Global Category Specialist – Global Marketing

Diageo · London

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Position: Global Category Specialist - Global Marketing

Location: London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Edinburgh

Position Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 28 October, 2026

About the Function: 

Procurement shapes how we build and grow our brands through the partnerships, services and materials that support our business.

Managing over £12bn of spend, this team works across our global supply chain to create value, drive efficiency and support sustainable growth. From supplier partnerships to innovation, their work has a direct impact on the quality and success of our brands.

You’ll collaborate with teams and partners around the world, helping deliver solutions that meet today’s needs while shaping what comes next.

About the role  

• Passionate about shaping the future of global marketing procurement and enabling the growth of our marketing through our Global Brand Teams (GBTs)?
• Excited to partner with brand teams to deliver key business ambitions through our more connected global through to regional marketing models?
• 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?

Overview of the Role

This role is an exciting opportunity to drive our Global Marketing Procurement strategy and enable Global Brand Teams (GBTs) to deliver their critical brand ambitions through strong business partnerships across A&P+. You will manage complex, multi-brand portfolios across markets and time zones, combining strategic leadership with commercial execution.

A key evolution of the role is to partner with your designated GBTs to extend our influence into Regional Marketing teams. Together, you will connect global and market demand to unlock greater value through co-partnering on cross-regional briefing and scoping and driving consolidated agency workplans spanning multiple markets. In doing so, you will help translate GBT requirements into connected cross-regional plans that simplify delivery, consolidate demand and maximise investment and agency value.

Requirements

• A dynamic, globally minded procurement professional with 5–7 years’ global or multi-market experience across A&P, complemented by additional experience across other Procurement categories (e.g. Supply, Indirects or related areas) would be an advantage.
• Proven expertise in shaping and managing integrated agency ecosystems end-to-end, from strategy, sourcing and negotiation through to performance optimisation and continuous improvement.
• Experience delivering cross-market and multi-regional programmes, connecting GBT and market requirements to drive greater scale, consistency and value.
• Experience leading multi-market Procurement workstreams, with responsibility for coordinating Regional Procurement teams and driving aligned delivery against shared outcomes
• Strong strategic and commercial acumen, with the ability to translate investment data, benchmarks, cost models and supplier performance into smarter investment decisions, commercial outcomes and value opportunities.
• Strong business partnering and influencing skills, building trusted relationships across GBTs, Regional Procurement, Marketing, Finance, agencies and suppliers to align priorities and deliver shared outcomes.
• Ability to lead through influence across global and regional teams, including cross-regional briefing, scoping and the development of consolidated workplans spanning multiple markets.
• Strong track record in procurement and category strategy, leading complex initiatives, negotiations and supplier programmes that deliver measurable business impact.
• Financially astute and outcome-focused, with experience across marketing planning & implementation planning processes, investment planning and value levers, and the ability to translate strategic priorities into actionable Procurement pipelines.
• Strong leadership presence and communication skills, with the confidence, resilience and pace to challenge constructively, influence senior stakeholders and deliver in complex, fast-moving environments.
• Strong digital and systems capability, including SAP, CLM, Salesforce, Microsoft Office, Copilot and other AI-enabled or workflow technologies.

Main Responsibilities & Accountabilities

• Strategic GBT Business Partnering: Build influential relationships across the Global Brand Teams, shaping strategic and investment decisions and partnering with GBT brand leads to drive delivery through to markets. Maintain a deep understanding of GBT priorities and ensure Procurement remains aligned to critical brand requirements.
• Global-to-Regional Integration: Act as the bridge between GBTs and Regional Procurement, connecting global priorities with market needs to create greater scale, consistency and value. Identify where GBT and regional requirements can be brought together to strengthen investment and execution.
• Cross-Regional Briefing & Scoping: Co-lead connected briefing and scoping across GBTs and regions, moving from fragmented project-by-project briefs towards consolidated demand and pipeline planning. Bring global and market requirements together into larger, more strategic workplans that maximise agency capability and commercial leverage.
• Agency Ecosystem Leadership: Lead the development and optimisation of integrated GBT agency ecosystems, ensuring the right capabilities are aligned to brand ambitions. Partner with Regional Procurement to simplify agency structures, connect global and local partners and strengthen operating models.
• Strategic Agency Planning & Workplans: Shift agency engagement towards integrated half-year and full-year pipelines, creating stronger forward visibility, more strategic agency conversations and consolidated workplans across brands and markets.
• Sourcing & Commercial Excellence: Drive best-in-class sourcing across critical spend categories, leading negotiations, agency selection, strategic workplans and contracting. Consolidate demand where appropriate to strengthen negotiating leverage and commercial consistency.
• Enterprise Opportunity Creation: Identify and activate cross-regional and enterprise opportunities through connected GBT and market investment plans, partnering with Regional Procurement and Global Category teams to deliver scalable value programmes.
• Strategic Execution & Implementation: Partner with Global Category teams to co-create and activate category strategies, ensuring seamless execution against GBT priorities and broader regional and enterprise opportunities.
• Relationship Collaboration Programme (RCP): Lead the RCP across designated brands, creating a two-way flow of insight between GBTs, Regions and Global Marketing Procurement to strengthen partner strategies and long-term agency relationships.
• Cross-Team Procurement Leadership: Coordinate Global and Regional Procurement teams around shared priorities, ensuring global strategies translate into connected market execution and cross-regional opportunities are identified, prioritised and delivered.
• AOP, MIP & Demand Visibility: Use AOP and MIP outputs to improve investment visibility, shape budget decisions, identify value opportunities and build Procurement delivery pipelines. Support the evolution of connected global and regional planning processes.
• Digital Procurement Transformation: Accelerate adoption of digital procurement tools, workflow technologies and AI-enabled productivity platforms, improving ways of working across the ecosystem.
• Governance, Compliance & Risk: Maintain strong governance across risk management, spend monitoring, segmentation, savings tracking, performance reporting, contracting and benchmarking.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Use investment, supplier, performance and market data to challenge the status quo, identify opportunities and influence high-quality commercial decisions.
• A&P Subject Matter Leadership: Demonstrate deep expertise across A&P categories, leading initiatives that maximise value and performance in partnership with GBT and regional stakeholders.
• Global CoE Partnership: Contribute to Global CoE strategies, ensuring GBT priorities, market realities and local requirements are reflected in global category approaches.
• Flexible Category Collaboration: Partner across categories and Procurement teams to support enterprise programmes and broader cross-functional value creation.

Working with Us  

Flexibility is key to our success. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you so that you’re supported to manage your wellbeing and balance your priorities from day one.  

We recognise and value performance, offering our people a highly competitive Rewards and Benefits package including:   

Our purpose is crafting iconic drinks chosen for life’s moments. And it’s our people, with their different experiences, perspectives and talents, who make that possible.  

We value diversity in its broadest sense and want everyone to feel they can belong, contribute and strive for their personal best. You’ll work alongside people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives — challenging, supporting and learning from one another as one outstanding team.  

Together, we’re constantly learning and improving, combining the strength of our people, capabilities and iconic brands to raise the bar, grow and win. Wherever you join us, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute, make an impact and play your part in making life’s moments mean a little more.  

Ready to bring your best? This could be your opportunity.  

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please ensure that you capture this information when you submit your application.  

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