**Job Description :** **Job Title:** Media and Consumer Planning Europe Procurement Category Specialist **About the Function:** Our Procurement team are innovators, always seeking new ways to help our business, people and much-loved brands thrive. We’re dedicated to maximising the £12 billion+ we spend every year, building brands of premium quality, while creating sustainable value and growth. Together, we’re shaping the services, partnerships and innovations that meet our future needs. Our procurement team delivers outstanding end-to-end value across our supply chain and offers innovative supplier solutions. Together, we’re driving our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' plan across suppliers and agency partners to create a more sustainable world. Wherever you choose to carve your career, we’ll support and encourage you in our inclusive culture. **About the role and team:** As part of the Procurement team you will play a significant contribution towards Diageo’s business, productivity and growth goals. Within the Marketing A&P, the Media category is the largest spend area with ambitions for further growth. There is, therefore, a need to drive efficiency in the spend and ways of operating to deliver value creation to support operating margin improvement and competitive advantage. The Consumer Insights into our business are key to ensuring we make the right commercial and strategic decisions. The prime accountability for the role is to drive value through ensuring the commercial elements of spend in this category are executed brilliantly with our vendors to unlock the value and business performance that procurement can bring. The Media and Consumer Planning categories are the highest contributing categories to the overall Europe Marketing Procurement value delivery. The role is also pivotal in driving a data led approach to our investment decision making, whilst leveraging both efficiency and effectiveness of that investment. The category has a number of stakeholders including the local market Media and Consumer Planning teams, the Marketing Effectiveness function and other digital teams, as well as our agency partners and wider networks. Business partnering is key, and the role involves Senior Stakeholder engagement both within our local Marketing team, as well as across our Agency network. You will be a key driver in leading and influencing Senior Marketing stakeholders to drive decision making. You will be joining the fantastic Europe Marketing Procurement team and working directly with the other Category Specialists and Category Managers Globally and locally. Scope of Europe region includes the Market clusters of GB, Ireland, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and MENA (Middle East North Africa). **Role responsibilities:** **Category Management and Strategy** + Build, manage and grow expertise in Media and Consumer Planning Categories, including understanding of Marketing, suppliers/agencies, stakeholders and how to negotiate to meet demand. You will be the subject-matter expert and utilise your expertise to implement ways of working and win new value for Diageo. + Applying strategic Procurement excellence, through creation of the Europe Category Strategy/Implementation plan, in line with our global strategy pillars. Ensuring that plans consider market insights, deliver excellence benefits and drives value in line with targets. + Drive continuous improvement across ways of working with markets to drive value for the business. + Apply Diageo best practice standard, ensuring the most recent and relevant approaches are always applied; use formal governance and peer review to ensure the quality and efficacy of risk management; contribute to development of standards. **Data Insights and Analytics** + Manage relevant Europe category data insights to analysis, report and identify category opportunities. + Management of value delivery data and reporting as part of Tier meeting structures. + Generate insights and opportunities from internal and external benchmarking, develop cost models to consider scenarios with suppliers and stakeholders and build & evolve analytics capabilities that allow regular review and improvement of strategies. + Optimise Marketing Data and Insights Ecosystem. Review and optimise the agency structure to drive investment reduction and cost efficiency, whilst ensuring the ecosystem still delivers market needs for now and for the future. **Business Partnering and Stakeholder Management** + Build close relationships with marketing stakeholders, agency partners and your global and local category Procurement counterparts. + Truly understand the capability requirements of our agencies and lead senior stakeholder engagement with local marketing teams to act as a key driver for investment optimisation across A&P investment and value delivery within the Media and CP categories. + Establish standards, ways of working and trusted relationships with key agency partners and suppliers in relevant categories; ensure Diageo best practices are applied and that there is a good foundation for strong performance, risk mitigation and rapid resolution of issues. **Sourcing and Agency Selection** + Manage sourcing activities for– through RFX phases, agency chemistry sessions and pitches. Utilise cost modelling. + Optimise Ecosystem: Review and evolve the agency landscape (ecosystem) to ensure its fit for purpose and meets business requirements for Consumer Planning. **Contract Management** + Work with relevant Category managers / Legal teams to implement and manage contracts (including tracking and reporting of relevant Service Level Agreements / KPIs ). + Execute agreed contracts into the Contract Lifecycle Management System and ensure correct management of contract compliance – including renewals. **Risk Management and Inflation** + Identify, record and Manage category risks in line category strategy/implementation plans and best practice. Utilising sourcing to ensure that we build a supplier structure that mitigates risks. + Tracking and management of inflation and impact across value delivery across Media and CP deliverables. Identification and delivery of mitigation or alternative value opportunities. **Agency Partner Relationship and Performance Management** + Drive Diageo’s Relationship Collaboration Programme across all relevant categories and feed into Partner performance plans and review. + Building relationships throughout the supply chain with Media