Senior Director, Public Affairs and Strategy

This senior leadership role is responsible for developing the holistic state and local legislative strategy for the U.S. Public Affairs team while providing direct leadership to a multi-regional team. The role ensures that state and local policymaking efforts align with the company's business objectives and priorities. The individual will also serve as a key liaison to the North American Government Affairs team, ensuring seamless collaboration and alignment on legislative priorities and advocacy across all levels of government.

Location

Washington DC, ATLANTA, or within 55 miles of state capital in east, central or South region

Core Responsibilities:

Develop and Lead State and Local Legislative Strategy across the United States

• Set the legislative strategy and direction for the U.S. Public Affairs team, ensuring alignment with North American Operating Unit business priorities.
• Oversee the development of a comprehensive legislative framework to guide advocacy efforts across region and engage in and provide oversight of priority states. Ensure effective relationships with local industry and business coalitions.

Direct Leadership of Multi-Regional Team:

• Provide hands-on leadership to a multi-regional Public Affairs team across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Central/Southwest regions of the United States, ensuring they are equipped and empowered to execute advocacy strategies effectively in their respective regions.
• Coach and manage team members, driving accountability, collaboration, and alignment across regions.
• Foster a high-performing, engaged team culture that prioritizes legislative and advocacy expertise, cross-region collaboration, consistent policy engagement and superior relationship management across the organization.

Key Liaison to Government Affairs Team:

• Act as the primary link between the Policy & Public Affairs and Government Affairs teams ensuring alignment and coordination of legislative priorities.
• Provide regular updates to Government Affairs colleagues on state and local legislative trends including escalating issues that have the potential to influence federal policymaking or require a broader strategy.

Internal Leadership:

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, networked teams, the Franchise Organization and the bottling community, providing analysis and counsel on how state and local government policy developments may impact business priorities.
• Support internal decision-making on policy and advocacy opportunities.
• Oversee the monitoring and reporting of legislative and regulatory developments at the state and local levels and ensure compliance with all local lobbying and political expenditure disclosure requirements.

Key Skills and Expertise:

• Legislative Strategy Leadership: Strong experience in leading legislative advocacy efforts across multiple U.S. states, with the ability to develop, implement, and oversee comprehensive strategies that align with business objectives.
• Team Leadership: Proven track record of leading and managing a multi-regional team of public affairs professionals, fostering collaboration, high performance, and measurable results in legislative engagement.
• Stakeholder Relationship Building: Exceptional ability to build and sustain relationships with public officials, legislative staff, regulatory stakeholders, and advocacy coalitions across all levels of government.
• Policy Expertise: Robust knowledge of public policy issues affecting The Coca-Cola Company and the beverage/consumer goods industry.
• Communication and Advocacy: Skilled in developing and delivering effective messaging to external stakeholders. Internally, demonstrates ease in navigating a matrix system and continually develops and nurtures partnerships that facilitate the successful endorsement and execution of our strategies especially with Franchise Operations and bottlers.
• Data-Driven Insights: Ability to analyze legislative trends and regulatory proposals to create proactive, forward-looking solutions.

KEY SUCCESS PARAMETERS

Experience

10 - 15 years of relevant experience, ideally in senior roles with responsibility for state and local government affairs, including state legislation, state policy development, and/or political and issue campaigns, as well as communications, stakeholder management and sustainability. Proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams, and successfully collaborating with colleagues from across a broad spectrum, including team members, those in other parts of the organization, industry peers and political stakeholders.

Work Focus

Ability to analyze complex business and regulatory issues, manage divergent stakeholders and bring together multiple concepts across functions to define and lead the public affairs and government relations strategy for the business across U.S. states in partnership with peers.

Communication Focus

The role leads communication on a regular basis with key internal and/or external parties, and has the responsibility for sharing information, influencing and negotiating with key parties and stakeholders with both shared and opposing interests.

Key Knowledge Requirements

Mastery of (REQUIRED)

• PUBLIC POLICY & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
• STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
• CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
• INCIDENT MANAGEMENT & CRISIS RESOLUTION
• SUSTAINABILITY

Broad Expertise in (GOOD TO HAVE)

• BUSINESS & FINANCIAL ACUMEN
• NGO ENGAGEMENT
• DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS
• PUBLIC SERVICE
• MEDIA RELATIONS

What We Can Do For You

• Iconic & Innovative Brands: Our portfolio represents over 250 products with some of the most popular brands in the world, including Coca-Cola, Simply, Fairlife & Topo Chico.
• Expansive & Diverse Customers: We work with a diversified group of customers which range from retail & grocery outlets, theme parks, movie theatres, restaurants, and many more each day.

Skills:
Influencing

The Coca-Cola Company will not offer sponsorship for employment status (including, but not limited to, H1-B visa status and other employment-based nonimmigrant visas) for this position. Accordingly, all applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis and must not require The Coca-Cola Company's sponsorship to continue to work legally in the United States.

Client-provided location(s): Atlanta, GA

Job ID: cocacola-150777461

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2026-01-26T18:33:55