Ceci Zak

Biography

Ceci is a 20 year pharmaceutical industry veteran and is currently Principal and COO at Batten & Co, a strategic consulting firm within Omnicom, which builds and activates ambition for corporations by operating at the intersection of business, brands and culture. In this role she focuses on helping c-suites articulate, align and activate their True North for internal and external stakeholders. Previously, Ceci was COO of healthcare at D.A.S.~ Omnicom, a global conglomerate of professional service agencies where she developed the global strategic focus for healthcare, and managed the P&L for the group, significantly improving profitability margins.

Prior to Omnicom, Ceci held various executive roles at Sanofi, including general manager, business unit head and joint venture manager for the allergy, osteoporosis & hypertension franchises, which includes +$1B brands Allegra, Nasacort, Xyzal (UCB), Actonel (P&G) & Avapro/Avalide (BMS). At Sanofi, Ceci also worked on the service side of the business as vice president, commercial capabilities, which was a multi-faceted strategic and operational role consisting of a think tank and learning lab for innovative, novel, new business solutions, the digital center of excellence as well as Commercial Learning and Development.

Ceci started her career at Roche Pharmaceuticals and has held a wide variety of positions in sales and marketing, ranging from sales management to market analysis, Sales Training, Product & Franchise Management and Managed Market’s strategy and operations.

Ceci was recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential Individuals in Healthcare by PharmaVoice in 2015 for a second time. In 2014, she was named by the GLG Institute as one of the top 15 Brand Leaders in Healthcare and was previously recognized an Emerging Leader in the Healthcare Industry by Pharmaceutical Executive.

Active in the community, Ceci is past president of the Healthcare Business Woman’s Association _(_HBA) and under her leadership, the HBA expanded to Europe, doubled its membership, revenue and profitability. She currently is a board member of HealthRight International, a global NGO focused on empowering marginalized communities to live healthy lives as well as Julia’s Butterfly Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing funding to families with chronic and terminally ill children. In addition, she is actively involved with the Pachamama Alliance, a nonprofit organization that strives to empower indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest to preserve their land and culture.

Teaching

Fall 2017

Pharmaceutical Drug Commercialization: Strategy & Practice (MBA)

Summer 2017

Pharmaceutical Marketing (EMBA)