Diageo has appointed WPP finance chief Joanne Wilson as its next chief financial officer as the drinks group continues a wider leadership and strategy reset under chief executive Sir Dave Lewis.
Wilson will join Diageo’s board and executive committee during 2027, replacing Nik Jhangiani. The precise transition date has not yet been announced, and Jhangiani will remain in position to support the handover.
Wilson is currently chief financial officer and an executive director at WPP. Her previous roles include senior finance and commercial positions at Britvic, customer-data business dunnhumby, Tesco, and KPMG, where she qualified as a chartered accountant.
Lewis said Wilson was “a very experienced CFO and commercial leader” who would help accelerate Diageo’s turnaround.
The appointment brings another executive with Tesco experience into Diageo’s senior leadership. Lewis spent a significant part of his own career leading Tesco after earlier executive roles at Unilever, while Wilson’s background combines consumer products, retail data, advertising, and finance.
Jhangiani joined Diageo from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in September 2024 and served as interim chief executive between July and December 2025. During that period he oversaw the Accelerate programme, with a focus on cash generation, operational performance, cost efficiency, and the balance sheet.
Diageo said the finance leadership change follows the presentation of its new strategy and three-year financial plan. Wilson will therefore join an established transformation programme rather than arrive at the beginning of a fresh strategic review.
The group owns a global portfolio that includes Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, Tanqueray, and Don Julio, with products sold in nearly 180 countries. That scale makes the CFO role unusually broad, covering capital allocation, currencies, debt, pricing, supply-chain investment, performance management, acquisitions and disposals, and financial reporting across numerous markets.
Consumer-goods groups have been operating in an uneven environment. Inflation has altered input and distribution costs, while customers in some markets have become more selective about discretionary purchases. Drinks producers also need to manage inventory cycles carefully because certain categories, particularly aged spirits, require production decisions years before products are sold.
Diageo’s focus on cash delivery and deleveraging places finance at the centre of its turnaround. Improving operational performance without weakening long-term brand investment requires management to distinguish between sustainable efficiency and short-term reductions that could constrain future growth.
Wilson’s experience at WPP adds another dimension. The advertising group has itself been navigating structural change as clients adjust marketing spending and artificial intelligence alters parts of the agency model. Her earlier roles at Britvic and Tesco provide more direct consumer and retail experience.
Her remuneration includes an annual salary of £900,000 and a pension contribution or allowance equivalent to 14% of base salary. She will be eligible for annual and long-term incentive arrangements, while replacement awards will compensate for incentives forfeited when leaving WPP.
WPP has begun a formal process to appoint its own successor. Wilson will remain with the advertising group during the transition under her notice arrangements.
Diageo’s handover will similarly extend into 2027. Until then, Jhangiani remains responsible for finance while the group executes its current plan, with Wilson due to inherit a business where balance-sheet discipline, operating efficiency, and renewed growth are all central to the strategy.
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