National Sales Manager – Innovations at Diageo

Financial:

We are looking for a candidate who can:

• Take full strategic ownership of the innovation budget, leading the development and activation of breakthrough in-outlet and multi-channel programs that improve market impact.
• Drive bold, accelerated growth within the innovation category by identifying key battlegrounds and winning them through modern sales and marketing strategies.
• Lead progressive, market-shaping initiatives that expand share, increase consumer penetration, and deliver forward-thinking, customer-centric innovation solutions.
• Translate KBL’s innovation ambitions into measurable business results, delivering at least +5% revenue contribution by building the next powerful income pipeline.
• Turn brand innovation concepts into commercially viable propositions, bringing ideas to life in a way that delivers on KBL’s innovation vision.
• Own and manage the full P&L for innovation brands, ensuring strong margins, healthy net sales revenue, and long-term commercial sustainability.​

About the role:

• Internally within the organisation, this role is referred to as the Senior Innovations Commercialization Manager.
• We are seeking a senior leader who combines strategic vision with strong execution capability. The ideal candidate is a highly organised, proactive operator who consistently delivers results in fast-paced, complex environments.
• You will be a visionary innovator with a demonstrated history of launching creative, market-leading initiatives that drive commercial growth across categories and channels. Equally important, you bring exceptional stakeholder management skills, influencing effectively across a matrix organisation while balancing multiple high-priority projects.
• As a people leader, you encourage and develop high-impact teams with a strong focus on capability building, talent growth, and sustained performance. Comfortable navigating ambiguity, you thrive in hands-on environments and turn complexity into clear, actionable outcomes that accelerate business impact.

Role Responsibilities:

• Lead commercial partnership for the innovation pipeline, aligning with Sales, RTM, and business priorities
• Mobilize senior sales and cross-functional leaders to secure focus, investment, and resources for high-impact innovation delivery
• Oversee end-to-end execution, integrating launches into the commercial calendar and strategic plans
• Partner with senior leadership to evolve the Sales function for innovation-led growth
• Shape and champion RTM models that unlock innovation scale and market reach
• Define enterprise-wide innovation KPIs and embed rigorous execution standards into sales performance
• Redesign sales incentives to reward innovation delivery and drive accountability
• Act as the key commercial bridge across innovation, marketing, and sales for strategic alignment
• Embed commercial insights into launch planning to ensure relevance, differentiation, and performance
• Set and track critical launch KPIs, ensuring robust customer propositions and sell-in tools
• Lead the innovation performance management framework integrated into global reporting
• Lead executive-level performance reviews and drive data-driven interventions
• Influence senior sales leadership to prioritize corrective actions for consistent delivery
• Champion continuous commercial monitoring, evaluation, and cross-market learning
• Provide strategic oversight at governance achievements to ensure go-to-market readiness and commercial viability

Key Collaborators:

• This role works closely with Commercial and Marketing Directors, Sales team, Finance team, Marketing team, Procurement team, 3rd Party agencies.

Qualifications and Experience Required:

Essential Skills:

• Consistent track record delivering breakthrough innovation and commercial growth in Marketing and/or Sales
• Strong creative vision backed by deep customer and shopper insight
• Ability to design and scale innovative shopper and channel programs
• Skilled influencer who drives fast decision-making in complex environments
• Experience inspiring agencies and co-creating high-impact activations with key customers
• Encouraging people leader who fosters creativity, agility, and continuous innovation

Desirable

• Advanced business qualification (MBA or equivalent)
• Proven commercial management experience driving revenue through innovation
• Strong history of developing and leading high-performing cross-functional teams
• Experience leading transformational change and cultural evolution
• Strategic thinker who anticipates market trends for competitive advantage
• Strong communicator and stakeholder influencer aligning diverse partners around innovation vision