Director, Global QSE Governance

Function: Corporate Quality, Safety & Environment (QSE) 
Geography: Atlanta/AOC  
Reports To: Vice President, Global QSE Governance and Competencies 
Role Level: Director 

Role Purpose 
The Director, Global QSE Governance leads enterprise governance for regulated and high-reputation-risk domains by setting clear standards, driving disciplined assurance, and enabling consistent system-wide execution to reduce risk. The role translates regulatory and stakeholder expectations into fit-for-purpose governance programs, strengthens readiness through program assurance, and provides structured inputs to the enterprise governance framework. The Director also owns the design and execution of the Tiered Governance / Bottler Maturity model, serves as the primary interface for regulatory and reputational risk within the governance operating model, and supports QSE governance and enterprise-wide due diligence. 

Scope & Impact 

• Enterprise governance owner for enterprise-wide domains and programs. 

• Enterprise program owner for Animal Welfare, Human Rights, etc, governance, assurance approach, and escalation pathways. 

• Direct impact on brand protection, license-to-operate, “feedback to design” from audit/assurance outcomes, and regulatory readiness. 

• Accountable for defined governance routines, controls, and performance visibility (risk signals, exceptions, action tracking) for assigned domains. 

• Key contributor to fit for purpose governance frameworks and ownership for Tiered Governance / Bottler Maturity model design and execution, ensuring requirements and assurance expectations are operationally implementable and risk-based. 

• Leads QSE governance requirements and integration activities for licensing and other projects (governance scope definition, baseline assessments, gap identification, integration planning support). 

Key Responsibilities 

1. Enterprise-wide Governance Domains & Program Leadership 
Own the end-to-end governance approach for designated enterprise-wide domains, including program design, minimum requirements, guardrails, and assurance expectations. Establish and maintain clear governance documentation (standards, procedures, decision trees, and roles/responsibilities) aligned to QSE policies, applicable regulations, and industry standards. Lead cross-functional governance forums (as needed) to align Legal, Public Affairs, Commercial, Supply Chain, and Operating Unit stakeholders on requirements, decision rights, and implementation expectations. 

2. Animal Welfare, Human Rights, etc Program Governance 
Lead the enterprise Animal Welfare, Human Rights, etc governance programs, including policy/standard interpretation, supplier and system expectations, assurance approach, and escalation criteria. Partner with procurement, technical, Public Affairs and Operating Unit teams to ensure governance is embedded into relevant operating processes (e.g., supplier qualification, oversight routines, issue management) and that findings and actions are managed with rigor and transparency. 

3. Program Assurance, Performance Visibility & Continuous Improvement 
Partner with GAO Audit/KOBRA teams and contribute assurance mechanisms definition for governed programs (e.g., readiness reviews, self-assessment protocols, evidence expectations, control testing, and exception management). Contribute to and align to performance reporting and cadence for governance health, including leading indicators, issue trends, closure discipline, and systemic corrective actions. Identify opportunities to simplify, clarify, or strengthen governance based on audit insights, incident learnings, regulatory developments, and stakeholder feedback. 

4. Governance Inputs to Fit-For-Purpose and own the Tiered Governance / Bottler Maturity Model 
Provide domain and program inputs to the Fit For-Purpose governance framework and own the Tiered Governance / Bottler Maturity model, ensuring regulatory and reputational risk considerations are translated into clear, measurable expectations. Define what “good” looks like for governed programs at each tier (where applicable), including minimum evidence requirements and assurance touchpoints. Validate that proposed tier expectations are practical for in-market implementation and are aligned with enterprise governance guardrails. 

5. Regulatory & Reputational Risk Interface (Governance View) 
Maintain active awareness of external regulatory changes and emerging stakeholder expectations impacting governed domains, translating these into governance updates and implementation guidance. Serve as the governance point of contact to triage and route regulatory/reputation-risk issues within the governance operating model, including coordinating fact gathering, documenting governance positions, and escalating high-risk matters through defined leadership pathways. 

