Senior Manager, Product, GDI

Job Summary Location: Atlanta. Our North America 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. The role is for a highly driven individual contributor who thrives on ownership and impact, fueling 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. Job Purpose As a Senior Manager, Product Development, 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 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. Responsibilities Product Design – work as part of a functional team to align on objectives (new product launch, superiority, tax and regulation, productivity) and success criteria with OU Innovation Hub, OU TISC and Global category leads. Create prototypes and 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 Micro and stability teams; use data and basic statistics to guide optimization. Scale up for market – lead support from GDI for pilot and commercial production trials, ensuring processes and packaging compatibility. Collaborate broadly – partner with Marketing, SRA, Supply Chain, Packaging, and Quality for seamless delivery; connect with global technical experts to import best practices. Maintain excellence – over the full process, keep lab equipment in top condition; follow safety, compliance, and documentation standards. Qualifications Bachelor’s or Master’s in Food Science, Chemistry, Nutrition, Chemical Engineering, or a related field. 8–10 years in product development for beverages or food. Strong knowledge of the protein and dairy space. 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 and influence priorities aligned with strategy. Understanding and application of technical domain trends and new technology. Encourage creativity within the team and remove barriers to idea generation. Leverage internal and external resources smartly. Act as a subject‑matter expert and set technical direction or standards. Ability to solve complex, ambiguous problems and anticipate downstream impacts. Coach and support others within and outside the team, sharing expertise and constructive feedback. Cross‑functional influence – make timely decisions with incomplete information while managing risk. Fluent in English; regional languages a plus. Regional travel up to 10–15%. Compensation & Benefits Pay Range: United States of America: 131,000USD – 153,000USD (base pay may vary depending on geography, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience). Annual incentive reference value: 15% . Additional benefits include medical, financial, and other benefits (depending on position). Eligibility The company will not offer sponsorship for employment status. All applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis and must not require sponsorship to continue working legally in the U.S. EEO Statement We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, status as a veteran, or disability. This statement is in compliance with applicable laws. #J-18808-Ljbffr Coca-Cola HBC