Senior Manager, Customer Innovation, Global Development & Innovation

Our GCM Innovation Center sits at the heart of The Coca-Cola Company’s next chapter of growth. We are committed to transforming and evolving our organization and ambitions — bringing our people closer to the consumer, continuously raising the bar, and embracing digitalization to enable sustainable growth. 
 
We are looking for a highly driven individual contributor who thrives on ownership and impact, and who fuels the innovation pipeline with bold ideas that translate into real-world results. This role is not about maintaining the status quo; it is about challenging assumptions, unlocking opportunity, and personally driving valuable breakthrough innovation. 
 
You will apply deep product development expertise to lead ideas from concept to execution, contributing to a strong and diverse portfolio of meaningful innovation — accelerating growth and helping shape the future of the organization. 

Job Purpose Summary 

As a Senior Manager, Customer Innovation, GDI you will lead the execution of the most impactful product development initiatives to accelerate bottom- and top-line growth, bringing concepts to life through advanced formulation, testing, and commercialization. As the most senior individual contributor on the team, you will support the team lead by coaching and guiding scientists, sharing deep technical expertise, and helping shape team strategy and ways of working. You will partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders including Global Equipment Platform, SRA, QSE, Marketing, TCR teams to drive local and regional projects, applying strong technical judgment, market insights, and digital tools to ensure products meet consumer expectations, quality standards, regulatory requirements, and manufacturing realities. This is a highly hands-on role for a trusted technical leader who influences through expertise, mentorship, and collaboration while delivering high-impact beverage innovations. 

What You’ll Do 

• Product Design - Work as part of functional team to align on objective (new product launch, superiority, equipment, tax and regulation, productivity) and success criteria’s with OU Innovation Hub, OU TISC and Global category Leads  

• Create Prototypes & Formulations – Coach scientists and develop lab-scale recipes driven by consumer insights and technical/supply chain requirements, following GMP and company protocols. Incorporate local insights, new ingredients, and regulatory needs into final product design. 

• Test, Learn, Improve – Conduct sensory, analytical, and shelf-life testing together with the appropriate cross functional TISC teams; use data, digital tools and basic statistics to guide optimization and manage risk.  Ensure rigorous experimental design and data integrity. 

• Scale Up for Market – Lead support from GDI for product development execution of pilot and commercial production trials, ensuring processes and packaging compatibility. 

• Risk Awareness: Proactively identify and manage technical and business risks (allergens, microbial, food safety, supply chain) and communicate mitigation actions clearly. 

• Collaborate Broadly - Partner with Global Equipment Platform, Marketing, SRA, Supply Chain, Packaging, and Quality for seamless delivery; connect with global technical experts to import best practices. Maintain effective communication of project insights, challenges, and technical recommendations. 

• Maintain Excellence – Over the full process, keep lab equipment in top condition; follow safety, compliance, and documentation standards. 

• Business understanding & System knowledge: Strong understanding of Coca-Cola’s business operations, market dynamics, and industry trends. Awareness of bottling and syrup operations and global supply chains.  

What You’ll Need 

• Bachelor’s/Master’s in Food Science, Chemistry, Nutrition, Chemical Engineering, or similar. 

• 8-10 years in product development for beverages/food 

• Strong technical understanding of ingredient functionality within beverage systems.  

• Experience managing multiple projects from ideation to launch in fast-paced environments.  

• Familiarity with sensory evaluation, consumer testing, and data interpretation for decision-making.  

• Ability to  

• Think end-to-end across initiatives with integration of commercial and business acumen into technical decisions and influence priorities aligned with strategy.  

• Understand and apply the technical domain trends/ new technology at work 

• Encourage creativity within the team and removes barriers to idea generation.  

• Leverage internal and external resources smartly  

• Act as a subject-matter expert and sets technical direction or standards. 

• Solve complex, ambiguous problems and anticipates downstream impacts. 

• Coach and supports others within and outside of the team including cross functional influence, sharing expertise and constructive feedback. Guide and inspire more junior team members, fostering a positive and collaborative environment 

• Make timely decisions with incomplete information while managing risk  

• Adapt quickly to changing market or project needs, showing resilience and flexibility 

• Fluent in English; additional language a plus. 

• Regional travel up to 10–15%.