Job - National Advocacy Manager

Job Title: National Advocacy Manager

About the Function:

Our Sales team thrives on building trusted partnerships and connecting with customers to sell our premium brands in vibrant markets where they can flourish. Every year, they help bring our iconic brands to life in over 180 countries.

We operate across diverse markets, channels, and areas of expertise. With your curiosity and passion, you’ll employ consumer insights and digital platforms to reach new customers, unlock new markets, and elevate celebrations, driving our growth potential. With a strong emphasis on learning and development, we empower our people to reach their full potential and help shape the future of celebrations.

About the Team:

Uganda Breweries Limited, part of East African Breweries, is the market leader in the Total Beverage Alcohol category. We’re proud custodians of iconic global brands like Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray, Singleton, and Guinness, and local Favorites like Bell Lager and Uganda Waragi.

Through our Premiumization agenda, our goal is to position premium spirits as the most aspirational and versatile category unlocking cultural relevance and partnerships through commercial excellence.

Role Overview

As National Advocacy Manager, you will lead the execution of advocacy strategy across Uganda, embedding our premium and Reserve spirits portfolio at the heart of culture and influencing how brands are served, experienced, and recommended. Working through a high-performing Brand Ambassador team, you will drive menu penetration, elevate bartender capability, and shape trends within the country’s most influential bars, restaurants, and nightlife spaces.

You will act as the liaison between brand strategy and in-market execution—turning plans into impactful consumer experiences, strong trade relationships, and measurable commercial growth.

About the role:

• Shape premium drinking culture by influencing bartenders, trade partners, and consumers

• Build advocacy through capability, community, and elite training programmes

• Drive brand visibility and relevance through menus, serves, and cultural activations

• Deliver commercial impact by improving rate of sale, premium mix, and brand recommendation

Role Responsibilities:

1. Advocacy Strategy Execution

• Translate advocacy strategy into clear monthly and quarterly execution plans

• Drive best-in-class execution across brand homes (flagship outlets), Trend Leading Accounts (TLAs), Regional Leading Accounts (RLAs), Gold, Silver, and mainstream outlets

• Align activity with Commercial, Marketing, and Distributor priorities

• Ensure consistent delivery of 365 execution standards

2. Menu & Serve Excellence

• Lead menu penetration and visibility across all outlet tiers

• Drive implementation of tailored and standardized menus, Serve strategies (Highball, Classic, Luxury, Low/No ABV)

• Partner with outlets and commercial teams to scale menu adoption

• Influence menu pricing, cocktail listings, and premium brand mix

3. Capability Building & Training Leadership

• Own capability building for spirits across the market (internal & external)

• Lead delivery of World Class programs, Business of Bars / Community Days, Bartender and outlet-level trainings

• Upskill Brand Ambassadors, Sales and distributor teams (On & Off Trade)

• Ensure capability translates into improved serve quality, Stronger advocacy and recommendations & Increased rate of sale

4. Brand Ambassador Team Leadership

• Recruit, manage, and coach Brand Ambassadors

• Set clear key performance indicators and ensure delivery through journey planning, weekly performance reviews, coaching and development sessions

• Build a high-performing, credible, industry-leading advocacy team

• Act as the company’s leading authority in spirits and mixology

5. Customer & Industry Influence

• Act as a trusted consultant to the drinks industry

• Build strong relationships with bartenders and bar owners, trade partners and distributors, media and influencers in food, drink, and lifestyle

• Leverage deep category expertise to influence customers and consumers

• Identify trends and translate insights into commercial opportunities

6. Culture, Events & PR Amplification

• Implement “Acts in Culture” to embed brands in local scenes

• Lead and support delivery of trade and consumer events, brand launches and activations, partnerships and collaborations

• Partner with Marketing/Digital to amplify PR and content

• Ensure all activations deliver premium consumer experiences

7. Brand Homes & Flagship Execution

• Support Brand Curator in managing Brand Homes

• Ensure best-in-class execution standards including menu and serve consistency, training hub activation, and content creation platforms

• Use flagship outlets as benchmarks for the market

8. Commercial Impact Delivery

• Drive premiumisation in key accounts

• Influence Rate of Sale (ROS), menu pricing and cocktail mix, and premium vs mainstream balance

• Partner with Commercial teams to unlock growth opportunities

• Ensure advocacy activity delivers measurable business results

9. Governance & Operational Excellence

• Manage budgets (PACE and IOs), oversee OTR approvals, and ensure effective asset and stock control.

• Ensure timely, high-quality reporting, full compliance across all events and activities, and strong planning and execution discipline.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)

1. Menu & Visibility (30%)

• Menu implementation vs target

• Outlet penetration across tiers

• Cocktail listings and QR adoption

2. Capability & Community (20%)

• Number of people trained (trade & internal)

• Community engagement and programme delivery

• Improvement in advocacy behaviours

3. Commercial Impact (15%)

• Premium spirits growth in key accounts

• ROS uplift in advocacy-led outlets

• Premium mix improvement

4. Culture & PR Impact (10%)

• Cultural activations delivered

• Contribution to PR and content performance

• Consumer engagement

5. Team Performance (20%)

• Brand Ambassador critical metric delivery

• Journey plan compliance

• Coaching and development completion

6. Governance & Excellence (5%)

• Budget adherence

• OTR compliance

• Reporting quality and timeliness

Experience / skills required:

• Ensure timely, high-quality reporting, full compliance across all events and activities, and strong planning and execution rigor.

• Strong experience in advocacy, brand ambassadorship, or commercial execution

• Deep understanding of On-Trade and Off-Trade environments

• Expert knowledge of spirits, mixology, and luxury drinks culture

• Strong understanding of customer and consumer motivations

Capabilities

• Proven track record to lead, coach, and inspire teams

• Strong training and presentation skills

• Ability to influence customers as a credible industry consultant

• Commercially astute with a bias for action and execution

• Skilled at identifying and translating trends into growth

Personal Attributes

• Passion for premium/luxury brands and culture

• Highly organized, driven by achieving goals, and resilience

• Strong relationship builder with high credibility

• Entrepreneurial mentality with strong ownership

Flexible Working Statement:

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.

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 adopt 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, informative backgrounds, experiences, attitudes, 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 new heights 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