Global Director Commercial & Prestige Capabilities - London, Uk

Suntory Global Spirits; England; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Global exposure

Regular international travel

Job summary

Suntory Global Spirits seeks a Global Director of Commercial & Prestige Capabilities to architect people capability across the global commercial and prestige organization. You will design and govern the Commercial Excellence Academy and Founders Prestige Academy, shaping learning agendas and training curricula at scale.

You will drive competency modelling, cross-regional alignment, and adoption of global capability plans while collaborating with HR, regional ComEx, and business leadership.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Commercial Excellence, Capability Development, or L&D roles within FMCG or Spirits industries, including Prestige brands.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing large-scale commercial capability frameworks and training programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of the People Capability Strategic Plan by designing and implementing the Commercial Excellence Academy, the Founders Prestige Academy, and enabling deployment of associated MBC learning programs.
• Design governance frameworks, competency models, and training curricula to enhance sales, MDC and commercial excellence across regions and markets.
• Drive change management initiatives to ensure seamless adoption of new tools, processes, and methodologies across the commercial organization.
• Partner effectively with external capability partners to develop and implement global capability programs
• Partner with Commercial IT to develop the relevant digital tools to enable the capability agenda.
• Support facilitation of The Founders Prestige and Commercial Excellence Academy when required.
• Own Regional and market leadership adoption of global capability strategic plan and associated programs.

Skills

Commercial Excellence

Capability Development

Learning & Development

Prestige brands

FMCG

Tools

Power BI

NorthStar

Job description

At Suntory Global Spirits, we craft spirits of the highest quality and deliver brilliant experiences to people around the world. Suntory Global Spirits has evolved into the world\u2019s third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we\u2019re driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Suntory Global Spirits is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

What makes this a great opportunity?

This is a unique opportunity for an experienced commercial leader to bring deep, hands-on commercial expertise and translate it into capabilities that elevate the commercial performance across our global organization.

As the Global Director of Commercial & Prestige Capabilities, you are the architect of people capability across the global commercial and prestige organization. You design, implement, and govern the Commercial Excellence Academy and Founders Prestige Academy, identify critical skill gaps, and drive the talent and learning agenda that will enable Suntory Global Spirits to build a world-class commercial organization.

Role Responsibilities

People Capabilities Plan & Academy Leadership

• Lead development of the People Capability Strategic Plan by designing and implementing the Commercial Excellence Academy, the Founders Prestige Academy, and enabling deployment of associated MBC learning programs.
• Design governance frameworks, competency models, and training curricula to enhance sales, MDC and commercial excellence across regions and markets.
• Drive change management initiatives to ensure seamless adoption of new tools, processes, and methodologies across the commercial organization.
• Partner effectively with external capability partners to develop and implement global capability programs
• Partner with Commercial IT to develop the relevant digital tools to enable the capability agenda.
• Support facilitation of The Founders Prestige and Commercial Excellence Academy when required.
• Own Regional and market leadership adoption of global capability strategic plan and associated programs.

Capability Gap Identification

• Recognize critical commercial and prestige skill gaps within Commercial, MDC, and Prestige teams to guide global capability roadmap and initiatives in partnership with regions and markets
• Conduct regular competency assessments to inform the Global Learning & Development agenda and prioritize training investment.
• Partner with HR/L&D on the capability agenda, change management, and commercial talent pathways.
• Bring Gemba insights, learnings and case studies from the external industry and associated categories, especially Luxury brands and FMCG beer, to inspire and educate our teams

Commercial Capabilities Community

• Manage the Global Commercial Capabilities Community, connecting capability leads across regions and markets to enable consistent deployment, shared
• Build and maintain a repository of best practices, playbooks, and training materials to support continuous organizational learning.
• Foster a culture of transparent cross-functional learning by identifying when to scalie best practices Global Knowledge Sharing & ComEx Summit
• Collaborate with the Global Sr. Manager Commercial Operations on the ComEx Summit content and capability-building agenda.
• Drive global knowledge-sharing initiatives and community building for Commercial Excellence, Advocacy and Prestige teams.
• Champion the 'Yatte Minahare' spirit within the capabilities agenda — bold ambition in skill-building.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Commercial Excellence Academy and Prestige Academy program completion rates and satisfaction scores.
• Competency assessment coverage and improvement metrics across target teams.
• Capability gap closure rate — reduction in identified critical skill deficiencies over time.Commercial Capabilities Community engagement metrics.
• Team engagement and culture of learning index.

Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in Commercial Excellence, Capability Development, or L&D roles within FMCG or Spirits industries, including Prestige brands
• Proven track record of designing and implementing large-scale commercial capability frameworks and training programs.

Technical Expertise

• Deep expertise in competency modelling, curriculum design, and commercial training delivery.
• Familiarity with digital learning platforms and commercial tools (Power BI, NorthStar).

Leadership & Collaboration

• Strong ability to influence and align HR, Regional ComEx, and Business leadership around a shared capability agenda.
• Experienced in managing and inspiring communities of practice across global, matrixed organizations.

Languages

• Business-fluent English required. Additional languages a strong advantage.

Mindset

• A passionate educator and capability builder — energized by developing people and creating systems that enable organizations to grow.

Additional Information

• Work Model: Global, Hybrid (flexible based on business needs).
• Travel: Regular travel for capability workshops, Academy launches, HR/L&D collaborations, Regional ComEx connects, and ComEx Summit.
• While relocation, immigration, and/or tax compliance support are not guaranteed, we may offer assistance to successful candidates depending on factors such as role requirements in accordance with company guidelines.

At Suntory Global Spirits, people are our number one priority, and we believe our people grow together in diverse and inclusive environments where their unique insights, experiences and backgrounds are valued and respected. Suntory Global Spirits is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, military veteran status and all other characteristics, attributes or choices protected by law. All recruitment and hiring decisions are based on an applicant’s skills and experience.