Country Manager, Portugal (all genders)

Merantix

23h • Remote

About The Position

At FICUS Health, we are building the future of rehabilitation care with AI-powered software that enables clinicians to focus on their patients. We are digitizing a largely analogue area of healthcare with the speed and ambition of a high-growth technology company. Our AI-powered clinical documentation platform is used by rehabilitation clinics in Germany and is expanding into a broader rehabilitation operating system. As we prepare to enter Portugal, we are looking for a Country Manager to lead our market entry. This role involves validating the market, establishing FICUS with key stakeholders, and securing initial partnerships. Portugal is a market that needs to be understood, opened, and built from the ground up. The ideal candidate will have deep knowledge of the Portuguese rehabilitation and healthcare market, including provider decision-making, funding, reimbursement, and trusted institutions. You will report directly to the founding team, initially operating as a senior individual contributor, shaping market-entry decisions and building a local team over time. This role offers genuine country ownership, with a path to full operational and P&L responsibility. You will introduce our evolving platform, which goes beyond clinical documentation to become a rehabilitation operating system and an AI layer for clinical, administrative, and operational workflows. You will play a key role in determining how this platform is positioned, adapted, and scaled in Portugal.

Requirements

• At least ten years of relevant experience in the Portuguese healthcare or rehabilitation market (e.g., leader within a provider or clinic group, healthcare consulting, market access, or commercial leadership at a digital-health company).
• Strong understanding of the Portuguese healthcare system and its national and regional decision-making structures.
• Relevant experience in rehabilitation, hospital care, or an adjacent provider market.
• Established and relevant network with the credibility to open doors across rehabilitation providers, hospital or clinic groups, payers, professional associations, or health authorities in Portugal.
• Track record of building rather than simply managing (e.g., establishing a new market, business unit, commercial operation, or partnership structure).
• Ability to operate effectively in a highly ambiguous environment without a finished playbook and to create one.
• Combination of strategic thinking and hands-on execution.
• Willingness and credibility to lead conversations, negotiate agreements, and build partnerships personally.
• Fluent Portuguese and professional English.
• Willingness to travel regularly within Portugal and to Berlin.

Nice To Haves

• German is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Validate market-entry assumptions and determine how FICUS should enter and scale in Portugal, including analyzing the market, competitive landscape, funding and reimbursement structures, procurement processes, and provider decision-making across the Serviço Nacional de Saúde, regional health administrations, and the private healthcare sector.
• Build initial relationships with rehabilitation providers, hospital and clinic groups, professional associations, payers, and other relevant healthcare stakeholders.
• Lead commercial conversations, develop, negotiate, and close initial pilot partnerships.
• Secure lighthouse partnerships and translate early market experience into a repeatable commercial approach.
• Navigate Portugal’s regulatory, data-protection, procurement, and reimbursement requirements at national and regional levels to ensure compliant, clinically relevant, and commercially viable market entry.
• Contribute a deep understanding of Portuguese rehabilitation workflows and provider needs to product development, helping to determine necessary local adaptations and the clinical, administrative, and operational processes FICUS should address.
• Initially build the Portuguese market hands-on, supported by the founding team and German teams.
• Build the local team and assume full operational and financial responsibility for Portugal, including team leadership, operations, and P&L, once the market has been validated.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary plus equity participation
• Flexible starting date, ideally at short notice
• Remote within Portugal, with regular travel across the country and to our team in Berlin

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed