Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks company with an outstanding collection of brands, such as Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray and Guinness. With over 200 brands in 180 countries and a global network of entrepreneurial individuals, our teams blend a diverse range of experience, knowledge and skills. We connect customers and consumers to our iconic products and create innovative experiences that bring people together to celebrate life.
LAC Innovation Finance Manager
Purpose
The Innovation Finance Manager is the finance business partner to LAC Innovation Team and to Innovation teams across LAC markets. Responsible for an innovation brand portfolio greater than $200 million across Latin America and the Caribbean.
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This role leads the regional Innovation Finance function providing strategic guidelines, analyzing innovation projects from a business standpoint, leading the performance management of the projects and markets, and consolidating the overall ambition for the short-term and long-term plan. Is the finance point of contact for the LAC executive team and supports the innovation BPM for all markets. The primary purpose is to improve and provide guidance on the business outcomes aligned with the region's ambition and objectives. You will be responsible for providing financial expertise to influence decision making, plan with the Innovation Leadership team (regional and global) to ensure appropriate prioritization and alignment to business needs and provide transparent financials insights to internal and external partners.
This role reports to the Head of Finance Innovation - LAC and works directly with the LAC Innovation regional team and with the market's innovation teams and finance managers.
Complexity of role
- High degree of exposure to leadership and cross-functional teams across LAC (both demand and supply) as well as global counterparts (GBT, ISC, Global Finance and Tax).
- Requires cross-functional collaboration to improve business outcomes of Innovation, RGM (Revenue Growth Management), Brand Finance (decision support), Commercial Innovation and Commercial Planning (size of price planning, brand launch activations and execution, promotional strategies), Marketing (A&P Investment), Supply and Demand Project Leads (COGS management and influence / project spend).
- Key focus on Business Performance Management (BPM)
- Handle the R&D annual budget to compliantly fund project developments, run future trends research to define the innovation pipeline in the region and other new product requirements at the conceptualization stage.
- Balance multiple priorities, including high volume of projects, business partnering and supporting agenda, broader finance agenda, Innovation Finance continuous improvement and team management.
- Balanced focus between short-term and long-term financial governance, always with a strategic focus by sustainable growth planning and influencing broader Innovation Agenda.
Key outputs
Innovation Strategy:
- Strategically planning, partnering with Innovation Leadership team to build/maintain and influence the 3-year rolling plan for LAC innovation.
- Connecting role to ensure Innovation plans are meeting partner needs across the regional Innovation Team and the markets, Supply, Global Innovation, Marketing/Brand Finance.
- Prepare 3-5 year strategic plan and Innovation contributions to be showcased in executive-level presentations.
In year Innovation execution, planning and forecasting:
- Oversee financial governance of all innovation, brand change and RGM regional projects, supporting market teams in their decision support efforts.
- Financial influence and consolidation for new projects (Accelerate 360 process), including briefing key regional and market partners.
- Consolidate the latest regional Pipeline and expectations/ambition of Innovation
- Partner with Finance Systems for a more automated financial performance overview. Ensure KPI´s management.
Budget owner
- Plan and secure annual Innovation budget for LAC Innovation project R&D (Research & Development) and T&E (Travel & Entertainment).
- Handle budget forecasting / outlooks by partnering with budget owners.
- Propose project budget re-allocations where under or overspends are identified in partnership with Innovation Leadership Team.
Performance Management and Reporting
- Full control of financial reporting of LAC Innovation in Global Reports.
- Support monthly Innovation BPM´s with markets Innovation teams to oversee current performance and outlook, support and challenge decision making.
- Periodically assess Innovation projects performance vs. expectations and influence action (e.g. partnering with Commercial Finance team to drive remediation action on profitability, or Margin Management team on COGS interventions, or drive A&P investment Innovations prioritization).
- Assess and complete initiatives such as Vol, NSV and profit enhancement opportunities.
- Influence on A&P investment decision making and commercial + consumer KPI´s improvement, leading to a better forecast of the projects in the markets.
- Clear reporting to ensure innovation agenda is aligned with broader business outcomes, e.g. meeting needs of Global Innovation Team, Market Finance Team and LAC CFO
- Ensure with markets that Innovation Flags are completed in the SAP Product Hierarchy (automatization).
Financial control
- Key point of contact (and support to Innovation Finance Decision Support in Market) to advise, lead and handle on accounting treatment of various issues that arise on projects, e.g. classification of reporting, spend, capital or project expenditure.
- Ensure innovation R&D (OIE) and T&E budgets are being spent on allowable expenditure and is correctly and timely accounted for, e.g. advising on appropriate accounting period
- Maintain outstanding financial controls in the end-to-end innovation process and within performance management.
- Complete and control project Accelerate 360 financial inputs.
Team Leadership
- Provide support and mentorship to all 6 Innovation Decision Support Managers in the markets as well as to Innovation Heads in markets.
- Review and consolidate project financials prior to review by A360 approvers.
- Partner with the regional Innovation Directors and Planning regional team to align on the development and execution of projects since Commission stage
- Influence the decision-making process by providing insights that correspond to the regional innovation strategy by partnering with the GBT, NRM and Supply
Qualifications / Experience
- Minimum 6 years professional experience, with solid base in finance, demonstrating career advancement and growing possibilities.
- Strategic thought process, with excellent and detailed analytical and problem solving skills and communication.
- Strong project and budget management capabilities.
- Finance experience in consumer goods, beverage alcohol preferred.
- Strong and inspiring collaborator.
- Operate efficiently with ambiguity.
- Ability to influence partners with a wide variety of functional experience.
- Order and control as a key enabler to deliver results.
Flexibility
This is key to success in our business and many of our staff work flexibly in many different ways. Please talk to us about what flexibility means to you and don't let anything stop you from applying.
Diversity statement
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.