The Coca-Cola Company Headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Inside of our campus, we have one of the main R&D centers of The Coca‐Cola Company. We oversee the development of new beverages (carbonated soft drinks, juices, iced teas, coffee, water, dairy, …), packages and retail equipment innovation for North America Operating Unit.

The Technical Consumer Research (TCR) Manager works as an individual contributor who will design and influence the adoption of appropriate sensory and consumer science to ensure our product offerings for the North America Operating Unit (OU) are market leaders, resonating with consumers' preferences and expectations.

Collaborating closely with the Marketing Category, Human Insights, and Global Development & Innovation (GDI) teams, the TCR Manager will develop and implement comprehensive Sensory & Consumer Research strategies. These strategies will be instrumental in guiding product development and innovation, thereby reinforcing our commitment to delivering exceptional consumer experiences across the North America OU.

If you have technical experience in Sensory & Consumer research, and if you are passionate about Product Insights connecting to our product portfolio as winning solutions in the market, we would love to speak with you!

What You’ll Do For Us

As a TCR Manager, you will be at the forefront of fostering a consumer-centric culture within our organization. Your role will be integral in partnering with the Global Development & Innovation (GDI) team to drive end-to-end innovation that resonates deeply with our consumers.

This role is responsible for:

• Leading TCR initiatives by aligning with our business strategy, understanding the unique needs of our categories and consumers, and crafting research plans that yield actionable sensory and consumer insights. These insights will provide critical technical direction to both the development team and the Operating Unit.
• Build cross-functional relationships and network to drive consumer-centric approaches for your category.
• Understand and define fundamental consumer/sensory requirements of your categories and inject the knowledge into solution development.
• Employ statistical analysis techniques to decode research data, utilizing tools such as ANOVA, factorial analysis, and various modeling approaches to draw meaningful conclusions.
• Provide strategic recommendations based on robust TCR insights and a nuanced understanding of the business landscape, while proactively identifying and mitigating technical risks to bolster confidence in decision-making.
• Engage actively with the global TCR community, contributing to transversal initiatives and research collaborations on a worldwide scale.
• Conduct competitive benchmarking and product/packaging evaluations to maintain a thorough understanding of the competitive dynamics within your categories.
• Collaborate closely with the GDI categories team, Marketing, and Human Insights teams at both the Operating Unit and global levels.
• As a member of the Global TCR community, ensure the ongoing refinement of best practices and research methodologies, and explore creative solutions to complex challenges with an innovative mindset.
• Mentor and upskill team members in new methodologies, enhancing the collective expertise of the TCR team
• Drive the discovery, development, and evaluation of product ideas, enhancements, and strategic extensions specifically for the North America OU, ensuring alignment with innovation goals, business continuity, productivity, regulatory compliance, and troubleshooting needs.
• Design and execute experiments to uncover the key drivers of consumer preference for beverages, interpreting the statistical outcomes of sensory and consumer testing to extract deep insights.
• Leverage a deep understanding of internal and external factors to inform business decisions.
• Collaborate with others while intentionally creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

Relocation Offered: No

Travel Percentage: 0-25%

Qualifications & Requirements

• Minimum of Bachelor's Degree Food Science, Food Engineer, Food Technology, behavioral psychology or applied statistics. Advanced degree with a focus in sensory science preferred.
•  5-7 years of work experience in Sensory and Consumer Research.
• Fluent English
• Strong organizational and project management skills with ability to manage and prioritize Operating Unit key projects, pushing for progress and not perfection while embracing uncertainty as an opportunity for growth.
• Able to apply technical knowledge and establish credibility with highly technical audiences in order to build technical relationships that will benefit customers or the Company and with non-technical audiences in order to influence decision makers
• Experience with Sensory / Consumer systems such as: Compusense, Fizz, EyeQuestion, etc
• Experience using statistical tools: XLSTAT, SAS, Minitab, R.

• Demonstrates strong working knowledge of quantitative research which involves the design and implementation of sensory and consumer research studies, including creation of the research design, implementation and data gathering, data analysis, interpretation, implications and next steps.

What We Can Do For You

• Purpose Driven: Purpose-driven approach that empowers our people to protect the environment and communities we serve while delivering safe & quality products.
• Global Connections: Allows you to develop, enhance and maintain global connections that allow us to move faster and learn from others.
• Community of Belonging: We’re an organization that believes our ability to continually grow and build the right atmosphere where people feel safe and empowered, lets you bring your best self to work.

Our Purpose And Growth Culture

We are taking deliberate action to nurture an inclusive culture that is grounded in our company purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference. We act with a growth mindset, take an expansive approach to what’s possible and believe in continuous learning to improve our business and ourselves. We focus on four key behaviors - curious, empowered, inclusive and agile - and value how we work as much as what we achieve. We believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive after 130 years. Visit Our Purpose and Vision to learn more about these behaviors and how you can bring them to life in your next role at Coca-Cola.We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. When we collect your personal information as part of a job application or offer of employment, we do so in accordance with industry standards and best practices and in compliance with applicable privacy laws.

Skills:

Strategic Influence; New Product Development; Creativity; Research Designs; Design of Experiments (DOE); Design Thinking; Statistical Analysis; Accountability; Quantitative Research; Innovation Development; Proactive Problem Solving; Consumer Sciences; Qualitative Research; Communication; Compliance; Consumer Research; Interpersonal Influence; Teamwork; Negotiation; Sensory Research