Job Description :
Job Title: Global Process Lead - Credit & Collections
About the Function:
Our Global Business Operations (GBO) team are facilitators, providing strategic, financial, and business services that are critical to the day-to-day performance of our business. With a team of over 2,000 dedicated and passionate people supporting 21 markets across the world, we have offices in Bangalore, Budapest, Bogota, and Manila.
Our global remit offers huge learning opportunities. We encourage learning and development in skills needed now and in the future across digital, industry, professional, and domain. Wherever you start, you’ll be rewarded with a world view and the recognition you deserve in our inclusive and supportive culture.
About the team:
About the role: (TE)
Diageo is undertaking a bold transformation to deliver faster, more connected experiences, drive better business outcomes and seamless ways of working for greater effectiveness, optimising end-to-end processes, technology, capabilities and data to drive efficiency. Central to this is the evolution of the Global Process Ownership (GPO) model, which is being elevated to ensure empowered, accountable GPOs with clear decision rights and executive sponsorship. This shift addresses historic gaps in accountability and authority and positions the GPO model as a critical enabler for Diageo’s growth ambitions and enterprise transformation agenda.
Purpose of Position
The Global Process Lead (GPL) is an end-to-end (E2E) process expert and leader, responsible for the level 2 process design, transformation, and continuous improvement. The GPL brings deep domain expertise to bridge the gap between E2E process strategy and planning (set by the GPO) and process execution, by leading the operational design (inclusive of process, people, tech and data) of global standards. Driving sustainable transformation at scale that improves user experience, operational efficiency, compliance and business value. They also play instrumental leadership and influencing role, driving integration across L1 processes, and buy in and alignment with regions and markets.
The person in this role is accountable for the end-to-end design, standardisation and continuous improvement of the global Credit, Collections, Accounts Receivable and Cash Applications processes across policy, process, operating model, technology and data. The role owns the global blueprint for customer credit assessment, credit limits and exposure management, credit hold and release decisioning, collections strategy, dispute and escalation handoffs, bad debt prevention, AR subledger management, customer statements and reconciliations, deductions and short-pay handling, credit/debit notes, write-offs and refund controls, cash receipt application, unapplied cash management, period-end AR review, and performance management — ensuring these processes deliver stronger cash flow, lower risk, improved customer experience and effective controls.
Working across markets, functions and shared services, the role defines global standards while governing local exceptions required by route-to-market, regulatory, statutory and customer complexity, and partners closely with Order Management & Fulfilment, Billing, Commercial Finance, Record to Report, Treasury, GBO, Controls, Data and Technology to embed scalable solutions, clear decision rights, KPI governance and measurable value delivery. The role operates across multiple route-to-market models including direct customers, distributors, wholesalers, key accounts, retail and e-commerce / B2B channels. This framing aligns with the generic GPL model’s emphasis on end-to-end L2 design across people, process, tech and data, strategic roadmap execution, KPI-led governance, and balancing global consistency with local needs.
Decision Making Authority
The GPL holds explicit Level 2 decision rights across 3 pillars:
· Level 2 Process Design & Alignment: Accountable for E2E Level 2 process design decisions, identifying, proposing, and implementing improvements, working with functions, regions and markets to ensure integrated end to end design (including across L1s that balance scalable standards with local needs.
· Operating Model Design: Authority to make decisions on ‘how’ people, process, tech and data come together and integrate to get work done, including day-to-day process execution, issue and escalation resolution
· Ongoing Governance, Oversight & Continuous Improvement: Lead operational governance for prioritisation, approvals and monitoring of the standards via KPIs to drive continuous improvement
· Work across functions (including global functions, D&T, data, GBO etc.) to propose transformation initiatives and inform prioritisation of initiatives by the GPO for investment - underpinned by robust business cases that drive measurable outcomes.
· Identification of process best practice and recommendations for global standardization, including local exceptions
· Drive optimisation and value delivery through regular reviews of KPIs, benchmarks, financial metrics, and Voice of Customer.
Recommendations Expected:
Work across functions (including global functions, D&T, data, GBO etc.) to propose transformation initiatives and inform prioritisation of Credit, Collections, AR and Cash Applications related initiatives by the GPO for investment — underpinned by robust business cases that drive measurable outcomes.
Identification of process best practice and recommendations for global standardisation, including local exceptions.
Drive optimisation and value delivery through regular reviews of KPIs, benchmarks, financial metrics, and Voice of Customer.
Assume and execute accountability for end-to-end global process design, governance, KPI model, and continuous improvement; define the global blueprint and exception framework; co-own the tech roadmap with IT; ensure that global standards can be executed across shared services, markets, and outsourced logistics / collections partners with embedded compliance and controls.
