Director, JSK Packaging, GDI

Location(s):

Japan

City/Cities:

Tokyo

Travel Required:

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided:

Yes

Job Posting End Date:

March 27, 2026

Shift:

Job Description Summary:

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Role Type: People Leader/ Manager

Immediate Manager: Senior Director, Packaging, GDI

Please note: The selected candidate will need to be based in Tokyo, Japan. This is a People Leader/ Manager position.

Our APAC Innovation Centers sit at the heart of The Coca-Cola Company’s next chapter of growth. We are committed to transforming and evolving our organization and ambitions — bringing our people closer to the consumer, continuously raising the bar, and embracing digitalization to enable sustainable growth. We are looking for a transformational leader to build, inspire, and empower high-performing teams that fuel the innovation pipeline with bold ideas and turn them into real-world impact. This role is not about maintaining the status quo; it is about setting direction, unlocking opportunity, and driving valuable breakthrough innovation at scale. You will lead diverse teams with deep expertise to deliver a strong and balanced portfolio of meaningful innovation — accelerating growth and shaping the future of the organization.

The Director, Packaging Development is responsible for translating enterprise and Operating Unit packaging strategies into clear, actionable priorities and delivering a robust innovation and sustainability pipeline that supports both near‑term and long‑term business growth. Operating within the Tokyo GDI organization, this role plays a pivotal part in shaping future‑back packaging innovation, ensuring that long‑range strategic possibilities inform today’s development decisions.

The Director provides high‑level technical leadership, influences cross‑functional partners, and ensures the successful execution of complex packaging programs. This role inspires innovative thinking across teams and partners by championing forward‑looking concepts, emerging technologies, and disruptive packaging solutions that elevate consumer experience and strengthen system capability.

What You’ll Do for Us:

Strategic Translation, Future‑Back Innovation & Pipeline Leadership

• Translate enterprise and Operating Unit packaging strategies into actionable development priorities and a coherent innovation pipeline that delivers both short‑term value and long‑term strategic advantage.

• Drive future‑back innovation by anticipating long‑term trends, envisioning future consumer and system needs, and integrating these insights into today’s packaging roadmap.

• Inspire innovative thinking across teams by framing bold possibilities, challenging assumptions, and promoting outside‑in and future‑oriented exploration of materials, formats, technologies, and systems.

Advanced Technical Leadership

• Provide expert technical direction for the development of new packaging designs, materials, and technologies from concept through commercialization, ensuring strong technical rigor and scalable solutions.

• Guide teams and partner organizations on complex material, equipment, and system interface challenges to enable seamless progression from lab to pilot to commercial scale.

• Anticipate industry developments, future regulatory environments, and evolving system needs to ensure packaging solutions remain competitive and future‑ready.

External & Global Ecosystem Engagement

• Proactively connect with the global packaging GDI network, suppliers, universities, research institutes, and design/technology partners to identify and bring forward high‑value innovations.

• Evaluate and integrate external technologies, emerging material platforms, and enabling systems that strengthen the Operating Unit’s packaging competitiveness.

• Serve as a recognized expert and system‑wide technical point of contact for advanced packaging topics.

Cross‑Functional Alignment & Influence Leadership

• Drive alignment on major packaging programs by building strong cross‑functional relationships and influencing decision‑making across marketing, TISC (Technical Innovation & Supply Chain), quality, regulatory, procurement, and Bottling Partners.

• Develop robust business cases for new packaging opportunities, integrating technical, consumer, sustainability, and commercial evidence.

• Establish clear requirements, success metrics, risk frameworks, and governance for major packaging initiatives.

• Connect and Leverage global GDI packaging network to accelerate innovations

System Readiness & Commercialization Enablement

• Ensure packaging designs are compatible with manufacturing, dispensing, vending, and distribution systems - leveraging existing assets, identifying required upgrades, and enabling future‑proof solutions.

• Collaborate closely with RtE, TISC on technology transfer, qualification, and commercialization, ensuring smooth handover and alignment with initial briefs and objectives.

• Support bottler and system partners with technical guidance, troubleshooting, and capability enablement as needed.

Capability Development

• Build and develop a high‑performing team of technical packaging experts, providing clear direction, coaching, and ongoing development to strengthen individual and collective capability.

• Foster a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and disciplined execution, setting expectations and behaviors that drive technical excellence and innovative thinking across the team and broader packaging community.

• Provide expert guidance, frameworks, tools, and best practices to elevate packaging capability across the Operating Unit and global network.

• Act as a senior technical mentor and thought partner to managers, engineers, and cross‑functional colleagues, supporting their growth and enabling stronger decision‑making across the system.

• Build future technical leaders by identifying talent, enabling skill development, and creating opportunities for stretch assignments and exposure to advanced packaging challenges.

• Promote a learning culture by encouraging knowledge sharing, connecting teams with global resources, and championing adoption of new technologies and modern ways of working.

• Translates packaging innovation strategy into clear team priorities and executable plans.

• Ensures the team applies the right expertise to deliver strong outcomes; Guides the team through complex problem-solving and trade-off decisions.

