Head of Spirits, Diageo
Take Home Trade, 12 Month Fixed Term Contract
+ Bonus
Alcoholic beverage company
Be an early applicant
Alcoholic beverage company
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
+ Bonus
1001+ employees
Company mission
To be one of the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world.
Role
Who you are
- A proven track record in marketing, category or commercial leadership, with strong strategic and financial acumen
- Ability to lead a cross-functional team and influence across a matrixed organisation
- Deep understanding of P&L management, revenue growth levers, and customer marketing
- A passion for developing talent, with a strong coaching approach and a commitment to building future leaders
- The ability to translate strategy into execution, balancing long-term vision with short-term delivery
- Strong partner management skills, both internally and externally
- A collaborative, inclusive leadership style that inspires trust and gets results
What the job involves
- As Head of Spirits THT, you’ll lead the charge in shaping the future of this dynamic category for the THT channel across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
- This is a high-impact leadership role that blends strategic vision, commercial excellence, and cross-functional collaboration
- Full P&L ownership for the Spirits category across all channels in Republic of Ireland (IOI) and Northern Ireland (NI) – driving sustainable growth and profitability for our commercial channels
- Strategic planning and execution across a 3-year horizon, translating ambition into action through IBP, MBP, and AOP processes
- Internal collaborator engagement to co-create and align on long-term category strategy
- External socialisation of the category vision and plans with key customers and heads of channel
- Leadership of a cross-functional category team, ensuring agile resource allocation and high-performance delivery
- Category development leadership, setting the agenda and driving execution across innovation, portfolio strategy, and consumer insights
- Ownership of the 5-lever NRM (Net Revenue Management) plan, ensuring value creation across pricing, mix, and promotional strategy
- End-to-end customer marketing leadership, from planning to execution, ensuring brand and commercial alignment
- Talent development and team leadership, nurturing the next generation of Category Development Managers, Revenue Growth Managers, and Customer Marketing Managers
- This is more than a 12-month cover – it’s a unique opportunity to lead one of Diageo’s most exciting categories through a pivotal phase of growth and transformation
Our take
Multinational beverage company Diageo was the result of a merger between Guinness and Grand Metropolitan, a leisure and property conglomerate, in 1997. Spearheaded by then-Guiness executives Anthony Greener and Philip Yea, the merger sent stocks skyrocketing and by December of the same year, Diageo was listed on the London Stock Exchange.
As the owner of many of the global leaders in alcoholic beverages (think Ciroc, Smirnoff, and Tanqueray), Diageo has made a number of savvy acquisitions and sell-offs, expanding its portfolio beyond Europe and into the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia.
Over the past decade, however, it has had to face the rise of craft and independent brewing, with companies like Brewdog becoming new competitors. Rather than acquiring these craft beer companies, Diageo has focused on branding Guinness in a way that fits the craft mould. This involved initiatives like The Brewers Project.
During the early 2020s, Diageo also weathered an alcohol sales decline and has bounced back with a renewed focus on cold brew coffee liqueurs and Guinness blends, as well as further acquisitions that have included that of actor Ryan Reynolds’ Aviation Gin.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (1 round)
Aug 2023
$8.8m
GRANT
Total funding: $8.8m
Company HQ
Park Royal, London, UK
Leadership
Debra Crew
(CEO)Currently a Board Member at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. Previously Board Member at Mondelēz International, Newell Brands and previously a Board Member at Diageo before becoming its CEO.
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