Beer and Distributor Country manager Italy

About us

With over 200 brands sold in nearly 180 countries, we're the world's leading premium drinks company. Bring your passion and use your curiosity as you explore, collaborate, and innovate to build brands consumers love. Together with passionate people from all over the world, you'll test new ideas, learn and grow, and unlock a brighter, more exciting future.

Join us to create a career worth celebrating.

About the Function

Our Sales team love building relationships, connecting with customers to sell our much-loved brands in new and vibrant markets where they can thrive. They help sell our iconic brands across 180 countries every year.

We're operating across different markets, channels, and areas of expertise. Using your curiosity and passion, you'll make the most of consumer insight and digital platforms, reaching new customers, markets, and celebrations to help us achieve our growth potential. We'll support your learning and growth as you develop your career with us and work with people across our business to realise your fullest potential

About the Market

Italy represents a significant growth opportunity in the Total Beverage Alcohol landscape. The beer category - especially Guinness - is central to our ambition to triple our business.

Beer in Italy requires a strong Route-to-Market understanding, a granular channel approach, and tight orchestration between wholesaler partners, Off Trade, C&C teams and our distributor model. In 2026, Diageo Italy also activated a strategic distribution partnership with Gruppo Montenegro for Johnnie Walker and Bulleit, reinforcing the need for strong internal leadership to manage synergy, governance and commercial alignment between beer, whisky and RTM priorities.

About the role

Are you our new Beer Country Manager for Italy?

Are you ready to lead the growth of one of Diageo's most strategic categories in Italy while shaping the future of our distribution model? Do you have the commercial vision, leadership strength and execution excellence to accelerate our beer performance and empower our distributor partnership? If you're driven by ambition, inspired by challenge and energized by impact - we need you.

The Beer & Distributor Country Manager Italy reports to Commercial Director Italy and has full responsibility for the performance, strategy and P&L of the beer category in Italy. You will lead the Italian Beer business across channels and customers, orchestrating a cross-functional commercial ecosystem to deliver strong AOP results and long-term growth.

You will also manage the Distributor Manager, who is responsible for the execution and governance of the Johnnie Walker & Bulleit distribution partnership.

Your role includes guiding, coaching and strategically aligning this role to ensure, forecasting, execution standards and commercial governance.

This is a highly influential role, requiring strong leadership, deep commercial acumen, customer understanding and the ability to collaborate across complex stakeholder networks - internal and external.

Role Responsibilities:

1. Lead the Beer Strategy and Business Delivery in Italy

• Own and execute the Beer category strategy, ensuring alignment with Diageo Italy's 3-year plan and ambition.

• Deliver NSV, GM, SOM, OP and all business KPIs within AOP.

• Assess market opportunities, competitor dynamics and RTM effectiveness to drive growth.

2. Manage Full Beer P&L and Commercial Performance

• Lead pricing strategy, promotional performance, investment ROI and channel prioritisation.

• Ensure financial discipline, commercial excellence and forecast accuracy.

• Partner closely with Finance, RGM and Supply for robust demand, planning and budget management.

3. Lead and Develop the Beer Team

• Provide leadership, coaching and development to the Beer team and related cross-functional partners.

• Foster a high-performance culture and ensure capability building across roles and channels.

• Lead a cross functional team : two Brand Ambassadors, and dotted lines across brand marketing and customer marketing.

4. Line manager of the Distributor Manager (Johnnie Walker & Bulleit)

• Act as direct line manager of the Distributor Manager for Montenegro Partenrship

• Ensure strategic alignment between Beer and Whisky RTM priorities.

• Support the Distributor Manager in building JBPs, commercial governance, execution standards and capability development.

• 10+ years of rounded commercial experience (Beer, FMCG or spirits).
• Proven P&L ownership with strong financial and analytical skills.
• Deep knowledge of Italian trade, customers and channel dynamics.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and indirect stakeholders.
• Experience managing distributor relationships is a strong plus.

• Strong strategic thinking with commercial rigor.
• Excellent relationship building and stakeholder management.
• RTM and customer strategy expertise.
• High execution standards and operational discipline.
• Ability to manage complexity, ambiguity and fast-paced environments.

• Attractive package that includes an incentive plan that rewards you for delivering great performance
• Tools: Company car and fuel card, mobile phone, etc
• Employee Assistance programme.
• Welfare plan.
• Industry leading sales capability training
• Working in the largest spirits' company in the world as part of our fantastic Sales Team!