Head of Category Marketing (Dirigente)

Location: Milan

Contract terms: Permanent

Language Requirements: Fluent Italian and English

About us 

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. Our purpose – Celebrating life, every day, everywhere – has a meaningful role in our company, for our people, our diversity, our brands, in how we perform and how we build shared value! 

At Diageo Italy we are creating a new marketing team with the ambition of becoming a strong marketing powerhouse to help drive the next phase of growth across Italy.  

About the Role 

As Head of Category Marketing of this specific market—a globally significant business unit and key collaborator with our Global Brand Teams—you are the general manager of one of Diageo’s most culturally resonant and emotionally rich categories. 
You will lead with end-to-end accountability across a specific region, combining strategic clarity, creative excellence, and commercial performance. This is a business-critical role that requires bold ambition: to make this category the most loved and talked-about spirits experience across the region. 
This is a role for a leader who balances long-term brand building with short-term results, shaping iconic work that resonates locally while performing globally. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Strategic Ownership: Set the strategic agenda for the category in this specific region, unlocking brand-led growth while staying anchored in commercial field. 

• Commercial & Category Leadership: Own the P&L and pricing strategy, drive market share, and lead with insight to win at the point of purchase. 

• Brand Content & Connections: Lead media and creative strategy with flair—delivering culturally magnetic content and building consumer love across every touchpoint. 

• Team & Agency Leadership: Inspire and align cross-functional squads and agency partners to deliver end-to-end marketing that is both effective and creatively world-class. 

• Portfolio Strategy: Shape the broader spirits portfolio with the MLT, ensuring consistency in how we win across occasions, formats, and consumer needs. 

• Execution Excellence: Focus resources on the biggest opportunities—delivering impactful, locally resonant activations with speed, precision, and agility. 

• Culture Shaping: Create emotionally meaningful brand experiences, driven by purpose, indulgence, and innovation. 

• Leadership & Talent: Champion the growth of our marketing talent—coaching, mentoring, and improving on marketing performance across the team. 

About You 

• You bring a general manager mentality with end-to-end ownership of marketing and commercial performance. 

• 10+ years of marketing experience, ideally within premium spirits or FMCG, with a track record of building iconic brands. 

• Proven success in managing across markets, functions, and agencies—comfortable leading complexity and unlocking clarity. 

• Known for creative courage and a deep understanding of how to drive cultural relevance and brand fame. 

• Adept in modern marketing: media, digital, DDM, experiential, PR, and customer activation. 

• Insight-driven, consumer-obsessed, and commercially sharp. 

• A self-starter who thrives on pace, autonomy, and ownership.

• Strong understanding of the Italian consumer, the media and cultural landscape. 

• Regional experience across the market or comparable multicultural markets preferred. 

• Highly effective in matrixed environments, influencing at senior levels and leading without formal authority. 

What Success Looks Like 

• Business Impact: Sustainable growth in brand equity, share, and margin. 

• Creative Fame: Work that earns attention, builds culture, and wins awards. 

• Local Relevance: Campaigns that connect emotionally and resonate deeply with consumers across the market. 

• Marketing Performance: Integrated execution that drives measurable business outcomes.

• Learning Culture: Strategic bets that generate insights scalable across the broader business. 

Our Offer 

• An inclusive company culture that puts employees and their development first 

• A competitive salary with bonus and many benefits that suit your lifestyle 

• An industry leading parental leave policy

• …and of course, THE best colleagues! 

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 Diageo to thrive and 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.  

Flexibility is key to success in our business and many of our staff work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time, compressed hours, flexible location.  

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process and to perform essential job functions.  

Don’t let anything stop you from applying!