Society Manager (ESG/CSR)

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Job description

Job title: Society Manager, GB

Reporting to: Corporate Relations Director, GB

Context/scope:

The role of Corporate Relations (CR) team is to protect and promote Diageo's reputation and licence to operate, to support our ambition to become the most trusted and respected consumer goods company.

The Society Manager GB leads on our strategy to deliver our 2030 Society Ambition within our GB market, promoting moderation and tackling harm, promoting sustainability, and putting our brands at the heart of our leadership on purpose to protect and enhance Diageo's license to operate and working across the GB business. Critical to the role is the ability to help Diageo lead the industry in ensuring alcohol remains a normal part of a balanced lifestyle for those that choose to drink.

The role is pivotal Diageo's GB business meeting its targets on its 2030 goals, which all markets are measured on and are reported alongside our financial performance to investors. This role will hold the tension on several cross-business programmes and be the lead force for driving performance in this area.

This includes:

1. Leading efforts to ensure the Diageo GB business is meeting it "must do" commitments within our Performance Ambition so we:

• Promote positive drinking (must do 4) Leading efforts to protect and enhance Diageo's license to operate in the UK by ensuring that consumers are drinking responsibly and ensuring that opinion formers within government, charities and elsewhere have a positive view of the industry and our serious efforts to promote positive drinking and tackle harm. This will include leading and holding the tension on the full range of Diageo programmes on underage drinking, drink drive, heavy episodic drinking, and moderation to ensure that relevant groups of society are engaged leading to positive outcomes that will tackle harm and increase responsible drinking.
• Champion inclusion and diversity (must do 5) Working with our HR business partners to ensure that Diageo is an inclusive and diverse workplace to allow our employees to thrive. This would include ensuring that Diageo GB is networked with likeminded stakeholders and peer companies.
• Pioneer Grain-to-glass sustainability (must do 6) Working with our supply and commercial teams to understand the demands of our customers within the sustainability agenda, and to coordinate joint efforts to make a difference through activations that will make a positive difference to the environment and the performance and reputation of Diageo.

2. You will lead efforts for GB to meet its significant targets in the 2030 space. The role will have responsibility for driving targets and setting strategy to meet these over a ten-year period. These targets will be centrally linked to GB's performance and judged by the Executive alongside other key business metrics such as commercial and HR. To shape this strategy the post holder will have to work alongside senior leaders in the business including the GB exec and those within the Global functions.

3. Being the lead contact for our wide range of funded partners in the Society space. This includes working closely with Drinkaware, Best Bar None, NOFAS and a wider range of partners we fund, helping them shape a mutually beneficial agenda which will help drive further responsible drinking in the UK.

4. Strategically analyze the current external agenda to advise senior leaders and shape internal policy and direction. This would include understanding the health agenda within the UK and new initiatives within the sustainability and inclusion and diversity fields to ensure Diageo is at the cutting edge of policy and responding to, and shaping, consumer and regulatory trends.

5. Working with key external stakeholders in NGOs and charities on mutually supportive schemes for our Society agenda and to achieve recognition for Diageo's leadership on society programmes.

6. Working with brand and commercial teams to ensure that responsibility, moderation, purpose, and sustainability are at the heart of their agendas demonstrating commercial and reputational impacts. Embedding the new and improved ways of working with marketing to ensure marketing colleagues are taking the lead on DMC and embedding it with their agencies.

7. Working with a range of complex internal stakeholders both within GB and above market to solve a range of problems are jointly shared across internal and external areas. This will include assessing and providing strategic advice on society related policy, but also ensuring that internal sensitivities and demands of different parts of the business are smoothly managed.

8. Building and maintaining strong relationships with regulators such as Portman Group and the ASA, ensuring they understand Diageo's commitment to responsible marketing and that we are a leader in this area.

Market/role Complexity:

• It is an exciting time to be part of the GB CR team and this role is critical to leading Diageo GB's society agenda.
• The role requires the individual to build and maintain strong relationships across Diageo teams in market, Global CR, the ISC and local external delivery partners.
• Externally you will need to build and maintain several relationships across funded partners, charities, government agencies and other interested parties.
• Critical to success is our ability to build a strong reputation as a responsible, sustainable company. You will demonstrate leadership in developing a campaigning approach to our Society strategy and engaging with key stakeholders in our work.
• Given the importance of Society to the business the post holder will be responsible for a significant budget and several agency relationships.
• To deliver this role successfully you will have excellent leadership, communications, and management skills. Experience of the broader UK political and policy landscapes are essential as well as an ability to build relationships across the GB and global teams.

Qualifications and Experience Required:

The successful candidate will have strong CR experience in a society, public policy or communication role including:

• A track record of leading and creating CR strategies
• Understanding of Diageo's commercial drivers and disciplines across Europe
• A leader in campaigning public policy / social responsibility
• Experience of building and maintaining relationships at a senior level externally and internally
• Excellent project management and organisation skills - including agency management
• Understanding of Diageo's commercial drivers and disciplines
• Strong drive, delivery, and determination