Global Category Specialist, Global Brand Teams at Diageo

Overview of the Role

• This role is incredibly exciting, as you will drive our Global Marketing Procurement strategic objectives and empower our Global Brand Teams (GBTs) with delivery of their critical brand ambitions through exceptional business partnerships across all A&P categories. As part of this role, you will manage sophisticated, multi‑brand A&P portfolios, across multiple locations and time zones with consistency, pace, and with commercial and strategic leadership.
• Passionate about shaping the future of global marketing procurement and enabling the growth of our Global Brand Teams?
• Excited to partner with brand teams to deliver key business ambitions through our Conscious Create Teams (CCTs) and Agile Brand Communities (ABCs)?
• Energised by innovation and eager to bring fresh thinking and smarter solutions across our marketing categories?
• Motivated to maximise A&P spend and ensure our brands invest in the most effective, growth‑driving ways?
• Fluent in digital procurement tools, workflow systems, and AI‑enabled productivity platforms—and experienced in piloting and driving adoption of new technologies?
• Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you!

Main Responsibilities & Accountabilities

• Build influential relationships across the Global Brand Teams, shaping strategic and investment decisions and enabling delivery through CCTs and ABCs. Position Procurement as a trusted, long‑term strategic partner in the GBT landscape.
• Architect and optimise the GBTs’ integrated agency ecosystem, ensuring the right capabilities are aligned to brand ambitions. Lead brand ecosystem design to support wider global marketing transformation initiatives
• Lead the RCP across specific brands with the ongoing two way flow of insights into global marketing procurement category teams strengthen global partner strategies and long‑term agency relationships.
• Drive best‑in‑class sourcing across critical spend categories—for brands by leading negotiations, shaping strategic plans, managing agency selection processes, and ensuring robust contracting that delivers value and impact for Diageo.
• Partner with global category teams to co‑create and activate category strategies, ensuring seamless end‑to‑end execution that advances GBT and business priorities.
• Accelerate the adoption of digital procurement tools, workflow technologies, and AI‑enabled productivity platforms. Act as a digital ambassador, collaborating with cross‑functional digital and technology teams to enhance ways of working.
• Work collaboratively across the procurement team to ensure delivery against all workstreams and interdependencies, supporting both day‑to‑day priorities and high‑impact strategic projects.
• Contribute to strategic development within Global CoEs, ensuring market realities, local nuances, and GBT‑specific needs are fully reflected in global approaches.
• Uphold the highest standards of compliance through rigorous risk management, spend monitoring, segmentation, savings tracking, performance reporting, and best‑practice contracting and benchmarking.
• Leverage tools, analytics, and performance data to challenge the status quo, generate new strategic pathways, and influence high‑quality commercial decision-making.
• Demonstrate deep expertise across A&P spend areas, leading the delivery of projects that maximise value and performance in partnership with marketing partners.
• Actively champion initiatives that contribute to Diageo’s Spirit of Progress goals, embedding sustainability, responsibility, and long‑term value creation into marketing procurement decisions.
• Partner fluidly across multiple categories to support enterprise-wide procurement programmes, contributing to cross-functional impact and broader procurement excellence.

As the Global Category Specialist – Global Brand Teams, you will play an active and influential role within a dynamic global procurement community spanning multiple spend categories. You will contribute to regular forums and collaboration sessions that drive strategic alignment, share standards, and strengthen global category strategies. Through this engagement, you will continuously build your own expertise while elevating the capability of others—helping shape a high‑performing, future‑ready procurement organisation.

Requirements

• You will bring a strong track record of shaping and managing integrated agency ecosystems end‑to‑end, from strategic development and sourcing through to performance optimisation and continuous improvement.
• You thrive in agile, fast‑paced environments and excel at building long‑lasting, value‑driving partnerships that unlock meaningful impact for brands and the wider business. Your ability to influence, collaborate and deliver across the short-, mid- and long-term positions you as a trusted and valued business partner across your customer set.
• High‑impact global or multi‑market experience across Project Management, Procurement, Marketing, Finance, FMCG Commercial or related disciplines—bringing deep subject‑matter expertise across multiple spend categories and a proven ability to navigate sophisticated, fast paced environments.
• A fast learner with a proven ability to quickly adapt to new concepts, changing priorities, with the ability to deliver meaningful contributions from day one.
• Demonstrates strong initiative, self‑motivation, and the capability to operate effectively in dynamic, fast‑paced environments.
• A strong record of shaping and delivering strategic category and procurement strategies, leading key initiatives, negotiating with global suppliers, and driving ground-breaking change that unlocks measurable business performance.
• A natural coach and capability builder, supporting team members to elevate end‑to‑end marketing procurement excellence and strengthen business partnering across the value chain.
• Exceptional partnership‑building skills, forging trusted relationships with agencies, suppliers, and marketeers to align ambition, accelerate delivery, and unlock shared growth.
• Sharp analytical and commercial foresight, translating cost models, benchmarks, and supplier performance data into powerful insights that shape smarter investment decisions.
• A strategic, problem solver with strong leadership presence, able to influence senior collaborators, and inspire agency partners toward shared outcomes.
• Strong communicator with high emotional intelligence and confidence addressing diverse audiences.
• A consistent track record of delivering results, demonstrating ownership, resilience, and steadfast focus on performance.
• Strong commercial fluency and understanding of best‑in‑class procurement practices, to drive value creation, support risk management, and drive long-term capability building.
• Financially astute, with experience of ideally delivering the AOP & MIP processes, value levers, and the financial drivers that shape market plans to support in market category and marketing investment decisions.
• Proven ability to generate insights that influence decision-making, backed by a strong commercial attitude and high partner credibility.
• Solid systems expertise, including experience with SAP, CLM, Salesforce, Microsoft Office, Copilot (and other AI tools) and similar workflow or procurement technologies.