Customer Operations Executive (FTC 6 months) in London

About us

We are Pernod Ricard, a leading company in the global spirits industry with over 19,000 employees globally. We own 16 of the world’s top 100 Spirits Brands and hold one of the most prestigious and comprehensive brand portfolios in the industry with 240 premium brands available in over 160 countries.

Your new team:

Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail (GTR) is one of the Group’s largest markets, bringing our world-renowned portfolio of premium spirits and Champagne to life across airports, cruise ships, border stores and other travel retail channels worldwide. As the global leader in premium and prestige spirits in the channel, we create exceptional brand experiences that inspire millions of travellers every year.

Your unique contribution:

• Customer Operations and Logistics are a key part of Integrated Operations and Supply Chain, enabling high customer service standards, operational excellence, cost optimisation and compliance across the Order to Cash process.
• The Customer Operations Executive independently manages a defined portfolio of customers across Europe or the Americas. The role acts as the central operational link between customers and internal stakeholders including Commercial, Finance, Planning, Logistics, Marketing, Legal, Brand Companies, third-party logistics providers and other Pernod Ricard affiliates.
• This is not solely an order-processing role. It requires end-to-end ownership, analytical judgement and timely operational decisions within agreed authority.

Key purpose:

• Manage the end-to-end Order to Cash process and aftercare service for a defined customer portfolio, ensuring accuracy, timely execution and high service standards.
• Act as the operational link between customers and internal stakeholders, connecting customer, commercial, planning, finance and logistics inputs to support effective decisions and follow-through.
• Use dashboards, reports and operational data to monitor customer performance, forecast alignment, supply risk, distance to go and KPI trends, applying judgement to resolve issues within scope and elevate early where required.
• Lead the operational agenda for the assigned portfolio through structured customer reviews, exception management, root-cause analysis and action tracking.

Customer Portfolio & Order to Cash Management:

• Manage the end-to-end Order to Cash process for a defined customer portfolio across Europe or the Americas.
• Receive, validate and process customer orders through EDI, email, JDE Oracle, RPA, customer portals or other agreed channels, ensuring timely and accurate order placement.
• Assess orders against forecast, stock availability, recovery plans, allocations, minimum order quantities, credit limits, pricing, route-to-market requirements, customer obligations and cost optimisation guidelines.
• Monitor orders through shipment and delivery, maintaining visibility of blocks, changes, documentation, promised dates and customer risks until closure.
• Maintain complete order history, customer records and administrative accuracy to support month-end closing, audit readiness and business continuity.
• Provide proactive, clear updates to customers on order status, risks, enquiries, changes and service issues.

Service Performance, KPIs & Risk Management:

• Track and deliver agreed service targets, including CFR, OTIF, SLAs and administrative accuracy.
• Identify, assess and elevate risks affecting customer service, shipment execution, monthly value, supply availability or business performance.
• Conduct root-cause analysis on service failures, reason codes, admin errors and customer issues to support corrective actions.
• Maintain issue logs for customer, 3PL and operational escalations, ensuring follow-up with relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare supply risk escalations and customer supply review inputs for Sales & Operations Execution and monthly review forums.
• Own and coordinate operational exceptions affecting orders, supply, pricing, credit, transport, customs, documentation, quality or delivery, bringing together the correct stakeholders to minimise customer and business impact.
• Use operational dashboards, customer reports and internal tools to monitor customer-level performance, supply risk, forecast alignment, distance to go, CFR, OTIF and KPI trends.
• Make appropriate operational decisions within agreed authority and elevate early when the impact, complexity or decision falls outside scope.

Customer Governance and Performance Reviews:

• Prepare and lead regular customer operational and supply review forums in collaboration with Commercial, Demand Planning and other relevant functions.
• Present service performance, customer ordering patterns, forecast alignment, supply constraints, recovery plans, logistics topics, opportunities, challenges and agreed actions.
• Translate review outcomes into clear owners, deadlines and follow-up, ensuring actions are progressed and closed.
• Use customer feedback, complaints and service data to identify recurring themes and propose practical improvements to the customer experience.
• Participate in co-planning, pre-demand review, S&OE and other relevant governance forums, representing the operational position of the assigned portfolio.

