Sensory and Consumer Guidance Manager - Bishop's Stortford

Sensory and Consumer Guidance Manager

Location: Woodside, Bishop's Stortford (please note, the successful candidate must be able to visit the Bishop's Stortford site 2-3 times per week)

From Arthur Guinness to Johnnie Walker, our business was founded on people of great character, and in 250 years, nothing's changed. We're the world's leading premium alcohol company. Our brands are industry icons. And our success is thanks to the strength of our people, in every role. It's why we trust them with our legacy. And it's why we reward them with the career-defining opportunities that they deserve.

Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected Consumer Products Company in the world. To achieve these, we need the world's very best people.

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

THE ROLE:

Innovation is a key growth driver for Diageo and crucial to our future performance ambitions. This success demands outstanding innovations, products and experiences that exceed consumers expectations. Sensory science plays an ever-increasing role in enabling this, bridging the gap between trends, consumer insights and sensory data, to advise product developers, marketers, and global brand teams to build winning products and strategies

This role offers an exciting opportunity to lead a team of sensory professionals and take our sensory capabilities to the next level. It demands a proactive approach to innovation, a dedication to excellence, and the ability to integrate traditional sensory science, groundbreaking AI/digital techniques, behavioral science and advanced data analytics to ensure our products continue to set industry standards and delight consumers.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Delivering World-Class Consumer and Sensory Mentorship: Provide professional support to the UK, Europe, and Africa markets, global brand teams, legal, and business development. Deliver accurate sensory and consumer data, expert advice, detailed analysis, and actionable insights to guide product innovation and strategic decision-making.

Running a Professional Sensory Function: Lead a team of sensory professionals at Woodside, including their development, sensory facilities, systems, and budgets. Ensure the operation of a reliable, accurate sensory panel that supports product development, research, and other business functions.

Advancing Sensory competencies and methodologies: Champion ongoing capability building and training within the sensory and consumer guidance team, promoting exploring and evaluating pioneering techniques and approaches. Expand assessments to include packaging, emotions, and overall consumer experience, keeping the company at the forefront of sensory and consumer science. Specifical focus on;

• Consumer-Centric Research: Promote a strong consumer-centric approach to all sensory work, including how consumers interact with products in real-life contexts and translating these insights into actionable strategies.
• Behavioral Science & AI proficiencies: Utilize and experiment with behavioral science approaches and AI tools to refine consumer research techniques, data collection and analysis to ensure enhanced data informed decision-making.
• Holistic integration: Integrate human behavior, emotions, beliefs, motivations, and semiotic principles into a holistic approach to sensory and consumer research to ensures a comprehensive understanding of consumer experiences.

Network and Strategic Partnerships: Develop strategic partnerships with SMEs, academia, research centers, and suppliers. These alliances, focusing on food experience, consumer behavior, and sensory science, will bring in external insights, help advance methodologies and step change sensory capabilities.

Global Collaboration: Promote global sensory collaboration to enhance sensory competencies globally. Actively participate in creating a thriving, connected global sensory community within R&D, sharing learnings, methods and fostering a unified and sophisticated approach to sensory.

Broader Leadership and Management: Accountability for contractual obligations, health and safety and compliance pertaining to sensory, fostering a creative and safe culture within R&D at Woodside.

LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENTS:

• Embed and maintain a culture of brilliant execution, pace, simplicity, and delivery.
• Ensure high engagement and motivation, especially where failure is part of the learning process.
• Be credible, persuasive, and able to influence across all levels, creating actionable plans amid uncertainty.
• Establish and coach to achieve daring goals under ambiguous conditions.
• Build and nurture strong networks, fostering collaborative ways of working and encourage continuous learning.
• Create strong interdependencies across functions, enabling teams to achieve more collaboratively.
• Exhibit strong decision-making and communication skills.
• Develop conditions for novel solutions through continuous testing and learning.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Deep sensory and consumer science knowledge and capability at a master's degree level or above, preferably within FMCG or luxury categories.
• 10+ years of team management experience in relevant fields, preferably with global experience
• Established sensory network and contributory membership in relevant institutes.
• Competence in digital and AI, with the ability to collaborate with authorities in these fields.
• Proven ability to translate complex sensory insights into accessible language for diverse audiences.
• Proven people management skills in leading, mentoring, and coaching individuals and project teams.
• Skills in managing a portfolio of complex projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong influencing skills and demonstrated ability to influence at all business levels.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• R&D Leadership Team
• Regional Innovation product developers and other SCG leaders
• Supply and Brand Change Teams, and Category Directors
• Consumer Planning Leads in Markets

ENABLERS OF SUCCESS

• Envision future needs and build capabilities ahead of the curve.
• Strong communication skills, able to influence across multiple boundaries.
• Ability to prioritize team workload, balancing short-term milestones with long-term objectives.
• Balance autonomy with collaboration and tenacity.
• Create psychological safety for teams to thrive in uncertainty.
• Work effectively across company boundaries and with external partners.

Celebrating our inclusive and diverse culture is core to Diageo's purpose of "celebrating life every day everywhere". This purpose is, in itself, inclusive in nature, as it values everybody irrespective of background, disability, religion, gender identity, sexuality or ethnicity.

We know that for our business to thrive and for Diageo to realize its ambition, we depend on having diverse talent with a range of backgrounds, skills and capabilities in each of the 180 countries in which we operate and to reflect our broad consumer base. We view diversity as one of the key enablers that helps our business to grow and our values, purpose and standards set the conditions for us to respect the unique contribution each person brings.

Character Is Everything]]>