Senior Director, Sweetener Research, Validation and Application

Location(s):

United States of America

City/Cities:

Atlanta

Travel Required:

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided:

Yes

Job Posting End Date:

March 14, 2026

Shift:

Job Description Summary:

Role Overview 

The Senior Director II, Sweetener Research, Development and Application is a pivotal leader in the Flavor & Ingredient Research and Application (FIRA) organization and a key member of the Research to Experimentation (RtE) Leadership Team. This role will set the research agenda for end to end sweetener discovery, validation and development, and work with and across our system to development sweetener system application to deliver superior taste to drive the growth and ensure our license to win.  

Key Responsibilities 

You will lead a high-performing talented team of scientists to: 

• Develop end to end sweetener discovery, validation and development strategy  

• Identify and collaborate with world leading experts to advance the sweetener system research  

• Identity and updates the skills and competencies of the team and collaborators to leverage the latest external technologies and digital tools for the research and development. 

• Build foundation science and knowledge in sweet taste area 

• Develop a robust sweetener system pipeline that will enable solutions to address consumer, market and regulatory demands  

• Translate research into breakthrough, consumer-centric applications 

• Provide thought leadership to the industry, academia and research institutes on sweetness, and sweetener system.  

• Provide The Center of Excellence on sweetener system application.  

You will collaborate globally across Technical Innovation & Supply Chain (TISC), Human and Consumer Insights, Global Categories, and regional R&D centers to shape Coca-Cola’s sweetener research strategy, influence industry direction, and forge partnerships with universities, suppliers, and technology leaders. 

Strategic Leadership & Innovation 

• Shape the future research agenda on sweetener system to meet consumer, customer and regulation needs, drive short-, mid-, and long-term growth and ensure our license to win.  

• Provide inspirational thought leadership to guide sweetener system research and application strategy globally. 

• Influence industry, academia and research institutes to develop relevant technologies and tools (including AI/ML tools) to further the scientific advances. 

Global Collaboration & Stakeholder Influence 

• Partner with i