Vice President, Corporate Affairs

Who We Are

Suntory Beverage & Food strives to be the most locally beloved beverage company in every market we serve. Guided by our founding principles of "Growing for Good," "Yatte Minahare" (the spirit of bold ambition), and "Giving Back to Society", we pursue sustainable growth, bold innovation, and meaningful social impact. Across the Asia Pacific region, we proudly offer trusted brands including Ribena®, Lucozade Sport™, BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken, Tea+, BOSS Coffee, V Energy - delivering quality products that honor our commitment to harmony with people and nature.

About your role

Reporting to the APAC Chief People and Culture Officer, the APAC Vice President for Corporate Affairs supports the growth and success of SBF Asia Pacific(SBFAP) through:

•    Supporting the pursuit of quality growth and delivering performance that is underpinned by beloved brands, strong talents, outstanding in market execution and the leveraging of scale and technology;
•    Transforming the business units and functions into a collective One Suntory mindset, leveraging on our Suntory collective strengths, our strong talents and a winning culture;
•    Improving SBFAP’s thought leadership and build corporate brand in the external arena; 
•    Managing regulatory, consumer, and reputational risks related to key public policy issues; and
•    Providing cross-market leadership for the Corporate Affairs function in Asia Pacific, including direction of sustainability policy advocacy across the region.

This is a Singapore-based role. 

What You'll Do

• Develop and lead Corporate Affairs agenda for SBFAP overall, with a primary focus on corporate communications.
• Ensure alignment across the markets, with BU CEOs and GMs, and Suntory Holdings(SHD) and SBF PR/ Corporate Branding/ Corporate Planning teams, in collaboration with BU P&C and CA Heads.
• Partner and deliver SBFAP CEO’s vision and priority narratives with a clear line of sight from SBFAP Executive leadership to individual contributors.
• Enable SBFAP Extended leadership Team’s roles as champions of SBFAP strategy, transformational programs and the One Suntory story and as ambassadors for change.
• Develop Corporate Affairs Strategies that focuses on building pride across SBFAP and corporate reputation externally.
• Build a strong and enabling CA community in SBFAP through the creation of a CA “centre of excellence” which is a hub-and-spoke model that focus on best practices sharing and telling a unified SBFAP story internally and externally

Communications

• Develop a comprehensive internal communication framework that aligns with SHD’s purpose and values, SBF’s vision and SBFAP’s Mid-Term Plan.
• Design and implement internal comms plans to enhance employee engagement, including regional townhall meetings, WorkVivo and local engagement efforts in support of building pride within SBFAP.
• Define and execute external comms plans to position SBFAP as a leader in the beverage industry, emphasizing innovation, quality and sustainability.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key media outlets and journalists.  Leverage digital platforms to enhance SBFAP’s online presence.  
• Partner the People & Culture teams across APAC to lead the effort in engaging the Singapore-based SBF and SGS teams and communicating the narratives around winning culture, DEI and recognition.
• Stabilize and advance the organization during crisis, through inspiring confidence, earning trust and engaging stakeholders with seamless communications that are aligned with all relevant key stakeholders.
• Represent the Corporate Affairs function in internal meetings and committees and maintain strong internal communications across key businesses and departments. Maintain strong interaction and internal coordination with subject matter experts at both local and global levels, including Sustainability, Operations, Procurement and Legal functions, reviewing and prioritizing issues, setting strategies and devising action plans to address SDG/ M2K/ NSS/ packaging/environment policy issues.
• Build a meaningful “Voice of Consumer” program, based on the Suntory Holdings model, that can be utilized as a tool for early detection of potential needs and as seeds into innovation ideation and product improvement solutions.

Public Affairs

• Lead external engagement on key public policy issues and proactively communicate company positions and strategy.
• Represent the company before public officials/regulators and in external forums on critical issues for the food and beverage industry. Participate in industry coalitions, negotiate industry positions/policies, and help build consensus consistent with Suntory’s global corporate view.

What You need to be successful

•    The position requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Public Relations, Communications, Business Administration, or Marketing.
•    At least 15 years of relevant experience, including leadership experience in corporate affairs, public relations, or related fields. 
•    Experience across APAC and diverse working environments, strategic thinking and planning abilities, and effective communication skills
•    Experience in working with governments and knowledge of how they operate and the policy-making process.
•    Strong leadership skills to set and drive an agenda, including ability to prioritize a range of complex issues and adapt quickly.
•    Ability to build relationships, manage collaboration, and develop and manage coalitions. 
•    Strong negotiation skills to manage external and internal stakeholders.
•    Ability to navigate ambiguity and work within a matrixed team/organization.

Our DEI Commitment

At Suntory, we recognize that diverse knowledge, perspectives, and backgrounds contribute to our collective success. We are committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where all individuals can bring their whole selves to work every day, regardless of race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or any other protected characteristic.

Our recruitment and selection processes are designed to highlight what Suntory offers as an employer while allowing candidates to share their unique skills and experiences. We understand that career trajectories vary, and if you believe your experience/background can benefit our team, we encourage you to apply. We endeavor to make our interview process as inclusive as possible and offer reasonable accommodations as needed. Together, we can cultivate a workplace where everyone can thrive and propel our mission of Growing for Good.