Head of Commercial Finance Spirits

Title: Head of Commercial Finance - Spirits

Reports to: Finance Director Africa Partner Markets (APM)

With over 200 brands sold in nearly 180 countries, Diageo is home to some of the world’s most iconic drinks. From Johnnie Walker and Guinness to Tanqueray, Smirnoff and Don Julio, we craft brands chosen for life’s moments — from everyday connections to landmark celebrations.

Bring your talent, curiosity and ambition, and strive for your personal best alongside people who challenge, support and learn from each other. Together, as one outstanding team, we keep learning, improving and raising the bar for our brands, our business and each other.

Join us and play your part in making life’s moments mean a little more.

Responsibilities include:
1. Drive performance management embedding a strong performance culture, tracking performance against the financial plan (NSV, Operating Profit, Cash) and other critical metrics including market share, partner health and supply chain effectiveness. This entails:
• Owning the end-to-end financial performance narrative for APM Spirits, ensuring risks, opportunities and interventions are clearly understood and acted upon by senior stakeholders
• Managing the performance review, outlook and AOP cycles and improving visibility in the partner-led model
• Proactively driving commercial partners to understand external influences and trends and their impact on current/future performance
• Building capability and driving possibility thinking in commercial discussions, and managing the development of new customer, brand and segment opportunities
• Leading interventions on working capital, overdue debt and creditor management
2. Lead commercial finance partnering across APM Spirits to:
• Drive the commercial performance agenda, including planning, pricing governance, partner/customer negotiation strategy and value-chain optimisation that will secure sustainable, value-creating growth
• Drive effective measurement and evaluation of trade investment and A&P to influence investment prioritosation
• Build stronger partner capability and governance across strategic partners, recognising that partner capability varies considerably across the region

Key Functional capabilities

Commercial Competence and Decision Making
• Ability to drive value through commercial knowledge/insight and understanding of the impact of decisions on the business
• Ability to influence partners and commercial stakeholders in a complex, partner-led operating model where Finance is embedded in commercial decision making
Strategic Analysis and Financial Modelling
• Ability to develop, review and present financial analysis/models to address ongoing investment opportunities
• Ability to create insightful analysis, develop/use pricing and margin tools and be a master in how to use these to create and protect value
• Ability to assess value-chain health, partner profitability, cash generation, OWC, inventory and replenishment dynamics

Business Performance Management
• Ability to transition effectively between both operational detail and strategic goals in reviewing ongoing performance
• Ability to identify and track key underlying performance trends - and assess the potential impact of these on performance commitments
• Ability to lead performance, cash, shipment, depletion and partner governance rhythms across weekly and monthly business cycles
Partner Governance, Reporting and Transformation
• Ability to strengthen partner governance, standardise offline processes and improve reporting quality in a non-SAP environment
• Ability to lead Finance simplification and automation, enabling in-market Finance to focus on business partnering and decision support
business partnering and decision support.

Qualifications and Experience
• Experience in commercial finance (5+ years)
• Qualified Accountant strongly preferred
• Track record of defining and delivering commercially oriented strategies and plans
• Strong financial competence and commercial experience
• Ability to influence critical commercial decisions and collaborate effectively with a cross- functional team
• Able to manage multiple assignments and priorities simultaneously
• Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills.

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