Mark Hozza
Mark Hozza is a global executive who has spearheaded multimillion dollar growth within numerous industries. His approach to business is rooted in tenets of trust, transparency, and cross-functional cohesion — all of which help professionals at all levels work more efficiently and passionately toward a common goal. Mark has held senior positions at SARSTEDT iNC, Science and Medicine Group, Bruker BioSpin, Tecan, Orchid Biosciences and Merck & Co Inc.
Most recently the Chief Marketing Officer at Grenova, Mark Hozza has emerged over time as an exceptional leader. At each juncture of his diverse career, he has retained the core business practices and personal values instilled in him through his own experiences and those of his trusted mentors. However, his business approach is also flexible enough to incorporate cutting-edge technologies and adapt to change. Mark is able to maintain this approach within the constraints of highly regulated industries.
Early Career
Mark earned his BS in Bioengineering at Syracuse University and his MS in Pharmacology, specializing in Cell and Molecular Biology, at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He began his career in drug development and drug discovery at Merck & Co Inc. Within five years he had risen through the ranks to a senior position, co-establishing and managing a high-throughput department within the company. This was Mark’s first experience in organizational leadership, and he was inspired by the opportunity to make a difference via infrastructural change.
As Mark was heavily involved in Merck’s automated drug discovery processes, he attended numerous trade shows and grew familiar with the manufacturing process. He began to observe and research other manufacturing-based industries: what could he learn from their business processes, and how could these lessons be applied to his own work in drug discovery? For the first time in his career, Mark began to develop cross-industry knowledge. It would soon serve as a thread linking each stage of his professional development.
Mark’s curiosity spurred him to join Orchid Biosciences, Inc., then a fledgling provider of DNA testing services. Now on the industry’s business side instead of the science side, Mark directed the strategic implementation of automated laboratory processes. He was also an integral figure in process development for the company; he helped develop and launch Orchid’s SNPstream UHT instrument platform. After two years as the company’s Associate Director of Process Automation, Mark moved on to Tecan US Inc, where he embraced one of the most fulfilling experiences of his professional life.
Tecan US Inc.
Mark Hozza was originally hired to fill the newly created position of Manager of Process Development. Mark quickly proved his acumen in the space and gained international experience for the first time, creating sales tools and standardizing messaging to accelerate business growth in the US and Canada. In 2005 he was promoted to Director of Marketing and Sales Support, overseeing more than half of Tecan’s total business in the Americas. He was also handpicked by the CEO to lead a global customer relationship program. Mark was ultimately promoted to become President of the company, which boasted a 175-person staff and $125M P&L accountability.
During his company presidency, Mark continued to excel in identifying new business opportunities. He leveraged existing sales and service channels or cultivated new professional relationships to bring these opportunities into reality. For example, he oversaw an exclusive agreement with Hewlett-Packard allowing Tecan to distribute an HP product which used inkjet printer technology to dispense drug compounds. Mark also continued growing his global impact and that of the company; thanks to regular country visits and sales and service meetings, he aligned with distribution partners and boosted Latin American business 100% in one year alone.
Out of all of his achievements at Tecan, Mark is proud of cultivating a supportive, inclusive corporate culture that inspired employees to go above and beyond their roles. His strategies in commercialization and sales would have never achieved fruition if not for the agile, responsive teams at Tecan, who were genuinely motivated to carry out the company vision. Simply put, the business could not thrive if its employees did not thrive — a mantra Mark has lived by for his entire career.
Bruker BioSpin Corp.
In 2013 Mark founded Dragonfly Life Science Consulting LLC. Now listed in the North Carolina Biotechnology Directory, Dragonfly was created as a comprehensive outlet for Mark’s specialized experience in the Life Sciences and his widespread knowledge of strategic planning, project management and leadership services. Amongst his industry-leading clientele was Bruker BioSpin Corporation, a multibillion dollar company which specialized in research tools for the Life Sciences sector. Bruker BioSpin initially engaged Mark to modernize their sales processes — and then retained him as their Senior Director of Commercial Excellence and Strategic Initiatives.
