Senior Manager, Technical Consumer Research

Location(s):

India

City/Cities:

Gurugram

Travel Required:

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided:

No

Job Posting End Date:

January 2, 2026

Shift:

Job Description Summary:

Location: Gurugram, India  

Role Type: Individual Contributor

Please note: This role is not a fully remote position. The selected candidate will need to be based in Gurugram, India and follow our hybrid work setup—3 days onsite and 2 days working from home each week. This is an Individual Contributor position.

Working as a key business partner with the Global Development & Innovation (GDI) team together, in partnership with Human Insights and Marketing the Senior Manager of Technical Consumer Research will develop and lead comprehensive sensory and consumer research to guide and validate the development of complex consumer-centric Innovation, renovation and core projects, for beverage products, packaging, and equipment to deliver an exceptional consumer experience in alignment with consumer trends and our business strategies for the India and Southwest Asia (INSWA) Operating Unit, based in India. The responsibilities include the development and implementation of end-to-end consumer research plans aligned to the business strategy, to acquire advanced foundational knowledge, to understand and define fundamental consumer and sensory requirements for all beverage categories, packaging and technologies and to inspire our short term and long-term strategic project pipelines.

What You’ll Do:

Create sensory and consumer insights to support all beverage categories, packaging, and technologies initiatives for INSWA OU:

• Build cross-functional relationships and be recognized as a key consumer centric, technical business partner for critical GDI research initiatives to drive end to end consumer research plans with excellence, right first time, and influence successful outcomes.

• Develop and lead holistic complex sensory and consumer research projects to gain actionable insights to provide technical guidance to the GDI development team.

  • Translate business needs into an actionable sensory and consumer research plans. Build and lead end-to-end consumer research learning plans, with appropriate consumer and sensory approaches and methodologies, grounded in sound data & insights, to enable effective business decisions.

  • Use appropriate statistical analysis techniques and data analytics to decode research data (such as ANOVA, factorial analysis, and various modeling tools) and draw meaningful conclusions and business recommendations.

  • Provide data-driven strategic recommendations on business solutions based on strong technical consumer research and deep understanding of the business environment. Identify, evaluate, and mitigate technical risks along the research process to increase confidence in final business decisions.

  • Define solutions based on an in-depth understanding of consumer needs and competitive landscape. 

  • Communicate with clarity and precision by using data-driven technical product storytelling to drive change and influence stakeholders.

  • Understand and define fundamental consumer and sensory requirements of all categories and inject this knowledge into solution development. 

Proactively Build category knowledge to support short term and long-range business plans:

• Co-develop with the INSWA OU local teams in support of the GDI category leads, a multiyear research plan to create critical category & OU local product, sensory and consumer insights to support the Global & local Innovation agenda. Build and leverage product sensory, consumer, category, and OU, understanding to optimize the current portfolio and identify new opportunities in collaboration with the GDI category & local INSWA leads.

• Conduct in collaboration with the INSWA OU cross functional team competitive benchmarking and product/packaging evaluations to maintain a thorough understanding of the competitive dynamics within your OU for all categories. Identify drivers of liking and potential white space for future growth.

• Design and execute experiments to uncover the key drivers of consumer preference and optimal sensory user experiences for INSWA OU beverages.

Be a strategic business partner:

• Work as a close partner with the R&D categories team, Marketing and Human Insight team. Build cross-functional relationships to drive consumer centric solutions and development within the assigned categories.

• Be an active member of the global TCR category team to set up processes to build regional and global consumer and sensory insights. Lead regional OU prioritized projects across all categories for product, package, and equipment.

Build and leverage knowledge:

• Take an active part in the GDI global TCR community and partner on research-on-research exploratory initiatives.

• Be externally focused: Actively participate in the identification, development, and adoption of new methodologies, including innovative and agile methodologies, data sciences, in collaboration with the global TCR Capabilities team and implement as appropriate for INSWA OU.

• Continuous review and development of current best practices, research methodologies, and development of creative solutions to complex challenges. Be curious, identify, and try innovative alternative tools that bolster competitive advantage and deliver market leading results.

What We’re Looking For:

• MS/ PhD in Market Research, Food or Sensory Science, Behavioral Psychology, or related fields

• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in sensory or consumer research.

• Proven track record in delivering consumer centric results working in a matrix FMCG organization including R&D, Marketing and Human Insight.

• Travel will fluctuate and is projected up to a maximum 10% of the time.

Functional Skills & Competencies:

• Human centric research:

  • Sensory & consumer research methodology.

  • Sensory user experience.

  • Social & Behavioral Sciences.

• Data analysis

  • Statistical data analysis, modeling tools.

  • Data analytics, data visualization.

  • AI & ML (machine learning) principles.

Communication

• This role communicates internally with the GDI network, Global and Regional Category Marketing, and TI&SC teams. External communication with agencies, suppliers, and universities.

• Strong written and oral communication skills to be able to simplify complex information in a concise format that is appropriate for the audience.

• Storytelling and building concise business recommendations from data and insights.

• Advanced influencing skills.

• Use of AI in advanced communication techniques.

Business Partnerships

• Cross functional & strategic interactions: Experience interacting with, influencing, and providing guidance to business partners and cross functional peers.

• Strong problem-solving skills.

• Strong organizational and time management skills.

• Build and maintain a strong cross-functional network across the company.

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.