Senior Director, General Manager, Tea Company

The Coca-Cola Company, a global beverage leader with a rich history of 140 years and a portfolio of over 200 brands worldwide and TeaCo is a dedicated 'hothouse' tasked with step-change growth and disruptive innovation in the ready-to-drink tea category. Operating within a 'sandbox' (primarily Guangdong province, with initial focus on the Greater Guangzhou area), TeaCo is expected to:

•  Test creative ideas and new business models at startup speed.

•  Leverage the global scale of Coca-Cola and local execution strength of Swire

•  Deliver validated concepts that can scale back into the core ATH system or launch as independent brands.

•  Achieve +150M incremental unit cases over a 3-year horizon.
 

This is not a traditional internal functional leadership role. It requires entrepreneurial capability, commercial ownership, stakeholder management, and the ability to operate in ambiguity with pace. The position is legally hosted under Coca-Cola, reporting to the Synthetic Board, within a virtual entity structure where costs are shared proportionally between KO and Swire.
 

• Define the innovation strategy, prioritize concepts, and manage the pipeline from ideation to pilot launch

• Lead consumer insight integration, concept development, and rapid prototyping

• Ensure innovation efforts protect and enhance the ATH master brand equity

•  Build and test digitally enabled commercialization models, including digital consumer acquisition, O2O activation, DTC experimentation, social commerce, and platform partnerships.
 

•  Full P&L ownership for TeaCo — accountable for revenue, cost, margin, and investment returns

•  Build and refine the business model across incubation, early commercialization, and potential scale phases

•  Deliver against +150M unit cases 3-year target
 

•  Recruit, develop, and retain a world-class, entrepreneurial team (1+4 structure).

•  Foster a culture of speed, experimentation, accountability, and psychological safety.

•  Attract talent willing to embrace a 60%+ failure rate on individual experiments (as a portfolio, the goal is success).

•  Internal: Navigate Coca-Cola (Shanghai HQ, GDI (Global Development and Innovation), Consumer Insights, KO Legal), Swire (TAC, S&M, Supply Chain), and XNode (external facilitator).

•  External: Co-packers, ingredient suppliers, research agencies, advisory network.

•  Governance: Manage Board engagement, prepare for Gate Reviews, and ensure transparent progress reporting

•  Move from concept to consumer test in 90-day cycles where possible.

•  Build rapid feedback loops with target consumers in the Guangzhou test market.

•  Make "accelerate/ pivot/ pause/ stop" decisions with confidence and data.

•  Use digital channels and consumer data to test propositions, acquire target consumers, and accelerate product-market fit validation.

•  Run rapid experiments across digital targeting, product concepts, pricing, promotions, conversion pathways, and repeat purchase behavior.

• Maintain a connection point with the BAU ATH brand team to monitor brand risks.

• Operate within KO compliance framework while pushing for speed.

• Ensure all innovation experiments do not inadvertently damage global brand equity.

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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.