Role Purpose

This senior role is a career-defining opportunity to shape an extraordinary future for a brand that has been iconic for 260 years. GUINNESS is the jewel in our crown and the most distinctive, loved and talked about beer brand in the world. Momentum and belief are at a high and the time now is the time to raise the executional bar at point of purchase and innovate and widen our geographical footprint for next level premium, distinctive growth to make Guinness the most innovative, creative and sustainable beer in the world. Our mission to be boldly at the forefront of premium beer growth globally by inviting and exciting a new generation of consumers to fall in love with Guinness, enjoying it together in more ways & on more occasions. Our purpose: we believe in the power and goodness of communion.

Our strategy has delivered strong growth and increased consumer engagement globally. Beautiful Guinness Everywhere is our priority growth driver. It defines clear global standards for in-market execution and continuous improvement. — and how we measure, improve and protect it. We move from an internal standard for Quality to a focus on Beautiful which is about visibility, experiential, emotional and commercial.

The Global Commercial Director – Guinness exists to unleash the brand’s full commercial potential across the world. Unlike other commercial roles, this exposes you to the wider value chain and requires curiosity, resilience and tenacity to move seamlessly across brand, supply chain and commercial. This leader takes that knowledge and sets the global commercial ambition that underpins the global brand strategy, orchestrates execution across diverse markets and channels, builds enduring value with customers and partners, and grows the capabilities and culture for sustainable performance. They operate at the enterprise level — balancing strategic vision with executional excellence — to ensure Guinness continues to win today and for generations to come….and as we say “the best is yet to come!”.

Scope & Role Context

Reports to: Global Brand Director Guinness
Location: Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Direct Reports: Leads a high-performing global team
Direct P&L ownership: significant global P&L delivery
Internal Stakeholders: Works closely with senior stakeholders across marketing, commercial, supply, finance, and strategy functions
External Stakeholders: Engages with key external partners including customers, distributors, and agencies
Geographic Scope: Global; responsibility for brand performance and standards across established, emerging, and strategic priority markets.

Key Responsibilities

1) Set and Lead the Beautiful Guinness Everywhere strategy

Define, lead and execute the Beautiful Guinness Everywhere strategy with measurable frameworks that align brand and commercial KPIs. Drive growth whilst protecting brand equity, prioritising investment and align internal and external partners.
Define the long‑term commercial vision and growth agenda for Guinness, integrating category strategy, portfolio, pricing, and route‑to‑market choices.
Translate ambition into a clear, sequenced plan that prioritises markets, channels, and bets — with sharp value creation logic and measurable outcomes.
Lead the global Beer Shopper Marketing strategy ensuring it is rooted in category and shopper insights. Have clear execution standards and success KPIs in place across all markets.

2) Deliver the breakthrough in Global Licensing Strategy

Lead and evolve the global licensing strategy, delivering ambitious growth targets. Own and deliver the annual P&L and growth targets by year.
Mobilise markets to utilise licensing as a key growth driver across key brands so as to premiumise and drive penetration
Build the capabilities of the team, agency ecosystem and internal stakeholders to realise the consumer opps in key categories for all of our focus brands

3) Orchestrate, Align & Execution

Mobilise senior stakeholders across regions and functions to deliver one cohesive beer commercial & brand agenda.
Create clarity in complex environments — balancing brand ambition, financial rigour, and operational feasibility to drive confident, timely decision‑making.

Bring visibility and accountability across all levels of beer organization across the right regional and global forums both internally and with partners

4) Lead Strategic Partnerships Strategies

Working with Business Development and Strategy teams, lead or govern strategic negotiations with global and regional partners, key distributors and franchise partners.
Design value‑accretive trade terms and partnership models that unlock access, growth, and profitability over the long term.

5) Elevate Global Beer End to End Excellence

Set global standards for execution excellence across quality, customer strategy, channel segmentation, and performance management.
Run disciplined performance management — diagnosing issues, deploying interventions, and sharing best practice to raise execution quality everywhere Guinness shows up.