Forecast, Supply and Business Alignment:

• Analyse customer orders and ordering behaviour against forecast, activity plans, stock availability and supply assumptions.
• Identify forecast gaps, phasing changes, overselling, unconfirmed demand, supply constraints and inventory exposure, and elevate these through the correct planning and business forums.
• Work with Planning and Commercial to align allocations, promotional requirements, novelties, recovery plans, customer priorities and product availability.
• Provide accurate customer-level inputs on open orders, shipment risk, distance to go, opportunities and operational constraints to support informed business decisions.
• Challenge incomplete or inconsistent assumptions constructively, using available data and a clear understanding of customer, supply, finance and logistics impacts.

New Products, Product Changes and Customer Readiness:

• Support the operational readiness of new product introductions, restages, delistings, promotions, VAPs, POSM and customer activations for the assigned portfolio.
• Coordinate customer listings, product data, item cross-references, forecasts, orders, launch timing, stock readiness, documentation and customer-specific requirements with Marketing, Commercial, Planning, Brand Companies and master-data owners.
• Monitor launch dependencies and risks, elevating gaps early to avoid missed launches, excess inventory, obsolete stock or customer disruption.
• Support the depletion or transition of old stock and ensure customer communication is aligned when products, packaging, formats or supply routes change.

Data, Insight and Operational Decision‑Making:

• Use operational dashboards, customer reports and internal systems to monitor customer-level performance, supply risk, forecast alignment, distance to go, CFR, OTIF, order accuracy and other relevant KPIs.
• Interpret trends and exceptions, connect information across functions and propose practical actions rather than reporting data without a recommendation.
• Validate the accuracy and completeness of data used in customer reviews, escalations and business decisions.
• Provide clear and concise reports, commentary and escalation summaries to management and stakeholders as required.

Finance, Pricing and Credit Control Support:

• Compare pricing between customer purchase orders and JDE Oracle and elevate anomalies promptly before order release or invoicing.
• Support Finance with customer account reconciliation, non-payment investigation, proof of delivery requests, credit notes and dispute resolution.
• Execute payment terms, statements of account and credit‑related follow‑up in collaboration with Finance and Commercial.
• Process supplier invoices related to sales order distribution within agreed timelines and validate supporting information before approval or escalation.
• Protect confidential pricing, customer and depletion information.

Export, Compliance, Quality and Documentation:

• Apply export procedure principles and ensure shipments meet route-to-market, regulatory, customer and documentation requirements.
• Support EADs, customs documentation, certificates and other shipment documents, coordinating with the appropriate specialists where required.
• Understand operational requirements linked to Incoterms, documentation retention, liability, shipment risk and customer obligations.
• Maintain working awareness of relevant UK, EU and US requirements, including SEED checks, EMCS entries, ARC numbers, ISF and other applicable documentation.
• Raise and support the resolution of quality, dispatch, loss, damage and customer complaints through the appropriate systems and processes.

Master Data, Systems and Digital Adoption:

• Maintain accurate customer master data, item cross-references, EDI setup, customer portfolio information and operational records in relevant systems.
• Work with TECH, master-data teams and process owners to resolve system, integration or data‑quality issues.
• Adopt and use agreed systems, dashboards, automation and digital tools correctly, supporting consistent ways of working across both regions.
• Participate in testing, validation, training or deployment activities for system changes and automation that affect the role, where required.

Continuous Improvement:

• Identify recurring process gaps, manual effort, rework, control weaknesses and customer pain points, and propose practical improvements within the role scope.
• Support implementation and adoption of agreed process improvements, automation opportunities, SOP updates and standard ways of working.
• Document relevant customer knowledge, processes and exceptions so that work can be covered effectively during absence, transitions or peak periods.
• Share knowledge and best practices with colleagues, support onboarding and cross‑training, and provide reasonable portfolio coverage across Europe and the Americas when business continuity requires it.
• Support projects and ad hoc activities aligned with business needs while maintaining accountability for the assigned customer portfolio.

