R&D Product Development Manager, aRTD

Our EMEA Innovation Center, in Brussels, sits at the heart of The Coca-Cola Company’s next chapter of growth. We are committed to transforming and evolving our organization and ambitions — bringing our people closer to the consumer, continuously raising the bar, and embracing digitalization to enable sustainable growth. 

You will apply deep product development expertise to lead ideas from concept to execution, contributing to a strong and diverse portfolio of meaningful innovation in aRTD category— accelerating growth and helping shape the future of the category, moving it from system participation to category leadership. 

This global role sits within Global GDI and shapes alcoholic ready‑to‑drink product development by connecting global strategy with regional execution.
 

Alcoholic ready‑to‑drink beverages (aRTD) represent one of the fastest‑growing and most strategically important emerging categories for The Coca‑Cola Company globally. As we continue to expand our portfolio beyond traditional non‑alcoholic beverages, aRTD plays a critical role in driving incremental growth, recruiting new consumers, and unlocking new occasions.

The successful candidate will bring proven experience in the alcoholic beverage industry, strong R&D expertise, excellent stakeholder management skills, and an innovative, forward‑thinking approach to product development.

Job Purpose Summary 

As a Manager, Product Development, dedicated to alcoholic ready to drink beverages (aRTD) you will lead the execution of complex and diverse product development initiatives to accelerate bottom- and top-line growth, bringing concepts to life through advanced formulation, testing, and commercialization. You will drive local and regional projects in close partnership with cross-functional teams, applying deep technical expertise, market insights, and digital tools to ensure products meet consumer expectations, quality standards, regulatory requirements, and manufacturing realities. This is a hands-on, individual contributor role for a seasoned problem-solver who thrives on technical ownership, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering high-impact beverage innovations. 

What You’ll Do:

• Product Design - Work as part of functional team to align objectives (new product launch, superiority, tax and regulation, productivity) and success criteria. 

• Create Prototypes & Formulations – Develop lab-scale recipes driven by consumer insights and technical/supply chain requirements, following GMP and company protocols. Incorporate local insights, new ingredients, and regulatory needs into final product design. 

• Test, Learn, improve – Conduct sensory, analytical, and shelf-life testing together with the Micro and stability teams; use data and basic statistics to guide optimization. 

• Scale Up for Market – Lead support from GDI for pilot and commercial production trials, ensuring processes and packaging compatibility. 

• Collaborate Broadly - Partner with Marketing, SRA, Supply Chain, Packaging, and Quality for seamless delivery; connect with global technical experts to import best practices. 

• Maintain Excellence – Over the full process, keep lab equipment in top condition; follow safety, compliance, and documentation standards. 

What You’ll Need:

• Bachelor’s/master’s in food science, Chemistry, Nutrition, Chemical Engineering, or similar. 

• 4–6 years in product development for beverages/food , ideally in alcohol industry: spirits, beer, other alcoholic beverages

• Strong technical understanding of ingredient functionality within beverage systems. 
• Strong understanding of alcoholic beverages, to be used as raw material, semi-finished goods, finished goods, and possible interaction with other ingredients

• Experience managing multiple projects from ideation to launch in fast-paced environments.  

• Familiarity with sensory evaluation, consumer testing of alcoholic products, and data interpretation for decision-making.  
• Ability to establish relationship with spirit partners, including them into the E2E innovation process as it may be needed

• Think end-to-end across initiatives and influences priorities aligned with strategy.  

• Apply and influence with insights from consumers and competitors.  

• Drive original thinking and develop novel concepts with clear business value.  

• Apply solid technical expertise to deliver high-quality work independently. 

• Solve complex, ambiguous problems and anticipate downstream impacts.  

• Coach and support others, sharing expertise and constructive feedback. 

• Make timely decisions within scope, balancing speed, and quality, and in consideration of interdependence of other priorities.  

• Fluent in English; regional languages a plus. 

• Regional travel up to 10–15%. 

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.