Director, Product, GDI

Job Description Summary:

Job Purpose Summary 

As Director, Global Juice Category, GDI, you will lead and develop a team of talented product developers, setting the strategy and innovation priorities in your category and prioritizing resources to deliver key initiatives to accelerate bottom and top line growth. You will oversee a portfolio of high‑impact beverage innovations, ensuring concepts are translated into commercially viable products through strong technical rigor and cross‑functional collaboration. You will also build and drive a robust 3–5‑year global innovation pipeline in close partnership with OU Regional Leads and OU Innovation Hubs.  The global pipeline will be implemented in partnership with the GDI Regional Leads, for the North America OU this role carries full end-to-end accountability from ideation through scale-up, commercialization and post-launch optimization.  This role balances strategic leadership with technical stewardship, coaching leaders, building team capability, and shaping critical decisions across formulation, quality, regulatory, and manufacturing readiness. 

What You’ll Do: 

• Own the global strategy development and pipeline creation for the global juice category and end‑to‑end execution of the NA juice portfolio, in partnership with brand and strategy teams to enable a robust, consumer-driven and efficient portfolio.  Create and execute global technical roadmaps and platforms, where appropriate, to enable locally resonant, consumer‑led products, packaging, and processes, aligned with regulatory and system requirements. 
• Apply deep understanding of Coca-Cola’s system dynamics, OU business models, Global Procurement, CPS and syrup manufacturing and bottling operations to global supply chains to enable scalable advantaged global solutions and NA OU executional excellence. 
• Align and execute prioritized category initiatives (innovation, superiority, productivity, regulation) with OU Innovation Hub, OU TISC, Marketing/Strategy partners and RtE, with direct accountability for delivery in NA and partnership‑based implementation outside NA. 
• Prioritize portfolios and resources to deliver committed plans, productivity gains, and continuity solutions and reduced complexity across the juice portfolio, balancing global pipeline sufficiency with NA OU delivery commitments.  
• Lead end‑to‑end innovation from ideation through scale‑up, including lab prototypes, sensory testing, equipment compatibility validation, pilot production, and bottler/manufacturing trials for the NA OU juice portfolio; applying robust scientific methods (DOE, statistical analysis) and leveraging digital tools to accelerate learning and efficiency.  
• Collaborate closely with Research to Experimentation team to design and develop scalable solutions for next generation of category products via rigorous due diligence (consumer research and other scientific studies), ensuring global transferability and NA execution readiness.  
• Ensure technical development is informed by consumer insights, market and competitor trends, business models, and emerging technologies to deliver differentiated, consumer-centric and system-advantaged solutions.   
• Ensure Stage Gate governance, rigorous due diligence, and disciplined project execution across quality, timing, and budget, with direct decision rights for NA OU programs and governance leadership for global initiatives. 
• Anticipate, assess, and mitigate risks across formulation, food safety, ingredients, equipment compatibility, process design, and regulatory compliance to enable flawless launch execution. 
• Transfer critical technical knowledge, digital documentation, and process clarity to plants and market teams to enable first‑time‑right execution at scale. 
• Drive post‑launch reviews, track performance, and translate learnings into actionable continuous improvement, owning post‑launch accountability in NA and feeding insights back into the global pipeline.  Utilize this information to identify efficiencies across juice global portfolio to maximize reach and minimize complexity.  
• Build and sustain a robust 2-5  year global innovation pipeline in partnership with Marketing and Strategy Leads, GEP, RtE, Global Procurement, OU Hub and OU Category Leads, with responsibility