Director, Insights

Location: Europe Flexible Locations

Reports To: Director, Portfolio & Insights

Role Purpose: At The Coca‑Cola Company, insights power growth. The Director, Insights supports the Insights agenda for a specific category within the Europe Operating Unit. Working with the Senior Director, this role will support the generation and activation of consumer, shopper, and category insights. This role is responsible for delivering consumer and category insights to support brand strategy, innovation, and activation for category teams in Europe Operating Unit. The leader is a strategic thought partner on the category to Marketing & Commercial teams ensuring consumer insights are embedded end‑to‑end across strategy, innovation, creative development, and portfolio choices, while maintaining strong connectivity with the EOU and Global Insights networks.

What You’ll Do for Us:

• Lead the Consumer Insights Strategy & Leadership: Support development and implementation of the Category Insights learning plan in alignment with Global Portfolio and Insights and Category networks. Drive the category Insights learning plan, comprising future consumer and shopper tensions and trends, application of behavioral science, consumer segment, cohort and culture understanding.
• Translate Consumer Understanding into Business Guidance: Act as the single point of accountability in the category for consumer insights, ensuring consistency in global frameworks while keeping them locally relevant to the EU OU. Dare to be the Insights (consumer) voice to each of our stakeholders focusing on Business questions, leveraging the value of the human narrative vs. just focusing on numbers and pure marketing research. Turn human motivations, barriers, and behaviors into actionable recommendations for marketing, commercial, and innovation teams. Influence decisions on portfolio strategy, execution priorities, media focus, and recruitment strategies through insight‑driven narratives.
• Bring Analytical Excellence and Next‑Gen Insight Capabilities: Support the definition and lead category marketing performance analytics to focus on enabling brand growth. Integrate multiple data sources—syndicated, shopper, bottler, first‑party digital, and proprietary research—to deliver coherent, holistic insights. Apply next‑gen insight capabilities leveraging AI/ML models, predictive analytics, behavioral science, and digital intelligence to translate signals into actionable business opportunities. Leverage digital ethnography, social listening, sentiment AI, and cultural intelligence to detect emerging behaviors and whitespace opportunities.
• Brand & Innovation Insights Activation: Provide insights leadership across key marketing processes: Lead innovation opportunity identification, concept development, product and packaging assessment, consumer co‑creation and New Product Launch Tracking. Develop insights for creative territories; support creative briefing, development, validation, and optimization. Ensure insights activation that influences senior marketing and commercial decision‑makers.
• Lead, Inspire, and Build Capability: Drive a culture of curiosity and learning across the system, acting as the clear, influential voice of the consumer and shopper to marketing and commercial leadership.
• Network & People Leadership: Contribute to the EU OU Category Insights Network and Global OU Human Insights network by sharing learnings, deploying best practices and sometimes leading charter learning plans. Manage, coach, and develop the Director and Senior Manager, Insights ensuring clarity of priorities, capability development and engagement. Drive winning culture with inspired, engaged, focused and empowered associates.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 10+ years of experience in Consumer & Shopper Insights, Market Research & Analytics, Category Management or related field; Marketing or Innovation experience preferred.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and drive decisions across complex, matrixed, and multi‑market organizations.
• Proven knowledge of key research tools and agile insight methodologies.
• Ability to design trend frameworks and facilitate workshops that convert insights into business solutions.
• Expertise in Brand Health Tracking, shopper/HHP data, and proprietary research platforms plus future‑back human insights, scenario planning, and understanding cultural and behavioral trends.
• Strong ability to translate complex research into clear business implications and strategic recommendations.
• Strong people leadership capabilities with a track record of building and inspiring diverse teams.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, including experience engaging C‑suite stakeholders.
• Ability to operate calmly and decisively in high‑pressure or ambiguous environments (e.g., contract negotiations, business reviews).
• Fact‑based, structured communication and strong influencing capabilities.

Benefits:

• Iconic & Innovative Brands: Work with a portfolio of 250+ global and local brands, continuously expanding through innovation.
• Expansive & Diverse Customers: Engage with a wide range of customers across multiple channels and moments.
• Critical Experiences: Operate within a global, cross‑functional network that drives transformational results.
• Growth Culture: Thrive in a learning‑driven, action‑oriented environment that empowers curiosity and human insight.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.