6) Geographical Expansion & Transformation

Shape RTM and RTC strategies for priority markets; lead diagnostics, restructure or manage partner transitions where needed so as to deliver Grain to Glass excellence.
Define distributor strategy, margin structures, and service models that improve all brand heath and Beautiful Guinness Everywhere KPIs

7) Build Capability & Grow Leaders

Demonstrate people leadership excellence through consistently strong Value Survey results, 360° feedback, upward/downward feedback, and tangible talent outcomes (succession depth, internal promotions, capability uplift).
Coach, develop, and inspire talent across GBT and markets — strengthening judgement, capability, and confidence.
Embed inclusive, high‑performance ways of working: clarity of expectations, actionable feedback, psychological safety, and accountability.

8) Governance, Investment & Risk Management

Lead GBT governance across supply projects and pricing decisions
Adhere to legal and taxation governance processes for brand
Chair or co‑chair Global Beer commercial forums; ensure transparency and discipline across A&P, trade investment, pricing, and portfolio choices.
Maintain compliance with competition law, responsible marketing codes, and local regulatory standards; anticipate and manage commercial risks.

Measures of Success (KPIs & Outcomes)

Growth, Financial & Value Creation

Brand health KPIs
Volume, NSV and cash profit growth vs. plan and vs. category – Direct resp for Licensing P&L delivery
Gross margin expansion / price‑mix improvement
Market share gains in priority markets and channels

Price architecture health, A&P efficiencies, distributor and franchise partner contractual delivery

Execution & Transformation

Beautiful Guinness Everywhere execution standards (scorecards/standards across all markets)
RTM transformation milestones and economics delivered
Capability maturity uplift across markets

People & Culture

Value Survey leadership and engagement scores
Progression/succession of direct reports and key talent
Diversity and inclusion outcomes; evidence of inclusive leadership behaviours

Required Experience

Proven experience in senior commercial leadership across multiple regions/continents
Complex RTM structural experience preferred
Proven track record shaping global or regional P&L outcomes with enterprise‑level influence.
Demonstrated success leading high‑value, multi‑year negotiations with top customers, distributors, and strategic partners.
Experience steering large‑scale commercial transformations
Cross-functional experience advantageous
Evidence of delivering to Diageo Leadership coaching and line management excellence through strong Value Survey results, 360° feedback, and measurable talent development.

Capabilities & Skills

Commercial Mastery & Negotiation Excellence

Deep expertise in RGM, customer strategy, portfolio and pricing, and value creation across on‑trade, off‑trade, and digital channels.
Exceptional, principled negotiator — adept at aligning complex interests and securing win‑win agreements that endure.

Enterprise Leadership & Senior Influence

Operates as a connector and culture carrier, aligning senior stakeholders and creating momentum across a matrix.
Brings clarity and courage to high‑stakes decisions; balances short‑term performance with long‑term brand and enterprise value.

Coaching, People Leadership & Inclusion

Builds leaders: elevates judgement, empowers accountability, and strengthens succession benches.
Creates psychologically safe, high‑performance environments; measurably improves engagement and capability over time.
Champions inclusion and diversity as core drivers of better decisions and stronger commercial outcomes.

Strategic Foresight & Systems Thinking

Anticipates shifts in consumer, customer, competitive, and regulatory landscapes; turns insight into advantage.
Designs systems — standards, tools, scorecards, and forums — that scale excellence globally.

Leadership Expectations

Inspire Through Purpose
You connect teams to the purpose, potential and legacy of Guinness — fuelling pace, ambition, and belief.

Act With Boldness and Accountability
You make brave calls, learn fast, and own outcomes. You pursue growth with discipline and integrity.

Create the Conditions for People to Succeed
You coach deeply, set clear standards, and remove barriers so people do the best work of their careers.

Champion Inclusion & Celebrate Diversity
You build belonging, invite challenge, and harness diverse perspectives to sharpen decisions and performance.

Ways of Working

Enterprise mindset: optimise for Guinness and Diageo as a whole, not just function or market.
Operating rhythm: global commercial forums, performance reviews, IBP cycles, and strategic planning windows.
Collaboration: close partnership with Marketing teams, Finance, Supply, Innovation, Tax, Legal and partners. Ability to influence and align with senior regional presidents and market GMs
Travel: periodic international travel to priority markets, customers, distributors, and global hub

Worker Type :

Regular

Primary Location:

St James Gate

Additional Locations :

Job Posting Start Date :

2026-03-31

Commercial Director, Guinness GBT

Job Description