Channel Manager at Diageo

About the role:

This is a trade marketing role responsible for developing and implementing channel strategies to drive sales, distribution, and market penetration through premium core retail and distribution channels. This role involves building a strategy and framework geared towards optimizing channel performance and collaborating with cross-functional teams to achieve business objectives.

Role Responsibilities:

• Channel Strategy Development: develop channel strategies aligned to business objectives, market dynamics, and consumer behavior; identify and prioritize target channels based on market opportunity, competitive landscape, and brand positioning; Define channel-specific objectives, KPIs, and performance metrics to measure success and track progress; collaborate in the development of integrated marketing campaigns that leverage both brand and channel-specific insights.
• Distribution Management: optimize product distribution strategies to maximize availability, reach, and shelf presence in target channels and markets; monitor and evaluate distribution network performance, identifying opportunities for expansion, consolidation, or optimization; develop sales plans, targets, forecasts to drive market share growth.
• Channel Marketing and Promotion: develop and execute channel-specific marketing and promotional campaigns to drive traffic, increase sales, and enhance brand visibility; co-ordinate with marketing and creative teams to develop channel-specific marketing materials, POS displays, and promotional collateral; monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing and promotional activities, tracking ROI; adjust strategies as needed.
• Market Analysis and Insights: conduct market research, competitor analysis, and consumer insights studies to understand channel dynamics, shopper behavior, and competitive landscape; utilize market insights and data analytics to identify opportunities for growth, innovation, and differentiation within each channel; stay abreast of industry trends, regulatory changes, and emerging opportunities that may impact channel strategy and performance.
• Budget Management: develop and manage the channel budget, forecasting resource needs and investment priorities for channel management initiatives based on strategic priorities and ROI potential. Optimize spending to maximize channel impact and efficiency.

Experience / skills required

• Educated to university degree level or equivalent. Postgraduate qualifications an advantage
• Minimum 5 years’ experience either within an FMCG organisation within commercial or customer marketing
• A strong track record in field sales & customer marketing experience, with demonstrated ability in planning and execution.
• A good understanding and strong capability to coach others on customer marketing fundamentals and below the line process.
• Excellence in terms of interpersonal skills and ability to brilliantly manage relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Strategic thinking - A strategic and visionary leader able to make bold strategic choices that deliver for the short and long term.
• Commercial acumen – An understanding of business end to end and providing robust counsel to executive team.
• Performance driven - Has an acute focus on performance and results, is highly accountable and determined to win.
• Agile - Demonstrates pace and urgency, responding quickly to emerging threats and opportunities,
• Influencing – can navigate a matrix organisation and build brilliant relationships internally and externally.
• Personally resilient – able to maintain emotional balance in the face of pressure and high-performance expectation.
• Externally focused - Great external radar to spot opportunities and challenges and strongly networked into key communities of experts to understand market and legislation trends.
• Invest in Talent – Track record of leading leaders and ability to build and nurture high performing teams and insightful into what drives performance.