Category Manager - Polymers

Job Description :

About us  

With over 200 brands sold in nearly 180 countries, Diageo is home to some of the world’s most iconic drinks. From Johnnie Walker and Guinness to Tanqueray, Smirnoff and Don Julio, we craft brands chosen for life’s moments — from everyday connections to landmark celebrations. 

Bring your talent, curiosity and ambition, and strive for your personal best alongside people who challenge, support and learn from each other. Together, as one outstanding team, we keep learning, improving and raising the bar for our brands, our business and each other. 

Join us and play your part in making life’s moments mean a little more. 

About the Function

Our Procurement team are innovators, always seeking new ways to help our business, people and much-loved brands thrive. We’re dedicated to maximising the £12 billion+ we spend every year, building brands of premium quality, while creating sustainable value and growth. Together, we’re shaping the services, partnerships and innovations that meet our future needs.  

  Our procurement team delivers outstanding end-to-end value across our supply chain and offers innovative supplier solutions. Together, we’re driving our 'Society 2030: Spirit of Progress' plan across suppliers and agency partners to create a more sustainable world. Wherever you choose to carve your career, we’ll support and encourage you in our inclusive culture. 

About this role 

The Category Manager, Polymer Packaging will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering Diageo's NAM Polymer packaging procurement strategy, leading category management across PET and Closures; contributing to a cohesive, best-in-class 3-5 year sourcing strategy. The role is accountable for managing significant spend, driving value creation, supplier performance, innovation, and risk management across the packaging supply base.

In addition to category leadership, this role is expected to be a recognized leader within the Global Packaging team, providing technical and commercial expertise, developing category capability, and coaching and leading a high-performing team. The role will have responsibility for overseeing category resources and headcount, fostering collaboration across regions and functions, and building organizational capability to deliver long-term business objectives.

• Strategic Review and Improvement: Evaluate current procurement processes and ways of working (WoW) against best industry practices across key markets, identifying opportunities for optimization and growth. . Includes developing and implementing PET; overseeing Closures packaging procurement strategies that drive continuous improvement in cost, quality and delivery.  The primary focuse will be leading the PET category, and people management of the Clasures category specalists.
• Collaboration and Needs Assessment: Partner closely with the technical team to develop a comprehensive needs profile by assessing specifications, performance outcomes, and critical requirements.
• Market Intelligence Integration: Engage with industry experts and professional service providers to leverage market intelligence effectively, ensuring informed decision-making in strategy development and program planning.
• Contracting Best Practices: Maintain a current understanding of industry-leading contracting practices across primary geographies, developing a suite of contract frameworks and master schedule templates for immediate application as projects commence.
• Leadership and Commercial Expertise: Provide leadership and commercial acumen throughout the sourcing, tendering, negotiation, and contracting processes to drive value and efficiency. Ensures compliance to company policies.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

General :

• Strategic Leadership: Drive the development and execution of unified 3-5 year procurement PET and Closures packaging strategies, ensuring alignment with Diageo’s broader business objectives.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Foster strong partnerships with internal stakeholders across various functions to support procurement initiatives and operational excellence. Ability to influence strategy execution at the local level.
• Performance Monitoring: Establish performance metrics and continuously monitor procurement activities, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and delivering value to the organization.

Specific Accountabilities:

• Strategy Development: Develop and refine procurement strategies for PET, Closures packaging projects, integrating market insights and best practices to maximize cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
• Sourcing Excellence: Lead for PET/oversight for Closures sourcing initiatives; category projects, including supplier selection, negotiation, and contract management, to secure favorable terms and drive quality outcomes.  Including but not limitd to:
  • Identify and evaluate potential suppliers to ensure they meet company standards for quality, cost-effectiveness, and reliability.
• Risk Management: Identify, assess, and mitigate procurement-related risks within packaging projects, ensuring compliance with regulatory and company standards.
• Supplier Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with key suppliers, facilitating continuous improvement, performance evaluations, and collaborative opportunities.
• Market Intelligence Utilization: Leverage market intelligence to inform procurement decisions and strategy adjustments, ensuring Diageo remains competitive and informed within the industry.  Ability to drive insights into outcomes . Deep commodity understanding across Resin indices to drive a more competitive negotiation. 
• Continuous Improvement: Champion a culture of continuous improvement within the procurement function, identifying process enhancements and innovations that drive efficiency and effectiveness.

EXCELLENCE IN SUPPLY CHAIN ‘SOURCE’

• KPI Development and Monitoring: Demonstrated ability to develop, implement, and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive accountability and foster a culture of continuous improvement within the supply chain.
• Process Optimization: Proven track record of identifying opportunities for process optimization within the supply chain, leading to enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and improved service delivery.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong experience in collaborating with cross-functional teams to align supply chain objectives with business goals, ensuring seamless integration of procurement strategies across operations.
• Supplier Performance Management: Expertise in establishing and managing supplier performance criteria and conducting regular evaluations to ensure compliance with quality standards and contractual obligations.
• Risk Mitigation Strategies: Ability to identify potential supply chain disruptions and implement risk mitigation strategies that safeguard against unforeseen challenges and maintain operational continuity.
• Innovative Solutions: Commitment to fostering innovation within the supply chain, leveraging emerging technologies and practices to enhance responsiveness and adaptability.
• Training and Development: Experience in training and mentoring teams on supply chain excellence best practices, fostering a knowledgeable workforce that drives high performance. 
• Act as a high-performing leader within the Packaging team, building capability through coaching, mentoring, and developing others to achieve strong individual and team performance.
• Influences multiple key senior stakeholders across Supply (and/or) Demand businesses. Needs to create the right environment for success against a backdrop of diverse and often conflicting business needs.
• Ultimately accountable for key external suppliers in the defined categories to maximize long term commercial advantage
• Requires an understanding of multiple cultures and market dynamics
• Requires management of a number of outsourced relationships
• Requires management of specialist level

Experience/skills required: 

Working with Us 

Flexibility is key to our success. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you so that you’re supported to manage your wellbeing and balance your priorities from day one. 

We recognise and value performance, offering our people a highly competitive Rewards and Benefits package including:  

Our purpose is crafting iconic drinks chosen for life’s moments. And it’s our people, with their different experiences, perspectives and talents, who make that possible. 

We value diversity in its broadest sense and want everyone to feel they can belong, contribute and strive for their personal best. You’ll work alongside people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives — challenging, supporting and learning from one another as one outstanding team. 

Together, we’re constantly learning and improving, combining the strength of our people, capabilities and iconic brands to raise the bar, grow and win. Wherever you join us, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute, make an impact and play your part in making life’s moments mean a little more. 

Ready to bring your best? This could be your opportunity. 

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

Recruitment Scam Warning 

Protecting candidates is very important to us. All communications regarding your application will come from an email address ending in @diageo.com. In our recruitment process, we'll never ask for money. 

Worker Type :

Regular

Primary Location:

Plainfield Tech Centre

Additional Locations :

Job Posting Start Date :

2026-09-08PLAINFIELD, ILLINOIS: SALARY RANGE IS FROM $102,375 TO $170,625 (ANNUAL)

At Diageo certain roles are eligible for additional rewards, including annual incentive payment and stock awards. US-based employees are eligible for healthcare benefits, retirement benefits , short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, wellness benefits and industry leading parental leave, among others.  (Benefits/perks listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Diageo and the country where you work.)  The salary range displayed is the salary range for the role’s primary location.