Mark brought a forward-thinking approach to Bruker, a multibillion dollar company which, despite its size, still generally operated on an entrepreneurial, small-business model. Bruker’s case was emblematic of a common issue in the life sciences industry: because it is not the same as a consumer market, it is slower to adapt new marketing and business strategies. Over the next two years, Mark drove Bruker’s strategy firmly into the 21st century. He guided the company not just to achieve its existing goals, but to define new goals that would push it to the next level.
Mark inspired transformational change at Bruker, from implementing new CRM processes to coordinating internal training to standardizing sales language. He reorganized the company in a way that clearly expressed high-level goals, but encouraged (and relied upon) the unique ideas and participation of employees at all levels to achieve them. In this way, he helped employees keep their autonomy as professionals, but work within the context of community efforts.
He also encouraged a cross-cultural, cross-functional approach which allowed for the ongoing input from employees of all professional backgrounds and specialties. This viewpoint was exemplified in the implementation of a new quoting solution; he recognized the difficulty of full tactical implementation upfront, and took an agile approach to developing the new software. Ultimately, this quoting solution reduced time-to-quote from hours to minutes.
Science and Medicine Group
In 2019, Mark joined the Science And Medicine Group (SAMG) as the company’s first Chief Commercial Officer. SAMG is the leading research and advisory firm providing market research, syndicated publications and media for the life science, analytical instrument, diagnostic, healthcare, radiology and dental industries, SAMG includes well-known brands such as Bioinformatics, SDi, IBO, IMV, Kalorama Information, AuntMinnie, DrBicuspid, LabPulse and ScienceBoard. Mark was brought in to align revenue operations across all of the SAMG market research, publication and media brands. In his short tenure, he restructured the commercial organization, including implementing KPIs, defining roles and areas of accountability and redesigned the CRM platform including marketing automation. He rebuilt the sales organization by hiring 12 sales employees in strategic markets for sustainable growth
Mark also launch four new products: RateMyProduct: an automated product assessment tool for product managers. Knowledge Center: an online subscription service to SAMG publications. LabPulse: a digital media site for clinical diagnostics and pathologists. ScienceBoard: a digital media site for life and analytical sciences.
Mark enjoys bringing his diverse skillset into a role while learning new things, SAMG allowed Mark to broaden his experience and skills in the marketing and product arenas.
SARSTEDT Inc
Mark joined joined SARSTEDT Inc in 2021 at the CEO and President in the USA. SARSTEDT is a privately owned, world-class manufacturer and distributor of medical devices, consumables and instrumentation for blood collection, and other clinical research applications, Mark was responsible for full P&L with 240 employees in sales Marketing, operations, administration and manufacturing. He brought a fresh perspective with his cross-functional, employee-centric leadership style during a volatile COVID market environment. Leading transformational change through sales restructuring and increased employee engagement, he enabled the organization to remain agile and responsive to customer needs while maintaining high growth results.
Grenova Inc
In 2022, Mark joined Grenova as Chief Research and Development Officer. Grenova is an innovative company that is revolutionizing lab consumables by providing solutions to lower costs in the laboratory industry and reduce biohazard waste in the environment by cleaning and reusing laboratory consumables. Initially, Mark was responsible for leading the R&D and Engineering efforts to develop innovative quality products and as a member of the executive leadership team he helped develop the long term strategy and tactics for the organization. After bringing a new product to market to clean and reuse microwell plates, as well as achieving ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certifications, he was asked to build out the marketing department and was named Chief Marketing Officer in 2023, where he is developing the marketing strategy and 5 year value maximization plan for Grenova.
More About Mark
Mark Hozza is currently active in numerous professional organizations related to his field. He attends meetings of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening, and is currently a member of the board of Sales and Marketing Professionals in Science (SAMPS) Previously, he directed the local chapter of ACP-LS, which later became SAMPS. He is always looking for opportunities to help companies utilize their assets, assemble agile teams, and put processes in place that will lead to quick business growth. He recently launch “The Leading Edge” a monthly newsletter on LinkedIn for leaders in the life sciences.
Mark continues to challenge himself outside of the office as well. He enjoys keeping a fit lifestyle which includes running. He has completed both a half and full marathon in Raleigh, NC
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