Supply Chain & Innovation Senior Manager at the Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands.

At The Coca-Cola Company you can cultivate your career in a challenging and dynamic environment. We are the largest manufacturer and distributor of nonalcoholic drinks in the world-selling more than 1 billion drinks a day. Unlock your full potential with a future-focused company that is known and respected throughout the world.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Supply Chain & Innovation Senior Manager

Job ID: R-54340
Location: Lagos
Job Type: Full time

Position Overview

• Provide strategic and operational leadership of the commercialization function to enable the Operating Unit to meet business objectives by the effective and efficient launching of new product, package and equipment initiatives.
• Plan lead and direct the capabilities of the OU’s commercialization team.
• The job holder must drive and monitor the process of all Innovations at a strategic and operational level, as pre-defined by the Business Plan. The job holder must also drive and monitor the process of all Product & Packaging design projects at an operational level, as pre-defined by the Business Plan. For timely project planning and execution, he/ she will be required to help identify and deliver specific tasks in product, package and equipment development.
• Lead the OU portfolio expansion agenda so as to contribute to the OU growth and profitability targets. The position collaborates closely with Project Managers / Brand Managers as well as with the OU PMO and the associated the Innovation stage & gate processes within the Operating Unit ensuring that it responds to needs both in quality and timing.
• Collaborate with and assist marketing leadership with respect to fact-based decisions around project portfolio management and provide the frameworks, processes and tools to effectively and efficiently manage projects which will deliver the OU’s growth commitments

Function Related Activities / Key Responsibilities
Commercialization:

• Entrench and continue to refine the commercialization process in order to deliver a clearly defined, consistent process that facilitates the introduction of new products, packages and equipment in concert with stakeholder-agreed timelines.
• Plan, lead and direct the tasks and activities required of collaborative, cross-functional project teams encompassing management associates from brand, legal; commercial finance; technical and bottler.
• Develop / refine and consolidate tools and routines for incorporation into the commercialization process.
• Clearly identify stakeholders accountabilities within the technical aspects of the commercialization process; roles and responsibilities to support seamless task execution
• Determine; develop and refine the system of “project push-communication” to ensure that all relevant stakeholders of the commercialization process are continuously updated on the technical commercialization status of projects.
• Foster and maintain a system wide network of commercialization linkages and cooperation to assist in yielding optimized value chains and best production routes to market
• Institute and manage weekly / monthly routines with Project / Brand Managers, R&D, CPS inter alia.
• Manage the various technical disciplines and associated inputs / deliverables required for all commercialization projects.
• Assist in building Innovation process capability with the Brand, Franchise and Technical teams, whilst supporting the Project Managers with the required level of system project management expertise linked to the CIF process.
• Acting as the key interface between the technical aspects of the business and all other disciplines from concept stage through to market execution and respond to enquiries regarding product/pack commercialization.
• Coordinates the creation, submission, approval, issuing and maintenance of Formulae through the PAR process in Picasso, of which the job holder is the custodian.
• Acts as the principal sole point of contact between BU and designated R&D facilities, identifying and championing relevant innovations through continuous review.

Act as an advisor to the relevant leaders to ensure innovation responds to business unit needs:

• Provides portfolio visibility to the Leadership; ensure strategic alignment
• Assess and align with Project / Brand Managers and relevant leaders within the BU to achieve BU vision
• Conduct an ongoing analysis of the innovation pipeline (i.e., by geography, category, timeframe, type) and identify gaps
• Support and assist in the development of robust evidence-based business cases and support the making of strategic recommendations, for projects regarding the decisions to “start-stop-continue”

Contribute to the Stage & Gate Process for all projects (innovation and all joint KO-Bottler commercialization work etc.):

• Ensure that all inputs required for the relevant Gate meetings are submitted on time
• Co-ordinates and facilitates pre-gate meetings on a periodic basis with project manager, bottlers and subject matter experts to ensure that the BU Gate meetings are more productive.
• Ensure that all projects that are being worked on are captured within the Clarity tool. Also ensure that the tool is up to date and that unnecessary clutter is removed.
• Attend all joint KO-Bottler Commercialization Stage & Gate Meetings.

Supports a culture of continuous learning by:

• Having a sound understanding of the processes and assisting and in building capability within the system.
• Ensuring strict adherence to the CIF process, which includes training and guidance for new associates.
• Ensuring support for all “Post Project reviews” and assisting in the timely completion of them
• Promoting sharing of learnings across CAF territories and functions
• Leveraging and drive best practices within the BU
• Capitalizing on the Global networks for continuous enhancements

Steward innovation advances and impact:

• Advise on the status of pipeline projects and that an acceptable balance of risk is maintained and that they are also aligned with our strategic plans and big bets
• Ensure that the necessary mechanisms / tools are in place to measure metrics in the most efficient way
• Track project progress against defined metrics and objectives to timely identify deviations and identify alternative course of actions / corrective measures / opportunities.

Education Requirements

• Minimum / Preferred: University Degree Science / Engineering with practical experience, or Diploma Food Science & Technology / Engineering

Related Work Experience:

• No less than 10 year practical experience with a proven track record.

Cultural Diversity:

• Demonstrated track record of working effectively in a diverse, multi-cultural setting.

Functional Skills:  
Analysis:

• Technical Communication with Technical and Non-Technical audiences
• Empowerment to push back objectively against defined prioritization
• Capable of using statistics and financial information jointly with some intuition and judgement
• Capable of coordinating several people and projects at the same time
• Capable of assessing cost impact on each part of the value chain
• Ability to identify and summarize the key issues / challenges / opportunities for improved business performance (efficiencies + effectiveness) related to innovation
• Ability to understand the value chains, and analyze the impact that it has in the innovation process and the speed to market

Judgement and Decision MakingG:

• Be able to advise the various business leaders on pipeline management: Suggest project line-up based on the current and strategic BP’s, identify gaps and facilitate forums/discussions to close gaps.

Application Closing Date
12th April, 2021.