Senior Director, Product commercialization & Technical Operations Japan

This role is a pivotal part of the Japan & South Korea OU Technical Operations & Commercialization Team and is responsible for managing products and packaging for the Japanese market.

Innovation is a key pillar in driving Coca-Cola Japan's strategy for sustainable system value growth. The Technical Operations & Commercialization function spearheads innovation projects (product, package, equipment) from conceptualization through to production and market execution. This encompasses collaboration and synchronization with various stakeholders including GDI, CPS, Procurement, Technical, Marketing, Commercial Leadership, Finance, Bottler Supply Chain, and Bottler Commercial teams.

What You'll Do for Us

Leadership:

• Lead a team of 4 that covers innovation initiatives for products and packaging. Manage approximately 100-120 innovation initiatives per year.

• Develop the launch calendar for new products and packages, overseeing around 300-350 SKUs annually to ensure precise launch dates and optimize incremental volumes without cannibalization.

• Serve as the single point of contact representing Technical Innovation & Supply Chain and GDI for new product commercialization.

• Manage projects by organizing routine update meetings with Marketing and GDI on product concepts, profiles, development progress, and issues.

• Coordinate activities for product approval on new products (PICASSO, PAR).

• Support the CIF (Stage & Gate) process, especially validating business cases for new products with the finance team.

• Define technical requirements and success criteria for projects.

• Develop commercialization timelines considering development progress, technical difficulties, material supply, bottler supply, packaging supply, and production feasibility at bottling plants.

• Ensure production capabilities at bottlers, including recommending investments required for new product manufacturing.

• Ensure supply capacity meets sales volume in the early stages after product launch.

• Act as the Senior TISC representative for technical functions towards bottlers and related functions to implement strategies and improve business performance.

• Provide technical leadership and execution support across all TI&SC functional areas within the assigned territory and with bottling partners.

• Enhance product/package, supply chain, production infrastructure, processes, people, and cost optimization solutions to drive growth at the territory level.

• Conduct portfolio assessments and harmonization of brands and SKUs.

• Collaborate with Platform Services to identify and deploy digital solutions.

• Lead and/or support Technical Due Diligence in M&A projects as required.

• Provide solutions maximizing all Japan supply chain capabilities in cooperation with bottlers, co-packers, suppliers, and relevant functions in CCJC.

• Improve the commercialization process.

• Track critical metrics (supply continuity, order fill rate, efficiency, performance, capacity investments, QSE score).

• Optimize manufacturing costs and yields for bottling plants.

• Assist the IMCR team as needed.

• Identify supply chain opportunities and execute performance improvements, cost reductions, and growth initiatives. Align with bottling systems in manufacturing, distribution, planning, inventory, and logistics.

• Execute supply chain and business continuity plans, coordinating demand and supply with CPS and bottling partners.

• Engage in the development of the marketing business plan and the new initiative launch calendar with the Commercial team.

• Provide feasible launch timing for each initiative based on production capabilities across approximately 90 production lines in Japan.

• Coordinate with Bottler SCM team, CCBSC (material procurement company), and CCCMC (national marketing company) to recommend the best launch timing for each new product, considering other new items in other categories.

• Leadership and Team Management

• Performance Management

• Strategic Planning, business planning for the team

• Resource Management
• Communication to team, necessary information sharing to relevant functions, stakeholders

• At least 10 years of experience in Supply Chain and/or Commercialization.

• Basic IT skills (Advanced knowledge preferred).

• Strong people management and communication skills.

• Demonstrated growth behaviors. Set the agenda, be a role model.

• Project Management: Ability to manage multiple cross-functional projects effectively. Proficiency in using common project management tools such as Cokeworks and PICASSO.

• Product Development: Understanding of the product development process, including development timelines and beverage functions (e.g., preservatives, sweeteners, antioxidants, vitamins).

• Supply Chain: Knowledge of ingredient and concentrate/BB supply issues, value chain, and financial modeling of COGS, ingredient sourcing, beverage base manufacturing, and supply.

• Regulatory Affairs: Familiarity with Japanese Food Hygiene Law and regulatory issues related to packaging and equipment, including local food laws, ingredient regulations, and labeling requirements.

• Bottling Processes: Developed knowledge of various filling processes (sparkling, post-mix, pasteurization, retort, preserved cold fill, aseptic) and their implications (equipment investment, quality issues).

• Quality Assurance: Understanding of quality implications of different product/package/process combinations, including line validation and processing requirements, in-market issues (shelf life, product stability, handling requirements).

• Packaging: Understanding of available packaging technologies and related product and process implications, packaging development processes, and their impacts on the commercialization process.

• Leadership Development: Our Company's purpose clearly speaks to the importance of leadership. We feel everyone has potential to be a great leader at Coca-Cola and have set the bar high.
• Total Rewards: Our benefits, called Total Rewards, is about the total value of working at The Coca-Cola Company. It is focused on the complete package of pay, benefits, learning and personal support you receive as a Coca-Cola employee.
• Learning & Development: At The Coca-Cola Company we believe innovation can't happen without continuous learning and we provide our employees many ways to grow professional and personally.