Director, Commercialization, ECAF

Director, Commercialization, ECAF

Reports to SENIOR DIRECTOR SUPPLY CHAIN LEAD, Africa OU

FUNCTION: Technical, Innovation & Supply Chain

LOCATION: KENYA

Franchise Responsibility: Market Dependent

Reports to: Senior Director, Supply Chain

Function: Technical Innovation & Supply Chain

Role Overview

The Director, Supply Chain Commercialisation leads cross-functional teams to drive new product and packaging development, ensuring compliance with quality and regulatory standards. The role integrates data across platforms, manages packaging changes, and spearheads KO productivity initiatives to enhance efficiency. Responsibilities include overseeing new ingredient approvals, harmonizing product formulas, and managing revenue growth initiatives. This position bridges technical, commercial, and supply chain functions, ensuring innovation effectiveness, operational excellence, and sustained business impact across markets.

Key Responsibilities

1. Innovation NPD (New Product Development)

• Lead and manage the end-to-end process for new product and package development, from concept ideation to market execution - new product or packaging changes requires R&D resource to land in market thus

• Ensure compliance with quality, food safety, and regulatory standards throughout the development process.

• Coordinate cross-functional teams (R&D, Technical, Legal, SRA, Supply Chain, Marketing) to deliver successful launches. Institute and manage weekly / monthly routines with Project / Brand Managers, R&D, CPS inter alia.

• Work closely with the marketing team to develop a comprehensive product brief that outlines the objectives, target market, and key deliverables for the development project.

• Lead and synchronize the development process by ensuring that Research & Development (R&D) and Marketing teams are aligned on timelines, technical requirements, and project milestones.

• Coordinate the creation, submission, approval, issuing and maintenance of Formulae through the Product Approval Request process (PAR) in Picasso, of which the job holder is the custodian.

• Engage with the Commercial Product Supply (CPS) team to gather cost of goods sold (COGS) data and assess the technical and financial feasibility of the proposed product or formula.

• Partner with Scientific & Regulatory Affairs (SRA) and Quality teams to evaluate the technical and regulatory feasibility of the development project. Identify any special requirements or adaptations needed to meet local market standards and compliance.

• Oversee and coordinate pilot trials to validate the product or formula under real-world conditions, ensuring that all technical, quality, and regulatory standards are met before full-scale launch.

• Document and review technical learnings post-launch and update frameworks for continuous improvement.

• Validate product and packaging solutions to ensure they meet consumer expectations and local regulations.

• Integrate master data across ingredients, formulas, packaging, and finished products to enable innovation effectiveness.

• Bridge innovation metrics with supply chain insights for better visibility and ROI measurement.

• Support & monitor SKU rationalization and portfolio optimization post-launch. Responsible for ensuring

• Monitor and report on supply chain capacity to support innovation pipelines.

• Lift & Shift responsibility for Multi market implementation

• Excludes Lift & Shift applications for single market applications or those which requires no R&D resource to change the formulation

• Collaborate with the marketing category team to identify and evaluate potential BBN opportunities that can benefit from Lift & Shift initiatives. This includes leveraging existing successful products or formulas from other markets for local adaptation.

• Work closely with the Commercial Product Supply (CPS) team to obtain cost of goods sold (COGS) data and assess the feasibility of transferring products, formulas, or packaging solutions across markets. Ensure that all financial and operational implications are thoroughly evaluated.

• Partner with Scientific & Regulatory Affairs (SRA) and Quality teams to review the technical and regulatory feasibility of proposed Lift & Shift projects. Identify any special requirements or adaptations needed to meet local market standards and compliance.

• Lead and coordinate cross-functional teams-including R&D, Technical, Legal, SRA, Supply Chain, and Marketing-to ensure seamless execution of Lift & Shift projects from concept to market launch. Facilitate effective communication and alignment across all stakeholders.

• Ensure all Lift & Shift activities comply with quality, food safety, and regulatory standards. Proactively manage risks by conducting thorough assessments and validation protocols in collaboration with relevant teams.

• Develop and approve packaging designs by market, ensuring alignment with brand and regulatory requirements.

• Coordinate production and distribution of new packaging with supply chain and bottling partners.

• Manage localization and adaptation of packaging assets for different markets.

• Oversee the integration of packaging changes into governance and routine business processes.

• Develop the Framework for Value addition to the Franchise by Orchestrating the overall Productivity agenda within the Franchise

• Accountable for leading the Monthly Productivity Forums within the Franchise with the inclusion of Bottlers and Technical Operations teams.

• Lead KO productivity projects across the supply chain, focusing on formula optimisation, digitalization, co-packing, and operational excellence.

• Drive implementation of productivity frameworks to unlock value and improve efficiency.

• Active involvement in BM2VC program - Lead Brainstorming co-ordination with Tech Ops and Bottlers, Accountable for total consolidation of Franchise opportunities for submission to OU Strategic Planning team.

• Collaborate with bottlers and internal teams to ensure co-ownership and successful execution of KO productivity initiatives.

• Lead / coordinate ideation, opportunity identification and orchestrate the execution of KO productivity initiatives

• Be the connector with Corporate central resources (R&D, SMEs, Mkg categories)

• Monitor and report on KO productivity savings and improvements on a monthly basis.

• Oversee the approval process for new ingredient supplies, ensuring compliance with quality, safety, and regulatory standards.

• Coordinate risk assessments and validation protocols for new ingredients.

• Work with suppliers to onboard and qualify new ingredients according to company standards.

• Document and communicate approvals to relevant stakeholders.

• Lead Technical aspects of RGM initiatives, including innovation, brand repositioning, reformulation, and pricing.

• Ensure cross-functional involvement with Commercial, Finance & Marketing in RGM planning and execution.

• Collaborate with RGM teams to ensure sound delivery of the plan

• Responsible for the development of the Harmonisation Framework within the Franchise to drive optimisation.

• Lead implementation of identified harmonization of product formulas and specifications across markets to drive efficiency and consistency as guided by AOU, including consumer testing and commercialisation.

• Strongly Influence cross functional teams to drive optimisation within the Franchise.

• Coordinate with R&D, Quality, and Supply Chain teams to implement harmonized standards.

• Monitor compliance and performance of harmonized products in the market.

• Document changes and update technical specifications as needed.