), late nights, weekends, last-minute case additions. You're on call.
- Surgeons are extremely loyal to products they know. Converting a surgeon from a competitor can take 1-2 years of consistent presence and relationship building.
- You're managing multiple hospitals, multiple surgeons, and complex inventory logistics. Cases get cancelled last minute. Products get left at the wrong hospital.
- Hospital procurement and GPO contracts can block you even if surgeons want your product. You're navigating politics between surgeons, OR staff, and hospital administrators.
- You're measured on territory revenue but a lot of it comes from existing business you need to protect, not new growth.
- Physical job - you're on your feet in ORs, moving heavy instrument sets, driving between hospitals constantly.
What Success Looks Like
- Hit $1M+ in territory revenue (likely $250K+ quarterly targets)
- Maintain existing surgeon relationships and procedure volume - don't lose accounts to competitors
- Convert 2-3 competitive surgeons per year to your products
- Achieve 95%+ fill rate on OR cases (never miss a case or run out of product)
- Build strong relationships with OR staff, nurses, and purchasing - they influence surgeon choices
Who You're Selling To
Primary Buyers:
- Orthopaedic surgeons (sports medicine, trauma, joint reconstruction)
- OR nurses and surgical coordinators (influence product usage)
- Hospital value analysis committees (approve new products)
- Procurement/supply chain (manage contracts and pricing)
What They Care About:
- Surgeons: Clinical outcomes, ease of use, instrumentation simplicity, surgical technique, rep reliability and product knowledge
- OR Staff: Rep responsiveness, product availability, consistency, ease of working with you
- Hospital: Cost per case, contract compliance, standardization, clinical evidence
Requirements
- Proven track record owning and delivering against a $1M+ medical device territory quota
- Direct experience in sports medicine, orthopaedics, medical devices, or trauma sales
- Comfortable working in operating theatres with surgeons, nurses, and surgical teams
- Strong clinical aptitude - you need to understand surgical anatomy, procedures, and techniques
- Territory management skills - juggling multiple hospitals, surgeons, and cases simultaneously
- Valid driver's license and willingness to drive extensively around Perth metro
- Ability to handle early morning cases, late nights, and occasional weekend coverage
- Established relationships with Perth orthopaedic surgeons preferred but not required