Head of Corporate Real Estate Services, Africa at Diageo

Purpose of the Role:  

Context - The Global CRES portfolio is significant in size, and consists of a mixture of office locations, supply/manufacturing sites and land. The Africa CRES remit covers 14 countries with 21 breweries, distilleries, packaging and bottling sites, plus 17 offices.

The Head of CRES is responsible for the following in region:

• Delivering the Global CRES Strategy; to create inclusive and sustainable workplaces that drive connections and inspire our employees to do their best work
• Determining the regional aspects of this strategy wrt portfolio planning, workplace and employee experience, Sustainability, D&I, IFM supplier partnerships, Risk Management and Performance Metrics
• Financial performance of the CRES function for all real estate assets in the regional portfolio
• Senior stakeholder engagement & business partnering across the region
• Providing oversight and leadership to the CRES function in region
• Ensuring proper governance for CRES related activities and managed the real estate related risk
• Leading the business and suppliers to ensure Diageo workspaces are motivational places to be and work, are set up to attract the right talent, foster a culture of creativity and innovation, protect the wellbeing of Diageo employees, and promote environmental sustainability

Key Accountabilities

Manage CRES Performance for a geography

• Ensuring the real estate portfolio is fit for purpose, eliminating surplus spend, developing and delivering programmes for consolidation or growth, where needed
• Owning and ensuring the capital and revenue budget is owned and tracked
• Managing capital plans and capital office projects in line with business planning process and in a manner that ensures value add to the business, and that delivers colleague Workplaces in line with the Global CRES ambition

Manage Team and 3rd Parties

• Ensuring optimal delivery of key supplier IFM contracts and capital projects to address business needs and release value
• Oversee delivery of CRES services/projects to deliver experiential and safe workspaces, Sustainability targets and our D&I agenda

Building Outstanding Relationships

• Develop and maintain trusted productive relationships with business stakeholders, Global/Regional CRES Teams and with senior personnel for key suppliers
• Build and maintain strong relationships with peers and broader industry networks
• Be the ambassador for Global CRES in the region

Governance, Risk, Performance Measurement & Reporting

• Share, roll out and embed best practice in CRES activities i.e., codification across countries
• Ensure compliance with standards and policies within CRES, own all CRES related risks in region
• Measuring and reporting to the Global Head of CRES on CRES and portfolio performance, plus key regional stakeholders
• Establishing appropriate steering groups for markets within the geography and holding them to account for the governance of decisions and change projects for their market

Entry Level Requirements – Capabilities, Skills & Experience:

• Degree educated, at least 10 years leadership / management experience in CRES related function.  
• Proven experience in the strategic management of large real estate portfolios, ideally in a manufacturing business, and IFM services / suppliers across markets
• Experience of delivering regional Capital Projects and Office related change projects
• Understanding of Real Estate portfolio data, CRES performance metrics and communication thereof
• Experience of managing regional Sustainability programmes/targets across the CRES  lifecycle
• Awareness and management of CRES Risk
• Experience in and / or a good understanding of Diageo or equivalent organisation
• Highly self-motivated and pro-active
• Ability to align key stakeholders with potentially conflicting priorities across diverse markets and to effectively challenge senior stakeholders
• Proven track record in leading a team, an ability to work with others, both within CRES and across the global organisation
• Proven track record in change and programme management