Job Purpose
The Category Director is responsible for leading the Gold Business Unit end‑to‑end, owning category strategy, P&L delivery, growth agenda, and execution excellence across the full consumer and customer journey. The role is accountable for delivering sustainable topline growth, profit optimisation, market leadership, and long‑term brand equity through superior consumer insight, commercial decision‑making, and cross‑functional leadership.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Category & Business Unit Leadership
- Own and lead the Gold BU strategy, aligning global ambition with African market realities.
- Define clear business objectives, growth levers, and category priorities across brands, channels, and consumer segments.
- Act as the single point of accountability for BU performance, trade‑offs, and decision‑making.
- Translate strategy into clear executional roadmaps across Marketing, Sales, Trade Marketing, Supply Chain and Finance.
Full P&L Ownership & Financial Stewardship
Own and manage the Gold BU P&L, delivering revenue growth, margin optimisation, and cost efficiency.
Lead A&P, pricing, promotion, mix, and innovation investment decisions to maximise ROI.
Track, forecast, and course‑correct performance against annual targets.
Lead pricing architecture, promotional intensity, and value ladder strategies in collaboration with Sales and Finance.
Ensure disciplined budget governance and financial control.
Consumer, Shopper & Market Insight Leadership
Own the consumer demand map for the Gold category.
Leverage data, insights, and analytics to identify growth opportunities, risks, and whitespace.
Drive deep understanding of consumer, shopper, customer, and competitive dynamics.
Embed insight‑led decision‑making across portfolio, innovation, pricing, and activation.
Brand, Portfolio & Innovation Stewardship
Lead the Gold brand portfolio strategy: roles, positioning, equity building and value creation.
Own the innovation and renovation pipeline, from concept through to commercialization and scale.
Translate global brand strategies into locally relevant brand‑market execution plans.
Ensure brand consistency, relevance, and competitive differentiation across all touchpoints.
Integrated Commercial & Marketing Execution
Set direction for integrated brand activation, ensuring alignment across media, digital, trade, PR, and experiential platforms.
Drive excellence across priority touchpoints, ensuring a seamless consumer and shopper experience.
Oversee campaign performance, post‑launch reviews and optimization.
Ensure strong collaboration with Agencies, Creative Partners, and Media Houses.
Cross‑Functional & Stakeholder Leadership
Lead a complex internal ecosystem, partnering closely with Sales, Trade Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Production and Regulatory.
Influence and align senior stakeholders around BU priorities and trade‑offs.
Act as a key liaison with Global Brand Owners, ensuring alignment and mutual value creation.
Manage external partners to deliver high‑quality output within agreed budgets and timelines.
People Leadership & Capability Building
Build, lead, and inspire high‑performing teams within the Gold BU.
Recruit, develop, and retain top talent.
Coach teams on commercial acumen, brand leadership, and execution excellence.
Foster a strong performance, accountability, and collaboration culture.
Key Competencies and Experience
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Commerce or related field.
- 10+ years’ experience across category leadership, portfolio management, or general management roles.
- Proven experience with P&L ownership, pricing, and commercial decision‑making.
- Strong track record leading senior teams and managing agencies.
Knowledge, Skills & Attributes
Strong general management and commercial acumen.
Deep expertise in consumer insight, brand building, and integrated activation.
Advanced analytical and financial capability.
Strategic thinker with strong execution bias.
Influential leader with excellent stakeholder management skills.
Highly collaborative, agile, and results‑driven.
Job Posting End Date:
Target Hire Date:
2026-09-01Target End Date:
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Commerce, or related field.
- 10+ years' experience in category leadership, portfolio management, or general management roles.
- Proven P&L ownership and track record delivering revenue growth and margin optimisation.
- Experience with pricing, promotions, mix management, and commercial decision-making.
- Proven experience leading senior teams and managing agencies or external partners.
- Deep expertise in consumer insight, brand building, and integrated activation across media and trade.
- Advanced analytical and financial capability, including forecasting and budget governance.
- Strong stakeholder management, influencing skills, and ability to align cross-functional partners.
- Experience translating global brand strategies into locally relevant execution and commercialisation.
Pernod Ricard Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Pernod Ricard and has not been reviewed or approved by Pernod Ricard.
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Healthcare Strength — Pay and benefits are described as strong overall, supported by comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage alongside life and disability insurance. Wellbeing support is reinforced through mental-health resources and broader wellness programming.
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Retirement Support — Retirement benefits are positioned as a standout part of the package, including a 401(k) with a match and an additional profit-sharing contribution for eligible employees. A legacy defined-benefit pension is also referenced for certain earlier hires, adding depth to long-term financial support.
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Parental & Family Support — Family-related benefits are unusually broad, including paid parental leave, paid caregiver leave, backup child/elder care resources, and adoption/surrogacy reimbursement. Additional supports such as Milk Stork and fertility/ART coverage further strengthen family-building coverage.
Pernod Ricard Insights
What We Do
Pernod Ricard is a convivial, responsible and successful global wine and spirits group and the #1 premium spirits organisation in the world. The Group represents 240 premium brands available in more than 160 countries. We are 18,500 exceptionally talented people worldwide with our own salesforce in 73 countries. Our portfolio is one of the most comprehensive in the market with every major category of wine and spirits, providing Pernod Ricard with a unique competitive advantage. To keep growing our business, transforming our industry and making a positive impact on the world, we believe in the power of human connection. Creating ‘convivialité’ is our business and our raison d’être. As ‘créateurs de convivialité’, our purpose is to turn every social interaction into a genuine, friendly and responsible experience of sharing. We believe there can be no convivialité with excess and strive to be sustainable and responsible at every step, from grain to glass.
