Area Business Development Manager at Diageo

Purpose of Role:

The Area Business Development Manager is expected to understand the commercial opportunity, develop strategy and plan execution, handle performance, measure and evaluate the total trade investments while ensuring controls and governance is adhered to within their respective area and team’s coverage. In addition, ensure the sales teams under them is delivering an optimized brand portfolio of both beer and spirits in each outlet across the Area s/he is leading.

Role Responsibilities:

Understand the Commercial Opportunity

• Brand & Category Knowledge - Persuasively sell the key features and customer benefits of Diageo’s brands and categories.
• Customer Understanding - Understand customer needs and motivations and use of this information in the joint up customer plans to achieve objectives and unlock growth.
• Shopper Understanding and insights - use shopper information and insights with customers to valuably unlock category growth.
• Outlet Segmentation - Know your outlet universe and map outlets into territories based on the market’s segmentation guidelines.

Develop Strategy and Plan Execution

• Joint Customer planning – Plan and sell a value driven joint customer plan which includes performance measures and review on a weekly/monthly basis.
• Plan and Develop Execution Standards – know every day minimum execution standard for the customers and teams reporting to you. Understand the 365 essentials principles and translate the same to execution standards.
• Core selling skills -Coach and mentor the team and external 3rd parties ensuring compliance to DWWS standards.
• Activation and Execution – Collaborate with customers to build longer term execution plans which you supervise to ensure standards are being met creating course correction measures where required.
• Leverage on M&E (Measure and Evaluate) of key activities to ensure continuous improvement of the growth drivers.

Lead Performance

• Commercial Awareness - A deep understanding of financial levers e.g., Spend, Volume, Margin and profit performance within the area of responsibility and make good business decisions that drive positive outcomes.
• Commercial Functional Coaching – spend at minimum the market’s defined time conducting trade accompaniments and use AID, BOOST, EDIC and GROW to ensure feedback is focused on enhancing the team’s capabilities to drive growth.
• Leading Promotional Execution – monitor and own the activation of all promotions in outlets, ensuring they happen On Time and In Full.
• Execution Standards – able to ‘sell in’ the execution of minimum standards to your different customers.
• Maintain a strong focus on working with distributors to develop sales capability within their organizations.
• Ensure the constant updating and implementation of fit for purpose trade coverage plans for the area.

Governance - Risks and Controls

• Embedding the Diageo standards of Excellence as the way of working.
• Drive a strong culture of compliance, ensuring adherence to Code of Business Conduct, global and local standards, policies, applicable manuals and health and safety requirements in the work environment.
• Adherence to Internal process controls, GAR and External Audit requirements.
• Partnership with the Commercial Operations team, to ensure awareness and adherence to all applicable compliance matters, including changes to existing policies/guidelines as well as newly introduced policies/guidelines.

Requirements:

Qualifications

• A business-related degree or equivalent.

Experience and Skill required

• 5 years’ experience in a similar role.
• Strong commercial exposure and understanding.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to influence multiple partners/collaborators.
• Strong people performance – able to inspire and mobilize people (both direct reports and a broad range of others) to deliver excellent results.

Competencies

• The candidate must demonstrate capability in identifying commercial opportunities, develop strategy and Plan Execution of business strategy, handle performance, adherence to all controls and guidelines and have high integrity.