6. Licensing and other Governance Support 
Support Licensing initiatives, etc by defining governance scope for regulated programs, participating in governance-focused due diligence activities as requested, and documenting baseline requirements and gaps relative to enterprise expectations. Provide input to integration plans for regulated governance programs (e.g., sequencing, minimum controls, assurance checkpoints), and partner with cross-functional teams to embed governance expectations into post-close operating models. Ensure closed loop input and feedback to KORE requirements.  

Decision Authority 

• Sets governance program requirements, assurance approach, and operating cadence for assigned regulated domains and Animal Welfare, Human Rights, etc, within enterprise policy and governance guardrails. 

• Approves domain-specific governance interpretations, implementation guidance, and readiness criteria. 

• Recommends risk-based escalation actions and governance tradeoffs to the Senior Director and Vice President, including options and implications. 

• Owns tiered governance expectations through domain inputs and inputs to and influences fit for purpose governance framework and model.  

Key Interfaces 

• Vice President, QSE Governance & Competencies (alignment to enterprise governance strategy and tiered governance evolution). 

• Senior Director, Global QSE Governance & Competencies (alignment on risk posture, escalations, and integration priorities). 

• Legal, Public Affairs & Communications, Ethics & Compliance (regulatory interpretations, reputation-risk topics, governance positioning). 

• Operating Units, bottlers, and franchise leadership (implementation, assurance readiness, issue management). 

• Procurement/Supplier Management, Legal, PACS, and Supply Chain partners (Food Licensing, Animal Welfare controls, Human Rights, and third-party governance). 

• GAO Audit, IMCR teams, other partners (alignment on protocols, findings themes, corrective action rigor, feedback to governance system design). 

Digital Skills Required (New-State Expectations) 
This role is not a digital product owner, but it requires strong digital fluency to lead governance programs at enterprise scale. 

• Comfort partnering to design and navigate enterprise QMS and governance platforms to access requirements, evidence expectations, and assurance artifacts. 

• Ability to define governance data needs (controls, evidence, status reporting) and partner with digital governance roles to implement scalable reporting and workflows. 

• Ability to use trend insights (audit findings, incident patterns, adoption indicators) to drive governance simplification and targeted assurance actions. 

Qualifications & Experience 

• Bachelor’s degree in Quality, Food Science, Regulatory Affairs, Engineering, Environmental Science, Safety, Animal Science, or related discipline (advanced degree preferred). 

• 10+ years of experience in governance, quality/food safety systems, regulatory compliance, assurance/audit, or risk-based program management within a complex, multi-region enterprise. 

• Demonstrated leadership of regulated programs with cross-functional stakeholder alignment (e.g., licensing, retail/consumer-facing operations, animal welfare, human rights, or similar high-reputation-risk domains). 

• Strong understanding of ISO based management systems and regulatory frameworks.  

• Experience translating policy/regulatory intent into implementable standards, assurance mechanisms, and operational routines across diverse markets. (business) 

• Strong capability in influencing without authority, executive-ready, bold and courageous oral and written communication, and navigating ambiguity in a networked system. 

• Strong project management, program leadership, autonomous with effective partnership and self-starter. 

Success Measures 

• Clear, fit for purpose governance for enterprise domains, Animal Welfare, Human Rights, etc, with defined requirements, assurance expectations, and escalation pathways. 

• Robust enterprise governance that delivers disciplined control, reduces risk and is rapidly adaptable to evolving business needs through closed-loop feedback and continuous market/industry learning. 

• Consistent in-market application of governance guardrails with measured adoption and effective issue triage. 

• Timely, high-quality inputs to fit for purpose governance framework and definition to delivery ownership of Tiered Governance program expectations that strengthen brand protection without creating unimplementable burden. 

• Effective support to licensing and enterprise-wide programs, with clear gap visibility and pragmatic governance sequencing.