The Senior Director of Product Development will champion Global Development & Innovation's (GDI) mission to build, enhance and protect superior consumer experiences. This role leads a team of approximately ten scientists and engineers responsible for the technical product development in North America of the sparkling and alcohol beverage categories including leading brands like Cola-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, Simply Spiked and Jack & Coke.
The ideal candidate will have a strong track record in:
- Developing and launching successful new products.
- Aligning cross-functional stakeholders around a shared innovation vision.
- Leading dynamic teams to execute a diverse portfolio of projects with excellence.
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This leader must demonstrate strong Growth Behaviors and possess the ability to work effectively across both technical and non-technical teams, including Research & Experimentation, Marketing, Commercial, Supply Chain Operations,Human Insights, Technical Consumer Research, Supply Chain Operations, Finance, Legal and external Suppliers.
Key Responsibilities:
- Technical Expertise: Strong knowledge of Food Science and Beverage Technology including a foundation in food chemistry and an understanding of ingredient functionality. Experience in formulation design and beverage processing methods including how to scale-up from bench to pilot to full production.
- Visionary Thinking: Articulate a future state for beverage creation including the future role of digitization. Lead the team in thinking beyond current limitations to explore new and innovative methods.
- Strategic Leadership: Work cross-functionally to align key stakeholders on strategic plans that deliver the company's Annual Business Performance (ABP) and Long-Range Planning (LRP). Build and motivate the technical resources to deliver these ambitions.
- Team Leadership: Build and motivate a high performing team of technical product developers and subject matter-experts (SMEs) that are appropriately connected with internal and external stakeholders and driving our business priorities.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Shape and inspire technical strategy by developing an excellent rapport with colleagues and an earned status as a recognized leader. Understand system needs and capabilities to appropriately influence innovation decisions. Negotiation and enforce as necessary technical requirements with stakeholders.
- Global Mindset: Cultivate a global perspective within the team by building rapport at all levels with our global network. Leverage the global system to drive scale and fast adoption of new technologies.
- Safety & Compliance: Champion safety programs and ensure all products comply with food safety best practices and regulatory requirements.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Food Science, Chemistry, or related field
- 15+ years of work experience that built advanced knowledge in product development and demonstrated strong leadership and team building skills.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
- Proficient business acumen and a global mindset.
- Basic understanding of Safety and Regulatory Affairs.