Who you’ll be working with:

• Customers and third‑party logistics providers: coordinate order and delivery queries, resolve service issues, and support timely execution of customer requirements.
• Logistics and Quality teams: manage in‑transit issues, delivery discrepancies, ad hoc collections or deliveries, cost optimisation, quality complaints, and approval of sales‑related distribution costs.
• Supply and Demand Planning: align forecasts, allocations, supply availability and demand versus availability risks in line with departmental SOPs and customer priorities.
• Commercial teams: provide customer account updates, supply risk visibility, activity calendar support, promotional stock coordination and status updates on outstanding queries.
• Finance teams: support credit limit monitoring, payment terms, account reconciliation, documentation requirements, month‑end activities and audit readiness.
• Marketing teams: support customer listings, activations, VAPs, POSM shipments and other customer‑related marketing requirements.
• Legal, Compliance, Brand Companies and internal affiliates: support documentation, volume tracking for Direct Shipment orders, regulatory requirements, brand company coordination and issue resolution where required.

Your blend of talent:

• Degree educated or equivalent relevant experience, preferably in Supply Chain, Business, International Trade, Logistics, Operations or a related discipline.
• Fluent in English, with strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and Outlook, with the ability to work confidently with operational reports, dashboards and customer data.
• Good analytical capability, with the ability to interpret data, identify risks or trends, connect information across functions and propose practical solutions within scope.
• Understanding of order management, customer service performance, supply availability, forecast alignment, KPI tracking and escalation processes.
• Ability to work cross‑functionally with customers, Commercial, Planning, Finance, Logistics, Marketing, 3PLs and internal affiliates.
• Strong attention to detail, prioritisation skills and ability to manage multiple customer requirements in a fast‑paced environment.
• Previous experience in Customer Operations, Customer Supply Chain, Order to Cash, Logistics, Supply Chain or a comparable operational role.
• Experience managing customer orders, service issues and operational follow‑up across multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience using reports, dashboards or customer data to track performance, assess risks, identify trends and support operational decision‑making.
• Experience working with service, supply or order management KPIs such as OTIF, CFR, order accuracy, forecast alignment or supply availability.
• Experience managing competing priorities in a fast‑paced environment, balancing customer requirements, operational constraints and business deadlines.

It would be beneficial if you also have:

• Experience using ERP systems such as JDE, SAP or equivalent order management platforms.
• Experience working with EDI, RPA, customer portals, reporting tools or operational dashboards.
• Experience in FMCG, Retail, Drinks, Travel Retail or another customer‑focused supply chain environment.
• Fluency in another European language, such as French, Spanish, Italian or Dutch.
• Experience supporting customer performance reviews, supply reviews, root‑cause analysis or continuous improvement initiatives.

Our mix of benefits:

• For your health, we offer private medical insurance, critical illness cover and an optional healthcare cash plan and dental insurance.
• Our lifestyle benefits options include 28 days’ annual holiday, your employee pension, share incentive plan, family care, season ticket loans, free mortgage advice, payroll giving and more!
• You can access lots of gifts & discounts, including an allowance each year to spend on our brands in our staff shop and employee discounts from a range of high street retailers.
• We have regular events in our very own office bar, employee‑run networks, a culture of flexibility and trust and a variety of tools and resources to help you focus on your wellbeing and mental fitness.

Conviviality: the Pernod Ricard Way

We have our own way of doing things. We call it conviviality! It’s our way of being, and something unique you feel and experience when working for Pernod Ricard. We’re committed to conviviality, and with this, you’ll be Proud to Belong to our Pernod Ricard family. You’ll be Empowered to Perform, supported to succeed, and acknowledged for the value you bring.

We combine all this with our Commitment to Care: we are unlocking the magic of human connection to transform our industry and make a positive impact on the world through our strong focus on Sustainability and Responsibility (S&R).

We’re committed to diversity and inclusion. People are at the heart of everything we do at Pernod Ricard and are the foundation of our collective spirit as ‘Créateurs de Convivialité’. We promote diversity and inclusion throughout our business and supply chain. In our teams, we proactively foster a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture – an environment where we can truly be ourselves.

We will assess your application for this role based on your skills, experiences and achievements, not your gender, age, ethnic or educational background or any other such factors. Please feel free to leave these off your CV and application form if you so wish.

Similarly, if you would like to discuss opportunities for flexible working or accommodations or support to complete our application process, please let us know.

Responsible drinking

As ‘Créateurs de convivialité’, we want to turn social interactions into genuine and friendly experiences of sharing and wellbeing. In our culture, we want to create diverse teams in which our differences contribute to our success. Therefore, all are welcome at Pernod Ricard, regardless of your religious beliefs or personal choices on the consumption of alcohol.

In our business, we work together with industry members, civil society, governments, local authorities and UN bodies to promote responsible drinking.