Global Category Director, Primary Packaging

Job Description :

Global Category Director Primary Packaging

Permanent contract

Closing date: February 28, 2024

About the Team

Diageo Global Procurement is accountable for the Procurement of Supply, Marketing and Indirect categories with an annual value of circa $12bn. In support of Diageo’s ambition to be the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products company  in the world, the vision of Global Procurement is to be the most trusted and respected business partner, fuelling growth and value, everyday, everywhere.

To support this vision and the financial expectations for the next 3-5 years, a transformation of organisational structure, capabilities, internal/external relationships and digital platforms is being driven within Procurement.  This role plays a critical role in driving that transformation by embedding the change in two critical categories.

Diageo’s Procurement function is currently structured to take advantage of our global scale through a model based on balancing Global Category roles with in-market execution roles.  The Global Category teams, including this role, are focused on long term strategic development, big idea generation and bringing in external insight to keep Diageo’s Procurement function on the leading edge.  Global Categories must work collaboratively with In-Market teams (including regional Centres of Excellence) to deliver strategies that are future thinking and fit for purpose to move into execution.

The role of the new Global Category Director – Primary Packaging is to ensure we operate to a holistic Global Category Strategy, with regional execution across the supply categories. The role will have full end to end accountability of this value chain. The function is focussed on driving holistic value, transforming the ESG performance of our end to end supply chain and innovating at scale and with pace. Our people are at the heart of everything that we do

About You

We are looking for an individual with a drive to be the best: a brilliant negotiator, influencer and leader that can deliver exceptional, holistic, procurement strategies across a Global internal and external eco-system aligning the best of Global with in Market execution across the primary packaging eco-system.

About the Role:

• The Global Category Director, is accountable for the strategic sourcing and performance delivery of all primary packaging (Glass, Cans, PET, & Closures) developing an holistic container strategy across Diageo’s global portfolio of brands. The role will also lead the end-to-end container strategy for Global Brand Supply (GBS) building a direct strategic and operational execution plan across the Category model in GBS. Whilst in market procurement teams and other functions are required to support the delivery of Procurement goals, the job holder is ultimately accountable for the delivery of the results and execution of the strategy. 

• The role reports to the HOP – Global Supply & Sustainable Procurement

• The role has accountability and decision-making authority for an annual spend of circa £1.6bn and has a team of 15 highly skilled procurement professionals located in multiple geographies in market and globally

• Primary function of the role is to develop long-term, leading edge, integrated category strategies that drive holistic supplier performance. These strategies should have value creation across multiple dimensions at their heart, including cost, carbon, cash & innovation leadership. No dimension is more important than the next – balanced and holistic performance is the key to the GBS stakeholders and global stakeholders

• Success will be delivered by effectively engaging senior internal and external stakeholders to ‘own’ the strategic outcomes and champion them across multiple organisations. It is essential that the role holder networks and influences effectively to make this happen

• It is essential that all strategies developed are effectively benchmarked across the external marketplace and utilise a best practice approach to development and subsequent implementation

• Leading the identification of business risk, and then effectively managing these, is a critical to success in the highly volatile environment we operate in today

To be successful in this role you will need:

• Strong academic credentials, preferably a degree and an MBA.

• Likely to have led a procurement category in an international environment

• Substantial proven experience in Procurement with increasing responsibility

• Strong knowledge of Best-in-Class Procurement practices and ways of working

• An individual with the broad business acumen and an ability to interact with general manage