Manager, Global Packaging, Technical Consumer Data Research

Job Overview

Manager of Technical Consumer Data Research (TCDR) – Global Packaging, reporting to the Senior Director, Corp. This role drives front‑end, consumer‑centric technical insights that shape a prioritized global packaging innovation pipeline and deliver right‑first‑time, high‑impact outcomes across The Coca‑Cola Company’s beverage categories.

• Lead end‑to‑end consumer‑centric packaging research and learning agendas, translating insights into actionable design, usability and technical requirements that guide the global innovation pipeline.
• Integrate consumer insights with packaging engineering design to optimize ideas from exploration through commercialization for performance, feasibility and consumer acceptance.
• Provide leadership in innovation of materials, new formats and design, aligning consumer desirability with processing and manufacturing capabilities.
• Partner cross‑functionally with Marketing, Human Insights, Packaging R&D / RTE, Sustainability, Innovation and other teams to embed consumer‑driven insights into technical packaging decisions.
• Identify and scale next‑generation packaging technologies and formats through collaboration with external partners and internal teams.
• Drive right‑first‑time, high‑impact packaging innovation by de‑risking decisions through integrated consumer validation, technical rigor and clear linkage to business growth and sustainability goals.
• Manage end‑to‑end delivery of research projects and initiatives, ensuring stakeholder engagement, governance and adoption of best practices across markets and categories.
• Contribute to the Innovation, Renovation and Productivity pipeline, collaborating with cross‑functional teams to incorporate a consumer‑first mindset and support insight‑led decision making.
• Translate business questions into actionable sensory and consumer research plans, design and execute robust studies using appropriate methodologies and digital tools.
• Analyze and synthesize data into clear insights and actionable recommendations, supporting business decision making with integrated consumer, business and competitive context.
• Identify potential risks, support solution development and communicate findings clearly through structured, insight‑led storytelling.
• Contribute to the TCDR Global community by supporting research‑on‑research initiatives and sharing learnings to strengthen functional capabilities, especially in packaging.
• Stay externally aware of emerging research methodologies and tools, piloting and implementing relevant approaches within projects to support continuous improvement.
• Maintain strong working knowledge of Packaging, Sparking & Stills Beverage categories, including sensory fundamentals, trends and competitive landscape.
• Apply advanced analytics and statistical modeling to solve complex business problems, translating data into clear, actionable insights.
• Support the Global Packaging agenda by working with GDI and RTE leadership, contributing to global and regional priorities across packaging and product.
• Mentor and train colleagues on new methodologies and skills to continuously improve team competence.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Food or Sensory Science, Engineering, Behavioral Psychology or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in the FMCG beverage/food industry with proven sensory and consumer research expertise, delivering consumer‑centric results in a matrix organization.
• Expertise in packaging (material science, design) and FMCG packaging research.
• Strong understanding of consumer‑centric innovation frameworks and their application to support current and future business needs.
• Proficient in sensory and consumer research methodologies, including AI‑assisted techniques, and applying statistical approaches to generate insights.
• Advanced knowledge of social and behavioral science principles, demand spaces, need states and psychographic approaches.
• Experience using digital tools and data‑led approaches to analyze sensory and consumer data (e.g., AI/ML, NLP, GenAI, Power BI).
• Excellent statistical and data analysis skills with proficiency in SPSS, SAS, JMP, Python, R, SQL, PL‑Regression,…