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Job Description Summary:
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%.
Skills:
Chemistry, Communication, Continual Improvement Process, Data Compilation, Environmental Science, Food Safety Management, Food Sciences, Food Technology, Green Solutions, Laboratory Testing, Leadership, Microbiology, Product Development, Quality Control (QC), Researching, Sensory Testing, Waterfall ModelLocation(s):
ChinaCity/Cities:
ShanghaiTravel Required:
00% - 25%Relocation Provided:
NoJob Posting End Date:
October 30, 2026Our Purpose and Growth Culture:
We are taking deliberate action to nurture an inclusive culture that is grounded in our company purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference. We act with a growth mindset, take an expansive approach to what’s possible and believe in continuous learning to improve our business and ourselves. We focus on four key behaviors – curious, empowered, inclusive and agile – and value how we work as much as what we achieve. We believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive after 130+ years. Visit Our Purpose and Vision to learn more about these behaviors and how you can bring them to life in your next role at Coca-Cola.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Nutrition, Chemical Engineering, or a related field
- 8–10 years of product development experience in beverages or food
- Strong technical understanding of ingredient functionality in beverage systems
- Experience managing multiple projects from ideation through launch
- Experience with sensory evaluation, consumer testing, and data interpretation
- Ability to apply commercial and business acumen to technical decisions
- Ability to act as a subject-matter expert and set technical direction or standards
- Ability to solve complex, ambiguous problems and anticipate downstream impacts
- Coaching, mentoring, and cross-functional influence skills
- Ability to make timely decisions with incomplete information while managing risk
- Ability to adapt to changing market or project needs
- Fluency in English
- Additional language proficiency
The Coca-Cola Company Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about The Coca-Cola Company and has not been reviewed or approved by The Coca-Cola Company.
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Retirement Support — Retirement benefits are positioned as a standout, combining a 401(k) match with a company-funded cash-balance pension and an employee stock purchase plan match that together materially increase long-term package value.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as broad and feature-rich, including national medical coverage plus specialized add-ons like virtual care, second opinions, oncology navigation, fertility support, and chronic-condition programs.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off benefits are outlined with structured vacation accrual that increases with tenure and a holiday program that includes both set and floating days.
The Coca-Cola Company Insights
What We Do
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. In addition to the company’s Coca-Cola brands, our portfolio includes some of the world’s most valuable beverage brands, such as AdeS soy-based beverages, Ayataka green tea, Dasani waters, Del Valle juices and nectars, Fanta, Georgia coffee, Gold Peak teas and coffees, Honest Tea, innocent smoothies and juices, Minute Maid juices, Powerade sports drinks, Simply juices, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater and ZICO coconut water.