Financial Accountability (Budget/Revenue)
Support the GPO in managing the budget, identifying cost-saving and optimisation opportunities, and prioritisation of transformation and CI initiatives to unlock growth and new business opportunities.
Provide input into investment decisions for technology, resources, and process enhancements.
Monitor and report on process-related financial metrics (e.g. cost per transaction, efficiency).
Ensure process changes deliver measurable financial benefits, including the DOME value case.
Articulate global standards and measurable financial outcomes / uplift across Credit, Collections, AR and Cash Applications.
Market / Function Complexity
Strong influence and ability to collaborate across multiple markets and functions, balancing different agendas and global consistency with local needs.
Gathers essential inputs from SMEs across the organisation, including process, governance, people, technology and data domains.
Key stakeholders include GBO, Global Functions and CoEs, Regions/Markets, D&T, Data, Controls and Transformation Programs (as required).
Understanding and appreciation of the statutory, tax and commercial complexity associated with receivables in the Beer, Wine & Spirits industry, including excise/VAT/GST impacts, local invoicing and credit note requirements, distributor and wholesaler models, promotional deductions, customer claims and reconciliations, and local documentation / archiving requirements.
Compliance Ownership
Late payment / commercial collections rules (example: EU Directive 2011/7/EU is explicitly aimed at combating late payment in commercial transactions).
Data privacy (e.g., GDPR is an EU regulation governing personal data processing obligations, directly relevant when collections involve processing contact details, call notes, and communications, and when AR processes hold customer personal/contact data).
Sanctions compliance (e.g., OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions programs; global customer onboarding, AR and collections interactions must avoid prohibited dealings).
Alcohol-specific tax and regulatory complexity: WHO highlights wide variation in alcohol tax designs and levels globally. This influences affordability, invoice complexity, and potentially customer credit risk in high-tax or rapidly changing tax environments.
US alcohol distribution structure: the three-tier system shapes “who is your customer” and therefore the credit model (often distributors/wholesalers) and how receivables concentration risk forms.
Excise tax regimes: in the US, TTB publishes excise tax rate resources for beer, wine and distilled spirits, underscoring the regulated/taxed nature of the category.
Statutory invoice / credit memo requirements, local tax handling, legal entity reporting and market-specific deduction practices that drive AR exception design.
Strategical Accountability
Implement the strategic vision and roadmap set by the GPO for their L2 process area(s), ensuring alignment with broader functional, interdependent processes and organisational objectives.
Embed ownership across policy, process design, delivery, master data, technology and governance for the L2 process.
Ensure KPIs and performance metrics of E2E process to achieve agreed business outcomes and identify opportunities to optimise and automate.
Work with the GPO and other key stakeholders to agree the transformation process roadmap, review project(s) status, prioritise and approve new projects and initiatives.
DOMAIN SPECIFIC
Global process design and standardisation
Define and maintain the global L0–L3 process blueprint covering credit segmentation and policy, credit approvals and authority levels, exposure aggregation, credit blocks/release, collections strategy and cadence, dispute management governance, write-off controls, escalation paths, AR open item creation and maintenance, customer statements, account reconciliation, deduction and short-pay governance, credit/debit memo processing, write-off and refund approval controls, balance confirmation processes, period-end AR review, cash receipt application and unapplied cash management.
Establish “global core + governed local extensions” principles for policies that must vary by market (e.g., local late-payment rules, data privacy constraints, permitted collection practices, statutory invoice adjustment rules, local tax handling, legal entity reporting and market-specific deduction practices). EU late payment rules provide a concrete illustration of regional legal frameworks affecting B2B collections.
Ensure frictionless upstream/downstream integration with Order Management & Fulfilment, Billing, Credit & Collections, AR, Cash Applications, R2R, Treasury, Commercial Finance and Controls.
Operating model ownership
Design and govern the target operating model across retained global governance, regional credit and AR leadership, shared services execution, and BPO/outsourced collections and AR support where used.
Define roles and handoffs (Credit Analyst, Collections Specialist, Dispute Coordinator, AR Analyst, Deduction / Dispute Coordinator, Customer Reconciliation Specialist, Cash Applications Specialist, Sales escalation owner), service catalogue, SLAs, escalation and exception routines.
A benchmark GPO posting explicitly includes creation/maintenance of SLAs and risk & control matrices.
Create a global “community of practice” of regional and market Credit, Collections, AR and Cash Applications process leads to drive adoption, capability building, service governance, release readiness and continuous improvement.
Technology & data ownership (direction and governance)
Co-own the process technology roadmap with IT/D&T; act as business owner for functional requirements and control design for ERP AR/collections modules, credit scoring/decisioning engines, deduction/dispute workflows, statements, reconciliation tooling, workflow/case management, document management, cash application automation and analytics.
