Senior Manager, INSWA Packaging, GDI

Location(s):

India

City/Cities:

Gurugram

Travel Required:

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided:

Yes

Job Posting End Date:

March 27, 2026

Shift:

Job Description Summary:

Location: Gurugram, India

Role Type: Individual Contributor

Immediate Manager: Senior Director, Packaging Development, GDI

Please note: The selected candidate will need to be based in Gurugram, India. This is a Individual Contributor position.

Our APAC Innovation Center 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 highly driven individual contributor who thrives on ownership and impact, and who fuels the innovation pipeline with bold ideas that translate into real-world results. This role is not about maintaining the status quo; it is about challenging assumptions, unlocking opportunity, and personally driving valuable breakthrough innovation. You will apply deep packaging development expertise to lead ideas from concept to execution, contributing to a strong and diverse portfolio of meaningful innovation — accelerating growth and helping shape the future of the organization.

The Senior Manager, Packaging Development (INSWA) is responsible for leading the identification, and development of new plastic, metal, glass, and secondary packaging solutions for the INSWA Operating Unit, within the INSWA Global Development & Innovation (GDI) organization. The role provides technical leadership across the full packaging development lifecycle, including idea generation, proof of concept, design, development, pilot, and validation trials.

The Senior R&D Manager will apply advanced understanding of packaging materials, production processes, sustainability principles, and emerging technologies to deliver innovative and consumer centric packaging solutions. The role includes both reapplication of proven concepts from the Global Packaging GDI network and the creation of new solutions in collaboration with external partners such as design agencies, consultants, universities, research institutions, and suppliers.

A key responsibility is driving packaging innovation and sustainability by identifying relevant new technologies and industry trends, ensuring compliance with safety, regulatory, and environmental requirements, and supporting the Operating Unit’s long term innovation and sustainability agendas. Close connection with the global packaging community is essential to surface and bring forward high value innovation opportunities.

The role requires strong cross functional leadership—working closely with marketing, TISC (Technical Innovation & Supply Chain), RtE (Research to Experiment), quality, procurement, Bottlers, and other GDI teams to align packaging strategies, influence decision making, and ensure technical feasibility across product, process, equipment, and logistics systems. The candidate will be expected to build robust business cases for new packaging concepts using technical, scientific, consumer, and commercial insights.  Although this role has no formal direct reports, the Senior R&D Manager will serve as a key technical expert and collaborator, working through influence rather than hierarchy. The role will require building strong partnerships across the system, guiding project teams, and contributing to capability building by sharing technical expertise, best practices, and innovation insights across the Operating Unit and global network.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a proven track record of developing new packaging, leading complex cross functional initiatives, and effectively managing multiple high impact projects. Additional responsibilities include ensuring adherence to intellectual property, regulatory, and quality requirements, as well as managing project budgets and resource plans effectively throughout the development process.  functional initiatives and effectively managing multiple high impact projects. Additional responsibilities include ensuring adherence to intellectual property, regulatory, and quality requirements, as well as managing project budgets and resource plans effectively throughout the development process.

What You’ll Do for Us:

Technical Leadership & Innovation

• Provide technical leadership in developing packaging designs and technologies from ideation to commercialization.

• Apply advanced knowledge of packaging materials, production processes, sustainability, and emerging technologies to create innovative packaging solutions.

• Ensure packaging solutions remain aligned with industry trends and incorporate new technologies to maintain innovation leadership.

• Thinks end-to-end across initiatives and influences priorities aligned with strategy.

• Encourages creativity within the team and removes barriers to idea generation. Leverage internal and external resources smartly

Packaging Innovation & Sustainability

• Lead the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable packaging innovations supporting corporate sustainability goals.

• Identify and assess new packaging opportunities by engaging with the global packaging R&D community.

• Ensure packaging solutions comply with regulatory requirements and internal company standards.

Strategy & Cross‑Functional Leadership

• Develop and align regional and global packaging strategies to support innovation pipelines and business growth.

• Collaborate cross‑functionally with Marketing, Operations, Suppliers, Bottlers, and other R&D teams to deliver integrated packaging solutions.

• Create business cases for new packaging concepts using scientific, technical, consumer, and commercial insights.

Project & Portfolio Management

• Lead and oversee the packaging development project portfolio, ensuring timely and technically sound execution.

• Manage packaging development from concept through testing, and validation, with timeline and budget anticipation and governance.

• Optimize packaging for compatibility across product, process, equipment, logistics, and supply chain systems.

Compliance, Safety & Intellectual Property

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

• Protect innovations by applying understanding of intellectual property and patent considerations.

Budget & Resource Management

• Manage the packaging development budget effectively, ensuring responsible planning and resource allocation.

What We’re Looking For:

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

• 7+ years of relevant experience, preferably with global or regional packaging development responsibilities.

• Advanced Project Management: Developing ability to lead complex projects that involve cross-functional teams. Includes the ability to manage large budgets, broad scopes, multiple suppliers, and/or team members from partner companies.

• Advanced Packaging: Developing advanced knowledge of packaging materials and the related production processes. This includes knowledge of material compatibility, supplier processes, standards, and specifications.

• 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 & local language.

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 Management, Food Sciences, Food Technology, Green Solutions, Laboratory Testing, Leadership, Microbiology, Product Development, Quality Control (QC), Researching, 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.