Senior Director II, Innovation and Chief of Staff

Coca-Cola•Atlanta, GA

11d

About The Position

The Senior Director II, Innovation and Chief of Staff, is a strategic partner and operational leader for the NAOU Marketing President, driving the innovation agenda and ensuring seamless execution of critical initiatives. This role combines high-level support, project management, and innovation leadership—overseeing the development, integration, and scaling of breakthrough ideas, and ensuring innovations enter and progress through the process pipeline in partnership with MarTech Operations Planning & Innovation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree ; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
10+ years of experience in brand management, innovation, strategy, or executive operations within CPG or beverage industry.
Proven track record of launching step-change innovations and building scalable platforms.
Experience leading cross-functional teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
Advanced program and project management skills, including synthesizing multiple initiatives and establishing management routines.
Exceptional organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
Experience preparing executive-level presentations and briefing materials.
Ability to manage multiple priorities, work under pressure, and maintain confidentiality.
Demonstrated ability to manage ambiguity and drive clarity in a dynamic environment.
High degree of professionalism, discretion, and executive presence.

Responsibilities

Serve as the strategic right hand to the President/CMO, providing high-level support, coordination, and execution across the organization’s most critical initiatives.
Manage meetings, logistics , and calendar for the President/CMO, including internal/external meetings, leadership sessions, business reviews, and engagement events.
Provide project management oversight for CMO-led initiatives & special projects , establishing clear goals, tracking progress, identifying risks, and ensuring timely delivery of outcomes.
Support annual business planning, resource allocation, and budget tracking for the President/CMO’s office.
Represent the President/CMO as appropriate in meetings and communications, maintaining strong relationships with internal and external partners.
Define and lead the NAOU Innovation Strategy, aligning with brand, category, and commercial goals.
Lead innovation forum The Leap Lab to shape a multi-year pipeline of billion-dollar ideas.
Translate consumer foresight and market trends into strategic bets across categories, driving future-back planning and anticipatory innovation.
Build and manage a transversal innovation portfolio, consolidating bets across categories (e.g., wellness, sustainability).
Collaborate with MarTech Planning & Innovation lead on evolving the innovation process, evolving it into a more agile, iterative , tech enabled model that enables speed and scalability.
L everage AI-powered data platforms for predictive foresight and whitespace identification.
Ensure innovation is grounded in consumer co-creation, early-stage testing, and iterative refinement.
Lead cross-functional collaboration across R&D, Supply Chain, Commercial, Finance, and Franchise teams.
Accelerate external engagement with startups, academia, and tech partners to bring new claims, formats, and technologies into the system.
Establish clear KPIs for innovation success, including pipeline health, launch velocity, and commercial impact.
Report regularly to the President/CMO and NAOU leadership on innovation progress, risks, and opportunities.
C ontribute to enterprise-wide innovation scaling.
Directly manage a team of four: Executive Assistant, Innovation Brand Director, Innovation Insights Sr Manager, Innovation Research & Development Director.
Foster a culture of bold experimentation, outside-in thinking, and ownership mindset.
Champion AI literacy and tech-enabled ways of working across the innovation function.