Ensure credit capability design includes exposure checks and rules consistent with enterprise ERP capabilities (e.g., SAP credit exposure checks vs limit and rules such as “oldest open item” or dunning level checks).
Define collections strategy and prioritisation design consistent with enterprise platform capabilities (e.g., strategy-based worklists and scoring formulas).
Own the global data model for AR and cash performance and controls, including customer account hierarchies, reconciliation attributes, reason codes, deduction categories, write-off reasons, aging structures, balance confirmation standards and reporting definitions.
Own the KPI data model and definitions (single “global truth” for DSO, overdue aging, dispute cycle time, promise-to-pay reliability, deductions, unapplied cash, write-offs and customer balance quality), including data lineage, governance, and dashboard standards.
Governance, controls, and performance management
Establish global governance forums (Process Council; quarterly policy review board) and be the gatekeeper for process-related changes (policy, controls, tool configuration, KPI definitions). This is explicitly described in a benchmark GPO posting as “gatekeeper for process-related changes,” aligned with enterprise architecture and finance governance.
Design and maintain risk & control matrices, audit-ready documentation, and compliance monitoring; establish process controls and auditability, including approval matrices, SoD-sensitive activities, documentation standards, process versioning and change control.
Run monthly performance reviews across regions, shared services, and outsourcers using standardised KPIs (benchmark examples include DSO, overdue debt, aged deductions, unreconciled balances, write-off value/rate, unresolved credits, statement accuracy and close timeliness).
Own global governance for reason codes, deduction categorisation, adjustment policy adherence and customer balance integrity.
Change management and adoption at scale
Lead stakeholder alignment for credit, collections and AR standardisation, balancing working capital goals with control, customer experience and commercial realities.
Deliver a global rollout playbook, training strategy, and adoption measurement system. Deloitte highlights that GPO success relies on end-to-end visibility and upfront decision rights to enable transformation.
Drive capability building across markets and shared services to improve process discipline, root-cause resolution and ownership of customer balance quality.
Vendor / outsourcer management
Decision ownership of partnerships with credit/collections vendors (credit bureaus, scoring tools, credit insurance where applicable), 3rd party collections partners and AR/cash application BPO partners (work allocation rules, quality controls, compliant scripts/communications, performance scorecards).
Partner with Procurement on selection and contracting input; maintain operational KPIs and continuous improvement cadence.
Compliance across Diageo Markets
Ensure compliance-by-design across late payment and debt recovery laws, data privacy obligations (e.g., GDPR when personal data is processed), sanctions constraints for restricted counterparties, statutory invoice / credit memo requirements, local tax and excise implications, documentation retention, audit trail requirements, and refund and write-off approval controls.
Embed alcohol domain constraints into credit and AR governance: tax/regulatory volatility and route-to-market structures affect customer risk and receivables concentration; WHO confirms wide variability in alcohol tax designs across countries and categories.
Partner with Legal/Tax/Compliance/Controllership to translate statutory and policy requirements into operational controls, system rules and governance routines (not to interpret laws independently). Maintain a process for identifying and governing local exceptions linked to route-to-market design, distributor claims, local tax treatment and statutory receivables handling.
Leadership Responsibilities
Lead and develop a team of process specialists/analysts (where applicable) and maintain market and functional alignment.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and operational excellence.
Champion process transformation and process excellence, and the GPO Model shift, to drive adoption of best practices and support capability building.
Top 3-5 Accountabilities
Lead the design and execution of global end-to-end L2 process activities across Credit, Collections, AR and Cash Applications, inclusive of process, people, tech and data, driving global standardisation and working with markets to determine local requirements to win locally.
Active leadership role on transformation programs that enable end-to-end L2 process standards, overseeing design, implementation, and continuous improvement ensuring alignment with agreed standards and business value delivery.
Main point of contact for L2 process queries, escalations and issue resolution across Credit, Collections, AR and Cash Applications.
Monitor and report on E2E performance metrics and KPIs.
Champion GPO Model organisational shift, and develop and coach team members and SMEs, building a strong talent pipeline.
Qualifications and Experience Required
Bachelor's degree minimum.
Bachelor’s degree minimum.
A relevant Master’s degree (e.g. MBA) or professional certification (e.g. PMP) beneficial.
Qualifications in Business Process Management, Lean Six Sigma and/or Finance / Accounting beneficial.
Preferred accounting / finance qualification or equivalent AR domain accreditation.
IOFM AR Certified.
Hands-on knowledge with SAP Credit Management / Collections / FSCM / SAP AR.
Preferred CICM / NACM certification.
Working knowledge of BPQMS Standards.
Qualifications in Business Process Management, Lean Six Sigma and/or Finance / Accounting beneficial.
Preferred accounting / finance qualification or equivalent AR domain accreditation.