Compliance, Governance & IP Stewardship

• Ensure all packaging initiatives comply with safety, quality, and regulatory requirements across relevant geographies.

• Maintain awareness of intellectual property considerations, enabling protection of innovations and freedom‑to‑operate for new technologies.

Budget & Portfolio Oversight

• Oversee the packaging development portfolio budget, prioritizing resources across high‑impact initiatives and ensuring efficient allocation aligned with strategic objectives.

• Monitor program performance, risk, and value delivery, providing timely visibility and recommendations to senior leadership.

What We’re Looking For:

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Packaging Engineering, Materials/Polymer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field.

• 10+ years of relevant experience, with 3+ years leading projects or teams, preferably with global or regional packaging development responsibilities.

• Strong leadership and team-building skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.

• Demonstrated ability to innovate and think strategically.

• Excellent communication skills and a global mindset.

• Basic understanding of safety and regulatory affairs.

• Clear understanding of intellectual property laws and patent interpretation.

• Language proficiency: Native or Business fluency in English & Japanese

What We Can Do for You:

Purpose With Impact

• We take a purpose‑driven approach that empowers our people to protect the environment, strengthen the communities we serve, and deliver safe, high‑quality products every day. Your work will contribute directly to creating positive changes.

Global Collaboration & Learning

• You’ll be part of a globally connected organization where ideas, expertise, and innovation flow freely across regions. This environment enables you to learn from others, accelerate your growth, and contribute to solutions that scale worldwide.

A Community of Belonging

• We foster a culture where people feel safe, valued, and empowered to bring their best selves to work. We believe that diverse perspectives and an inclusive environment drive better outcomes—for our people and our business.

Competitive Rewards & Benefits

• We offer a comprehensive and competitive compensation and benefits package, with core benefits beginning on your first day. We are committed to supporting your wellbeing, growth, and long‑term success.

Candidate Attributes:

Critical to our growth is the development and recruitment of modern technical leaders who will demonstrate specific growth behaviours. The key candidate attributes we will be seeking are:

• Curious — Keep seeking, never settle.

Staying curious about what is outside, and two steps ahead inspires us to challenge the status quo. Having the courage to look and leap is the way we grow. Because asking “what if?” pushes us to the next level as people and as a company. 

• Empowered — Make it happen.

True empowerment is the result of taking responsibility. This means giving yourself permission to see it, say it and do it, and owning the outcomes. Because we move forward faster when we all take action. 

• Agile — Push for progress, not perfection.

There are very few overnight successes. Greatness is borne of many little victories (and failures). Share v 1.0, test it, and make it better. Then create the next version. Because the moment we think something is perfect, it will be obsolete. 

• Inclusive — Include, value, and trust each other.

We are smart alone but together we are genius. This means being inclusive, giving the benefit of the doubt and being responsible for each other. Because, for our company to thrive for the next 100+ years, smart is not enough. We need genius. 

Why Join Us?

• Impact at Scale: Shape products enjoyed by millions across diverse APAC markets.

• Global Connectivity: Access world-class technical expertise, innovation labs, and global R&D networks.

• Digital Future: Lead with next-gen tools — from AI-driven formulation insights to virtual product design.

• Creative Freedom: Drive innovation that blends science, consumer desire, and brand vision.

• Legacy: Be part of a team building the future of beverages, with agility, ambition, and excellence.

What can help you to be successful in the role?

Growth Behavior:

• Growth Mindset: Demonstrates Curiosity. Welcomes failure as a learning opportunity.

• Smart Risk: Makes bold decisions/recommendations.

• Commercially Focused: Understands the upstream and downstream implications of his/her work.

• Performance Driven & Accountable: Has high performance standards. Outperforms her/his peers.

• Fast/Agile: Removes barriers to move faster. Experiments and adapts. Thrives under pressure and fast pace.

• Empowered: Brings solutions instead of problems. Challenges the status quo. Has the courage to take an unpopular stance.

Leadership Behavior

• Act Like an Owner: Deliver results, creating value for our brands, our System, our customers and key stakeholders.

• Collaborate with the System, Customers and Key Stakeholders

• Develops Self and Others: Develop self and support others' development to achieve their full potential.

• Drive Innovation: Generate new or unique solutions and embrace new ideas that help sustain our business.

What We Can Do For You 

• Career growth and development: Leveraging our boundaryless network, we provide access to educational platforms and provide coaching, mentoring and feedback, as a part of our Leadership & Development process.

• Diverse and inclusive culture: You’ll be embraced for who you are and empowered to use your voice to help others find theirs. We want to make our culture inevitable.

• International Experience: Become part of international projects and work along multicultural teams, through our global network.

Skills:

Chemistry, Communication, Continual Improvement Process, Data Compilation, Environmental Science, Food Safety and Sanitation, Food Sciences, Food Technology, Green Solutions, Laboratory Testing, Microbiological Test, Product Development, Quality Control (QC), Research and Development Operations (Inactive), Sensory Testing, Waterfall Model

Our Purpose and Growth Culture:

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.