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Job Description Summary:
The Director, Brand & Platform Innovation will lead the beverage innovation agenda for The McDonald’s Division across the United Stated and Canada. This leader is responsible for identifying, developing, and advancing innovation opportunities that drive near- and long-term growth for both McDonald’s and The Coca-Cola Company. This role will partner closely with insights and brand teams to translate strategic opportunities and consumer needs into beverage concepts, platforms, products, equipment-enabled solutions, and experiences to strengthen the overall beverage category.
Serving as TMD's innovation subject matter expert, this role will partner closely with McDonald's Beverage, Menu, and Culinary teams, as well as TMD and Coca-Cola Marketing, R&D, Supply Chain, Finance, Commercial, and Business Development partners to shape innovation strategies, build and steward innovation pipelines, and bring new beverage platforms, products, and experiences to market. Success requires strong cross-functional leadership to align stakeholders, navigate commercialization requirements, and ensure innovations deliver sustainable growth for both McDonald's and The Coca-Cola Company, capturing evolving consumer trends.
The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking, curiosity, creativity, strong commercial acumen, and an ability to influence across fast-paced and complex stakeholder environments. Additionally, the candidate should have a passion for product development, thrive with cross-functional leadership, and be familiar with custom research and product research methodologies.
What You’ll Do
Lead North America Beverage Innovation Strategy
• Lead development of TMD North America's beverage and equipment innovation agenda, partnering closely with Global TMD Innovation to share learnings and identify opportunities for scale.
• Work closely within the Strategy & Insights team to identify emerging growth opportunities through consumer, category, cultural, beverage, and marketplace trends.
• Translate strategic business opportunities into innovation platforms and product concepts; support sizing and prioritization of growth initiatives.
Own Innovation Pipeline Development
• Collaborate with McDonald's Menu & Culinary team to shape innovation priorities, inform future roadmaps, and identify emerging opportunity spaces for growth.
• Develop and steward a robust pipeline of product, flavor, menu, beverage platform, and equipment-enabled innovation ideas.
• Identify opportunities to leverage equipment, technology, and operational capabilities to unlock new beverage experiences and support long-term category growth.
• Collaborate with R&D, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Commercial teams to ensure successful development and execution of innovation initiatives from concept through commercialization and successful marketplace execution.
Build Innovation Insights & Learning
• Lead and influence custom innovation and product research programs in partnership with internal experts and external agencies.
• Serve as steward of beverage trends, flavor trends, competitive activity, and emerging consumer behaviors.
• Integrate syndicated data, custom research, trend services, marketplace observations, and consumer, customer, category, and competitive insights to identify innovation opportunities and recommendations.
• Partner with Coca-Cola Marketing, Innovation, and Foodservice teams to leverage best practices and identify ways to accelerate growth through innovation.
Lead Customer Innovation Partnership
• Serve as the primary innovation partner to McDonald’s Menu & Culinary team in the US and Canada
• Manage multimillion dollar innovation budget in collaboration and partnership with McDonald’s Menu team.
• Build deep understanding of McDonald’s innovation priorities, processes, and business objectives while establishing aligned ways of working that enable efficient development, evaluation, and advancement of innovation opportunities. Become deeply embedded in McDonald’s innovation routines.
• Steward Coca-Cola’s innovation expertise, capabilities, governance processes, and commercialization requirements, helping navigate concepts and opportunities through appropriate approval pathways and decision-making frameworks.
Drive Innovation Execution & Integration
• Align cross-functional teams and stakeholders around key innovation initiatives, business cases, and execution plans.
• Support development of innovation business cases, including opportunity sizing, feasibility assessment, and prioritization recommendations.
Leadership Capabilities
• Innovation Leadership: Identifies, develops, and advances innovation opportunities that create value for consumers, customers, and the business.
• Customer Relationship: Builds trusted, influential relationships with McDonald's stakeholders, developing deep understanding of their priorities, processes, and business objectives, and aligning innovation priorities that create shared value.
• Collaboration & Partnership: Navigates complex decision-making processes and brings together diverse cross-functional teams, capabilities, and perspectives to accelerate innovation initiatives and shared business outcomes.
• Communication & Influence: Builds alignment and commitment through clear recommendations, compelling storytelling, and strong stakeholder engagement.
• Creative Problem Solving: Applies curiosity, experimentation, and innovative thinking to address business challenges and identify new growth opportunities.
• Strategic Thinking: Connects trends, insights, and business objectives to define innovation priorities and guide investment decisions.
• Business & Consumer Insights: Integrates consumer, customer, category, and competitive learning to uncover opportunity spaces and strengthen recommendations.
Functional Skills
• Innovation Pipeline Development
• Product Development Lifecycle
• Consumer & Guest Understanding
• Beverage & Category Strategy
• Competitive Intelligence & Trend Analysis
• Business Case Development
• Market Research Leadership
• Systems Thinking
• Customer Management
• Project Leadership
• Executive Storytelling & Influence
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
Qualifications & Experience
Minimum Qualifications
• Bachelor's Degree required.
• 8+ years of experience in innovation, brand strategy, product development, insights, marketing, consulting, or related disciplines.
• Experience leading innovation initiatives from concept development through execution.
• Experience leveraging consumer and marketplace insights to inform business decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional and senior stakeholders.
• Strong strategic thinking, communication, and storytelling skills.
Preferred Qualifications
• MBA or advanced degree.
• 12+ years in innovation focused on consumer packaged goods, restaurant, foodservice, or retail experience.
• Experience working with large customer organizations.
• Experience with beverage categories in an innovation-focused roles.
• Knowledge of the Coca-Cola system and FSOP/QSR industry.
Skills:
Alteryx, Branding, Channels Strategy, Conversion Rate, Customer Insights, Demand Generation, Digital Advertising, Google Analytics, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), Leadership, Marketing Campaigns, Marketing Insights, Marketing Strategies, Market Segmentation, Media Buying, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Power Business Intelligence (BI), Product Commercialization, Sales Channel Development, Social Media, Strategy Development, Structured Query Language (SQL), Tableau (Software)Pay Range:
United States of America: 141,000 USD - 165,200 USDBase pay offered may vary depending on geography, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position, is offered.
Annual Incentive Reference Value Percentage:
30Annual Incentive reference value is a market-based competitive value for your role. It falls in the middle of the range for your role, indicating performance at target.
Location(s):
United States of AmericaCity/Cities:
AtlantaTravel Required:
00% - 25%Relocation Provided:
NoJob Posting End Date:
August 25, 2026Our 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.