The international recognition of a Portuguese manager is gaining prominence in the European business panorama. Nelson Ferreira Pires, General Director of Jaba Recordati Portugal and Greece, was distinguished in Madrid with one of the Best CEO Awards, promoted by European Leadership Excellence. The award highlights leaders who stand out for their leadership, innovation and multicultural management capabilities in a business context marked by rapid transformations.
According to the organization, the Best CEO Awards annually distinguish just 30 leaders among hundreds of candidates considered benchmarks in their respective sectors. In a communication cited by Human Resources Portugal, Nelson Ferreira Pires explains that he was recognized “among 752 exceptional leaders selected”, in an award limited to thirty personalities who stand out as pioneers of change and innovation in the European economy.
A recognized leadership abroad
The Portuguese manager highlighted that the distinction “represents more than recognition”, describing it as a certification of the ability to guide organizations “towards new horizons of success and innovation”. In the same message, he also highlighted the decisive role of teams and family, saying that “without them, nothing would have been possible”.
Jaba Recordati, a subsidiary of the Recordati group in Portugal, operates in key areas of healthcare, including prescription medicines, healthcare solutions and medical specialties. The Recordati group, headquartered in Milan, is a global pharmaceutical company that develops and markets medicines in around 150 countries, employing more than 4,500 employees and with operations spread across the EMEA, Americas and Asia-Pacific regions.
Leading the Portuguese and Greek markets simultaneously places the Portuguese manager in a position of high operational and strategic responsibility, in a group that has been reinforcing its focus on specialty medicines and rare diseases, through investment in R&D and international acquisitions.
How much, after all, does a General Director in the pharmaceutical sector earn?
Although the company does not disclose the individual salaries of its directors, it is possible to place this role in an international context. Salary guides published by consultants such as Hays and PageGroup/Michael Page show that General Director/General Manager positions in sectors such as healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry are, as a rule, at the top of the remuneration tables, with annual packages that combine base salary, performance bonuses and additional benefits.
In some markets, these studies point to total annual remunerations of six digitswell above the average for other sectors, especially when it comes to functions with multi-regional responsibility or in large companies. In many cases, the variable component, such as bonuses, long-term incentives and international mobility benefits, represents a significant portion of the total remuneration.
The global nature of the pharmaceutical industry requires not only advanced technical skills, but also the ability to manage multicultural teams, strategically read regulated markets and adapt to very different clinical and economic contexts. It is this combination that explains why these functions are positioned at the level of the sector’s salary elite.
A position of influence in a changing industry
According to , the Best CEO Awards aim to identify and celebrate leaders who stand out as pioneers of change and innovation, capable of guiding organizations towards new growth and competitiveness strategies in a context of profound transformations in the European economy.
In the specific case of health and pharmaceuticals, these challenges include themes such as therapeutic innovation, the aging of the European population, pressure on public health systems and the digitalization of clinical services. It is in this context that Nelson Ferreira Pires’ experience in managing teams and businesses in different markets becomes relevant, in a company that has been expanding its portfolio of specialty medicines and rare diseases on a global level.
Portuguese talent on the European map
The award places Nelson Ferreira Pires in a restricted group of 30 European leaders distinguished in the 2025 edition of the Best CEO Awards and reinforces the Portuguese presence in a sector traditionally dominated by executives from larger markets. The distinction recognizes not only his professional trajectory at Jaba Recordati, but also his management capacity in complex and multicultural environments, with a direct impact on the company’s growth strategies and the international projection of Portuguese talent.
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