Head of Commercial Finance Spirits

Diageo is a global leader in alcoholic beverages. This role is within Diageo Africa's APM market, which operates through partner-led businesses across approximately 20 countries in West, East, Central, and North Africa. The APM market has shown strong growth and improved financial management despite its fragmented nature and ongoing business transformation.

Diageo Africa's APM market operates a partner-led distribution model across about 20 countries in West, East, Central, and North Africa, including key markets like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Kenya. This market is characterized by fragmentation and varying partner capabilities. Despite these complexities and ongoing business transformation, APM has achieved significant growth, improved cash flow, optimized inventory, and strengthened partner relationships, while also investing in future expansion. The current focus is on enhancing the value chain's health, boosting partner profitability, and ensuring sustainable growth. To meet its ambitious growth and profitability targets, APM aims to revolutionize its approach to partner development, planning, and execution. Commercial Finance is a pivotal function in this transformation, responsible for driving the performance agenda, ensuring sustainable quality growth, reinforcing controls, and standardizing operational processes. The Head of Commercial Finance Spirits collaborates with various stakeholders, including Commercial, Marketing, FP&A, Internal Audit, Supply, and Strategic Partners.

1. Drive performance management by fostering a strong performance culture and tracking financial metrics like NSV, Operating Profit, and Cash, alongside critical indicators such as market share, partner health, and supply chain efficiency.
2. Manage the comprehensive financial performance narrative for APM Spirits, ensuring senior stakeholders clearly understand and address risks, opportunities, and necessary interventions.
3. Oversee performance review, outlook, and Annual Operating Plan (AOP) cycles, enhancing visibility within the partner-led business model.
4. Proactively guide commercial partners to analyze external influences and trends, understanding their impact on current and future performance.
5. Develop capabilities and encourage innovative thinking in commercial discussions, while managing the creation of new customer, brand, and segment opportunities.
6. Lead initiatives related to working capital, overdue debt, and creditor management.
7. Provide commercial finance partnering across APM Spirits to advance the commercial performance agenda, including planning, pricing governance, partner/customer negotiation strategies, and value-chain optimization for sustainable, value-creating growth.
8. Ensure effective measurement and evaluation of trade investment and A&P to inform investment prioritization.
9. Strengthen partner capabilities and governance across strategic partners, acknowledging regional variations in partner maturity.
10. Enhance partner governance, standardize offline processes, and improve reporting quality in non-SAP environments.
11. Lead finance simplification and automation efforts, enabling in-market finance teams to concentrate on business partnering and decision support.

1. Minimum of 5 years of experience in commercial finance.
2. Qualified Accountant designation is highly preferred.
3. Proven track record in defining and executing commercially oriented strategies and plans.
4. Strong financial acumen and commercial expertise.
5. Ability to influence critical commercial decisions and collaborate effectively with diverse cross-functional teams.
6. Capable of managing multiple assignments and priorities concurrently.
7. Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
8. Demonstrated commercial competence and decision-making skills, including the ability to drive value through commercial insight and influence partners in a complex, partner-led model.
9. Proficiency in strategic analysis and financial modeling, including developing, reviewing, and presenting financial models for investment opportunities, creating insightful analysis, and utilizing pricing/margin tools to create and protect value.
10. Ability to assess value-chain health, partner profitability, cash generation, operating working capital (OWC), inventory, and replenishment dynamics.
11. Strong business performance management skills, including the ability to navigate between operational details and strategic goals, identify key underlying performance trends, and lead performance, cash, shipment, depletion, and partner governance rhythms.