Senior Director, General Manager, Tea Company

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Job Description Summary: 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. What You'll Do for Us: Own the Innovation Agenda and Product Roadmap - 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. Own Commercial and Financial Outcomes - 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 Build and Lead a High-Performance, Lean Team - 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). Manage Complex Stakeholder Ecosystem - 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 Drive Speed-to-Market and Consumer Validation - 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. Protect Brand Integrity and Ensure Governance Discipline - 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. Qualifications & Requirements: Industry: 10+ years in consumer goods; F&B strongly preferred. P&L Management: At least 2+ years independently managing a business unit P&L (scale flexible). Channel & Sales: Experience working with frontline sales teams and using digital channels to test and scale commercial models; understanding of convenience stores, traditional trade, e-commerce, O2O, DTC, social commerce, and platform-based consumer acquisition. Product Development: Led or participated in full-cycle product development from consumer insight to market launch. Innovation & Incubation: Track record of building or scaling something new within an established organization - or as a founder/early team member. Education: Bachelor's degree or above; MBA or management master's preferred. Language: Fluent Chinese; English as working language. Differentiators: Direct RTD tea or premium beverage experience in China. Founder/ early-stage operator or corporate incubation background. Board, Steering Committee, JV, or partnership governance exposure. Small-batch manufacturing, co-packing, agile production, or F&B regulatory familiarity. Strong China F&B ecosystem relationships. Demonstrated resilience through previous failure experience/ setbacks. What We Can Do For You: Exposure to World Class Leaders : Availability to global technology leaders that will expand your network and exposure you to emerging technologies and techniques. Iconic Brand : Work on the most recogniz

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