Senior Director, EMEA Sparkling, GDI

Context 

R&D plays a critical role in shaping the next chapter of growth for The Coca-Cola Company, we are looking for a leader to help drive that transformation. This role is a key enabler to turn bold ideas into meaningful impact and deliver a diverse portfolio of breakthrough innovations enabling to accelerate our growth. 

Scope & Impact  

This role is a key enabler in transforming bold ideas into meaningful impact, delivering a diverse portfolio of breakthrough innovations that accelerate growth. This leader will play a critical role in shaping the next chapter of growth for The Coca-Cola Company and lead the growth strategy to drive both top-line and bottom-line performance across EMEA’s largest and most complex product categories.  

This role is responsible for co-developing and guiding a multi-year innovation pipeline for Sparkling in EMEA, in close partnership with OU Marketing VPs, Global Category GDI Leaders, and OU Strategy VPs. It also works closely with Trademark Coca-Cola Brand and Technical Leadership to ensure a strong OU innovation agenda with appropriate technical governance. 

This leader will oversee a team of approximately ten product developers and commercialization managers, responsible for end-to-end technical product innovation across Flavored Sparkling. This includes iconic brands such as Sprite and Fanta.  

Additionally, the role coordinates cross-functional technical expertise across Global and OU TI&SC teams - including Process Development, Consumer Research, Packaging, Regulatory, QSE, Supply Chain, Flavor Manufacturing, and CPS - to ensure seamless end-to-end execution. 

Focus Areas 

Key areas of focus of this role can be summarized as follows:  

• Apply transformative thinking to create innovative solutions within unconventional business processes, models, and capabilities, maintaining a comprehensive end-to-end view. 

• Develop innovation strategies to deliver OU innovation pipelines for growth, productivity, and business continuity plans across multiple categories.  

• Ensure technical efforts on category are informed by consumer insights, business models, and important technological trends to deliver advantaged solutions.  

• Foster a culture of experimentation within the organization, manage the budget effectively, and ensure strategic initiative alignment with our overall goals and business plans. 

• Collaborate closely with Research to Experimentation team to design, develop and commercialize scalable solutions for next generation of category products via rigorous due diligence (clinical trials, consumer research, and other scientific studies).  

• Collaborate with global and OU SRA teams to get ahead of novel ingredients approval through appropriate agencies.  

• Partner with supply chain and commercial leadership to leverage Stages & Gates routines to successfully deliver pipeline while managing risk. 

• Prioritize and allocate resources to deliver committed plans through the stage gate process.  

• Establish relationships and routines to share learnings cross functionally across TI&SC and with R&D Center peers in other OUs. 

• Monitor external environment to identify threats and opportunities for portfolio. 

• Manage competitive benchmarking in OUs ensuring portfolio remains highly competitive.  

Key Responsibilities:  

Strategic Leadership:  

• Deliver the company’s ABP and LRP by working cross-functionally to align global and local executive level stakeholders on the OU product pipelines across multiple categories. 

• Articulate a future state for beverage creation including the future role of digitization.   

• Influence executive level leaders to think beyond current limitations to explore new and innovative concepts and methods.   

• Ensure technical efforts are informed by consumer insights, business models, and important technology trends to deliver advantaged solutions. 

• Provide inspirational thought leadership and enable implementation multi-year pipelines for competitive advantage. 

• Cultivate a global perspective within the team by building rapport at all levels with our global network. Leverage the global system to drive scale and fast adoption of new technologies. 

• Advanced collaboration skills: Ability to develop and maintain value added relationships with multiple constituencies including Coca-Cola system leaders and associates; bottlers; customers; suppliers; external stakeholders at multiple levels and on a global basis.  

• Lead development of clear case for change, desired outcomes, accurate scope, clear roles and decision-making, and effective communication of the change. 

People Leadership:  

• Build, develop and motivate a high performing team of technical product developers and SMEs that are appropriately connected with internal and external stakeholders and driving our business priorities. 

• Manage resources effectively, including leading the allocation and prioritization of activities, budget requirements, performance management and assessing development needs.  

Stakeholder Management:  

• Shape and inspire technical strategy by developing an excellent rapport with colleagues and an earned status as a recognized leader.  

• Understand system needs and capabilities to appropriately influence innovation decisions. Negotiation and enforce technical requirements as necessary with stakeholders. 

• Ensure effective and efficient information flow between OU and TI&SC Leadership Teams to ensure effective alignment on project status and priorities.   

Technical Leadership:  

• Develop and implement long-term and annual business plans and ensure successful achievement of them. 

• Play a key role as a leadership member to ensure the Technical Community provides optimal thought leadership, strong business value and deliver on our commitments to the business from our functional responsibilities. 

• Partner across the system to identify and develop technical talent within the immediate and extended team. 

• Champion safety programs and ensure all products comply with occupational and food safety best practices and regulatory requirements.  

Communication Focus  

• This role communicates internally across the TI&SC and OU teams. External communication with Bottlers, suppliers, and trade associations.  

• Communication and engagement with multiple key stakeholders to gain agreement on the short- and long-term category strategies for TCCC.  

• Proactive and clear communication and engagement with all key stakeholders connected with Category R&D agenda.  

• This role requires advanced influence and negotiation skills to ensure clear articulation and alignment with stakeholders at most senior levels internally and externally for the company category innovation agenda across the globe.  

Experience

Leadership experience in leading large-scale global and regional R&D programs to deliver growth, continuity, or productivity.  

Education Requirements:

• Advanced degree in Food Science, Chemistry, or related field. 

• 15+ years of work experience that built advanced knowledge in product development and demonstrated strong leadership and experience leading large-scale global teams. 

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels. 

• Proficient business acumen and a global mindset. 

• Advanced understanding of Safety and Regulatory Affairs.  

Related Work Experience: 

• Demonstrable leadership skills, with a proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and projects, especially without direct management authority. 

• Experience in leading large-scale global and regional R&D programs to deliver growth, continuity, or productivity. Product Development Experience. 

• Deep understanding of system economics, value chains, risk management, and mitigation, coupled with an agile and iterative mindset. 

• Strategic thinking and leadership in consumer-centric R&D, leveraging technical and competitive insights to deliver consumer value, IP strategy, and robust business cases. 

• Stakeholder management, with ability to drive strategic agreements with internal and external system partners around the world.