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Brand Change & Innovation Team Leader, European Spirits

Brand Change & Innovation Team Leader, European Spirits Category

Location: Menstrie

Contract: Permanent

Closing Date: 10th October 2025

Ever walked into a bar or shop, spotted a bottle, and thought: "I'd love to be the one who brought that to life - from idea, to production, to shelf"? If that excites you, this could be the perfect opportunity.

We are in search of a Brand Change & Innovation Team Leader to be responsible for a group of Project Managers in our European Spirits Category. Together, you'll deliver impactful Brand Change projects through your team to meet customer briefs on quality, cost, and timeand shaping the future of our iconic portfolio.

This role offers a unique 360° view of the end-to-end Supply Chain at Diageo, with exposure to Marketing, Procurement, Manufacturing, Finance, and more. It's a great platform to showcase your leadership and technical skills, grow your career and play a key role in supporting Diageo's Society 2030 ambition.

Join our Brand Change & Innovation Team!

As the home of iconic brands such as Baileys, Guinness, Smirnoff, and Johnnie Walker, at Diageo we source, produce and deliver 6.5 billion litres of world-leading products every year across 180 markets globally. Because of this huge undertaking, we rely on highly sophisticated systems as well as the very best talent to make sure our businesses continue to run smoothly.

To give you some idea of the scale of our operation, over half of our 30,000 employees work in our supply chains. We have teams in over 100 sites across more than 30 countries, but what matters is that wherever you work, you're part of a diverse, inclusive team where there are opportunities for everyone.

Whether you work in planning, logistics, technical teams or manufacturing, you'll be part of an innovative, dynamic organisation. We set ourselves the highest standards, and our practices have earned us international recognition. And it's people with energy, dedication and problem-solving skills who'll help us get even better. In return, we offer a world of opportunities for you to explore, to shape and progress your career.

About the Role

Based in Menstrie, this role will see you lead and encourage a team of 7 to 8 Project Managers within our European Spirits Brand Change & Innovation (BC&I) team. Together, you'll be responsible for one of the most sophisticated and exciting portfolios in our business - spanning emerging liquid technologies, diverse formats and a wide supply footprint.

The European Spirits portfolio covers the full spectrum of liquid technologies and product categories, including Non-Alc, Draught Cocktails, RTDs and Premix, Flavoured Spirits, and Full-Strength Spirits (such as Gin, Rum, and Vodka). Our BC&I pipeline is a dynamic and intricate matrix of projects across different categories, brands, markets, and innovation hubs, delivered through Diageo production sites, joint ventures, and a range of third-party operations across Great Britain and continental Europe.

In this role, you will:

  • Lead, mentor and inspire a team of European Spirits Category BC&I Project Managers to deliver Innovation, Redesign, Limited Time Offerings, and VAP projects, ensuring cost, quality, and time commitments are consistently met for our customers and stakeholders.

  • Support the Brand Change Manager in leading the project pipeline in collaboration with key stakeholders (within and beyond the wider Brand Change teams), providing reporting on Key Performance Indicators and Brand Change metrics.

  • Ensure robust project management controls are applied to maintain the required rigour across all initiatives.

  • Collaborate with the Brand Change Manager to pinpoint, deliver, and integrate central initiatives within European Spirits BC&I that foster improvement and evolution.

  • Lead and support the delivery of key strategic Brand Change projects and programmes.

About You

You'll be a collaborative and inspiring leader with a passion for delivering brand change and innovation in a fast paced environment. With the ability to mentor and empower others, you'll bring both technical expertise and strong interpersonal skills to make a real impact in this role.

As our team is based in Menstrie, Scotland, and to ensure strong collaboration while leading and mentoring your team, the successful candidate will need to commute and work from the office 1 - 3 days per week (flexible).

To be successful in this role, you will bring:

  • Leadership excellence - the ability to empower, encourage and support others to perform at their best.

  • Strong project management expertise with a track record of delivering Brand Change & Innovation projects.

  • Experience in product development and packaging within the food and beverage sector.

  • A degree-level qualification (or equivalent experience), ideally in a technical field.

  • Excellent communication, interpersonal and influencing skills, with the capability to build strong cross-functional relationships.

  • An understanding and practical experience of the Navigate process.

  • Technical expertise across packaging materials and processes, including liquid development and commercialisation, artwork specification and management, reprographics, packaging design and development, materials manufacturing and due diligence, handling and transportation, and risk management practices.

  • A strong understanding of Global Supply Chain & Procurement, the European Spirits Category, and Innovation & Brand Change ways of working.

  • Strong organisational skills, combined with commercial and financial awareness.

We encourage applicants from all backgrounds and experiences and are looking for someone who can bring their outstanding perspective, energy, and creativity to help our team thrive.

Working with Us

Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and that they can belong, is a crucial part of this. We embrace diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you'll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You'll be part of and help build and champion an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, attitudes, and more.

Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. Join us and help transform our business as we take our brands to the next level and build new ones as part of shaping the next generation of celebrations for consumers around the world.

Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you!

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please ensure that you collect this information when you submit your application.

Brand Change & Innovation Team Leader, European Spirits

Menstrie, UK
Full-Time

Published on 02/10/2025

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