IOFM AR Certified.
Hands-on knowledge with SAP Credit Management / Collections / FSCM / SAP AR.
Preferred CICM / NACM certification.
Working knowledge of BPQMS Standards
Qualifications in Business Process Management, Lean Six Sigma.
Extensive FMCG industry experience (preferred exposure to Beer, Wine & Spirits) in leading E2E global
processes/capabilities in a complex matrixed organisation.
Preferred experience in driving and delivering large-scale transformation programmes involving process, tech, data and operating model changes.
Proven track record of driving cross-functional transformation and change management initiatives covering people, process, technology and data.
Experience in end-to-end process ownership and management, delivering process excellence, analysis, optimisation and use of automation and emerging technology.
Experience working with enterprise-level systems and platforms (SAP S/4, workflow automation, dispute/deduction tooling, data management, analytics).
Proven track record of managing complex project portfolios and delivering measurable success.
Hands-on understanding of AR subledger governance, customer reconciliations, deductions / short-pay handling, credit and debit note processes, write-offs, customer account maintenance, cash application and month-end close interfaces.
Experience having designed and implemented modern reference architectures that treat order management as multi-channel orchestration plus exception management, integrated with fulfilment execution and finance outcomes.
12–18+ years in credit risk / AR / collections / cash applications / dispute management / finance transformation; 5–8+ years in global/multi-region leadership.
Experience in the Beer, Wine & Spirit industry / FMCG — customer concentration and distributor models can create large exposures and systemic risk; the role must be credible at executive level.
Consultative selling & execution experience is a must.
Success Criteria
Technical
Deep process and domain expertise.
Deep knowledge of E2E process design, data governance, and enterprise technology enablement.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Experience with process improvement methodologies.
Strong understanding of internal controls and regulations, working with key stakeholders globally and locally to ensure adherence to requirements.
Deep Domain Knowledge and application across:
Global credit policy design and governance (segmentation, terms, limits, approval authorities).
Customer credit lifecycle (new customer setup credit requirements, periodic reviews, change triggers).
Credit exposure aggregation rules and credit blocks / order-release decision logic (in partnership with Sales/Customer Ops and Order Mgmt).
Collections strategy, dunning/collections workflows, prioritisation and worklist design.
Dispute management governance and dispute-to-resolution cycle time control.
AR subledger management and open item lifecycle.
Customer statements, balance confirmation and account reconciliation.
Deductions, short-pays, claims and adjustment governance.
Credit/debit note, refund and write-off controls.
Cash application, receipt matching, unapplied cash and clearing dependencies.
Period-end AR review and close/reporting interfaces.
Credit, collections and AR analytics: KPI definitions, dashboards, and performance governance.
Outsourcer/BPO and third-party governance (credit bureaus, credit insurance, collection agencies, AR/cash applications BPO).
Adjacent Functions — working knowledge expected:
Sales / Commercial: credit exceptions and trade-offs, customer negotiations, route-to-market realities.
Order Management & Fulfilment / Billing: source transaction quality, invoice creation, credit holds, release workflows, customer service escalation paths (credit must not “break OTIF” without transparent governance).
Commercial Finance / Revenue Management: promotions, rebates, claims drivers.
Record to Report / Controllership: subledger-close-reconciliation alignment, invoice accuracy, adjustments, write-offs, allowances and auditability.
Treasury: cash forecasting, banking and payments (especially in cross-border and high-risk markets).
Tax / Legal / Compliance: alcohol-specific regulatory and excise/tax impacts; collections law constraints; sanctions and data privacy requirements.
IT / Data: ERP, collections and AR/cash applications platform roadmap, integration design (EDI/APIs), and KPI data lineage.
Behavioural / Leadership
Act as a role model for Diageo’s values and leadership standards, effectively managing cross-functional and cross-market teams.
Resilience in navigating complexity, and a continuous improvement mindset.
Ability to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels, with strong communication skills, to win hearts and minds across the organisation.
Ability to build strong relationships and collaborate with diverse teams.
Strong storytelling, presentation and negotiation skills to champion the E2E process
Succession Plan Opportunities
Progression to GPO or other functional or market leadership roles.
Rewards & Benefits Statement: (TE)
Diversity statement: Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and that they can belong, is a crucial part of this.
We embrace diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you’ll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You’ll be part of and help build and champion an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, mindsets, and more.
Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. Join us and help transform our business as we take our brands to the next level and build new ones as part of shaping the next generation of celebrations for consumers around the world.
Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you.
If you require a reasonable adjustment, please ensure that you capture this information when you submit your application.
Worker Type :
RegularPrimary Location:
Bangalore Karle Town SEZAdditional Locations :
GurugramJob Posting Start Date :
2026-04-30