owners and Technology partners to drive value, and opportunities to drive competitive advantage. + Drive brilliant execution from our agency partners. Set KPIs, driving consistency across suppliers and markets, improving the value of data generated and applied and liaise with key stakeholders for resolution of escalated issues. + In line with Procurement strategic supplier strategies, collaborate with agency partners to unlock breakthrough opportunities for the business; stimulate partner capabilities to generate ideas for the future. **Value Delivery and Investment Optimisation** + Driving and influencing a data led approach to our investment decision making with Europe Marketing Leadership Teams to optimise our investment. + Leadership and execution of projects aligned with our Europe Strategy and Ambition. + Supporting Digital Transformation and playing a key role within Europe Procurement on defining the strategic cross category approach. + Seeking to delivery year on year cost reduction and value creation to support operating margin improvement. + Delivery of both financial and non-financial Key Performance Indicator's, including Diageo Society 2030 targets. **Wider Procurement Contribution** + In addition to category deliver the Specialist will play a key role with the rest of the team to drive us against the wider Procurement Ambition and vision. **Experience / skills required:** We are looking for a dynamic individual with the ability to thrive in an agile and fast-paced environment while finding clarity in ambiguous situations by stimulating alternative thinking. We want you to show high levels of energy and commitment and a relentlessness in the pursuit of goals. + Experience in a Procurement, Finance, Project Management, Marketing, Commercial or other relevant role. If you have experience in a sector similar to ours then that would be a bonus. + You have strong analytical skills, including forensic understanding of the cost drivers to target and influence costs through end-to-end value. Have commercial acumen, understanding of the business and judgment. + You can demonstrate consistent performance and examples of executing projects and driving strategic change through influencing stakeholders. You use industry knowledge and research to drive improvements. + Strong communication skills are a key strength and you have the ability to articulate across all levels of the organization. Experience developing and carrying out category and procurement strategies is advantageous. + Independent thinker with strong leadership & communication skills, able to inspire internal marketing team members and external agency partners. + Experience in high-spend negotiations in a Procurement function would be advantageous, however if you are familiar with negotiations on a business or at Marketing level this is encouraging too. + Knowledge and understanding of the Media and Consumer Promotions landscape. + Degree educated or equivalent relevant work experience. **Working with us** Flexibility is key to success in our business and many of our people work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time, compressed hours, flexible location. Please talk to us about what flexibility means to you and don’t let anything stop you from applying. We offer a highly competitive rewards and benefits package including: + Contemporary work life balance policies and wellbeing activities + Comprehensive health insurance + Annual bonus Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and listened to, is a crucial part of this.   We believe the most diverse and inclusive culture makes for a better business and a better world. We know that for our business to thrive and for Diageo to realise its ambition, we depend on having diverse talent with a range of backgrounds, skills and capabilities in each of the countries in which we operate and to reflect our broad consumer base.   Around the world we have a number of inclusive Business and Employee Resource Groups known as BRGs and ERGs. These influential groups, made up of our people, represent various viewpoints, experiences and communities who generate thought-provoking work to enhance our business and workplace, creating a sense of belonging and opportunities for all.    Join us, and you'll be part of an organisation that embraces diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you'll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You'll be part of — and help build — an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, approaches, and more. And you'll help us champion inclusion and diversity across our entire business: with our employees, our suppliers, across our brands, and within the communities in which we operate.   Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you! **Worker Type :** Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term) **Primary Location:** 1HQ **Additional Locations :** Edinburgh Park, Hamburg, Madrid, St James Gate **Job Posting Start Date :** 2025-05-15 With over 200 brands sold in more than 180 countries, we’re the world’s leading premium drinks company. Every day, over 30,000 talented people come together at Diageo to create the magic behind our much-loved brands. From iconic names to innovative newcomers – the brands we’re building are rooted in culture and local communities. Our ambition is to be one of the best performing, most trusted and most respected consumer products companies in the world. Our founders, such as Arthur Guinness, John Walker, and Charles Tanqueray, were visionary entrepreneurs whose brilliant minds helped shape the alcohol industry. And through our people, their legacy lives on. Join us, and you’ll collaborate with talented people from all corners of the world. Together, you’ll innovate and push boundaries, shaping a more inclusive and sustainable future that we can all be proud of. With diversity at our core, we celebrate our people's unique passions, commitments and specialist skills. Because when varied voices, mindsets, and personalities come together, great ideas are born. In our supportive culture, your voice will be heard and you’ll be empowered to be you. Just bring your ambition, curiosity and ideas, and we’ll celebrate your work and help you reach your fullest potential. **DRINKiQ** What's your DRINKiQ? Take our quiz to understand how alcohol is made and explore the effects of drinking. You can discover everything you need to know at DRINKiQ (https://www.drinkiq.com/en-gb/)