Location(s):
India
City/Cities:
Gurugram
Travel Required:
51% - 75%
Relocation Provided:
Yes
Job Posting End Date:
July 29, 2025
Shift:
No Time Tracking (India)
Job Description Summary:
Position Title: Senior Manager- QFS
Function: QSE- Quality and food Safety
Job Description Summary:
As a Senior Manager in Quality and Food Safety, the individual s primary focus is to ensure excellence in product quality, food safety, and regulatory compliance across the supply chain while driving governance, risk mitigation, and capability development within the Coca-Cola system. The role involves fostering a culture of quality and safety, engaging internal and external stakeholders to enhance QFS systems, and enabling efficient operations aligned with business goals.
The work focus includes operational oversight, strategic initiatives, system effectiveness, and continuous improvement in QFS practices across bottling plants, co-packers, and supplier ecosystems, ensuring consumer trust in Coca-Cola products is sustained.
Function-Related Work Priorities
Quality and Food Safety Governance
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Establish Governance Protocols : Define and implement QFS policies, standards, and procedures in alignment with global Coca-Cola guidelines to ensure product quality, compliance, and food safety across plants and suppliers. Develop governance systems tailored to the adoption of new technologies, such as water treatment, aseptic processing, and other emerging technologies, ensuring proper integration into the QFS framework.
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Inspection and Compliance Monitoring : Conduct comprehensive plant and co-packer assessments to validate QFS processes, adherence to standards (e.g., KORE, ISO 9001, FSSC 22000, HACCP, and ISO 14001), and regulatory compliance. Incorporate specific assessments for water quality, aseptic processes, and new technologies to ensure compliance with requirements and their flawless operation within the context of product safety and overall quality standards.
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Audit Management : Ensure Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPAs) are implemented following non-compliance issues during GAO, FSSAI or any 3rd Party assessment. Include specific audit protocols for specialized operations such as aseptic processing, water stewardship, and upcoming innovations to mitigate risks and ensure robust compliance mechanisms.
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Regulatory Engagement and Advocacy : Partner with Scientific and Regulatory Affairs (SRA) to interpret and influence local regulations (e.g., FSSAI, BIS, MOH) to ensure compliance and readiness for current and emerging requirements. Special focus should be placed on regulatory standards governing water quality, new technologies, and advanced production systems such as aseptic lines. Collaborate with regulatory teams to ensure that standards for water resources and filtration align with local and international guidelines.
2. Risk Management
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QFS Risk Assessments: Lead risk assessments for raw materials, production processes, new equipment, and storage systems to identify, mitigate, and manage QFS risks across the value chain.
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Crisis Management and Incident Resolution: Act as a key decision-maker during quality and food safety incidents, implementing root cause analysis (RCA), containment measures, and systemic corrections.
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Post-Market Surveillance/Monitoring: Support post-launch monitoring programs such as Product Integrity Programs (PIP), Trade Sampling, and marketplace inspections to identify and resolve issues related to product safety or quality deviations.
3. Process Excellence and Continuous Improvement
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Operational Efficiency: Collaborate with bottlers and corporate teams to identify and rectify inefficiencies in QFS systems, driving process standardization to ensure optimal operational performance.
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Data-Driven Decisions: Analyze real-time data and insights from quality metrics and reports (e.g., sensory, shelf-life, microbiological analysis) to identify trends, troubleshoot issues, and recommend strategies.
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Innovating QFS Practices: Explore and implement automation tools, digital platforms, and cutting-edge quality technologies (e.g., Quality 4.0) to drive compliance and operational resilience.
4. Product and Packaging Compliance
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Shelf-Life and Stability Studies: Coordinate product and packaging stability tests, ensuring products meet shelf-life specifications under diverse market conditions.
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Labelling and Specifications Compliance: Work with integration tools (e.g., KO-Art for label approvals) to verify local regulatory compliance for labelling, storage instructions, and traceability requirements.
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Ingredients, Materials, and Cleaning Protocols: Maintain updated specifications for new and existing raw materials, packaging materials, and Cleaning-In-Place (CIP) protocols for extended compliance.
5. Consumer Complaints and Issue Resolution
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Consumer Feedback Handling: Analyze all QFS-related complaints, identify trends, and collaborate with bottling teams to implement corrective actions.
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Root Cause Investigation: Lead cross-functional teams in investigating product-related complaints, developing preventive measures, and communicating findings with technical rationales to stakeholders.
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Systemic Improvements: Use feedback and data from complaints to drive quality improvement projects for products, packaging, and processes.
6. Capability Building and Training
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Capability Development: Establish programs to train bottling plant teams, co-packers, and suppliers in key areas such as HACCP, problem-solving tools (RCA, FMEA), microbiology, and new quality technologies.
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Standardized Training Programs: Develop structured training templates and deliver regulatory- and industry-specific training, ensuring alignment with Coca-Cola s global QSE priorities.
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Building QFS Culture: Foster a performance-driven culture by engaging plant leadership and associates on QFS fundamentals, ensuring quality and safety become integral parts of the production mindset.
7. Co-Packer Governance: Implement fit-for-purpose QFS standards for co-packers to ensure product quality and compliance. Manage the authorization process for co-pack lines, plants, and ingredients.
8. Strategic Partner Collaboration: Work with global and regional QFS teams to develop bottler capabilities, especially around analytical testing, stability studies, and new technologies.
9. Stakeholder Collaboration
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Internal Stakeholders: Collaborate with Brand, Product Commercialization, Packaging, Supply Chain, Technical Operations, and other functions to align QFS initiatives with broader business goals.
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External Stakeholders: Build alliances with regulators, industry associations, NGOs, and external quality forums to ensure Coca-Cola s leadership in quality, safety, and environment best practices.
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Cross-Functional Issue Resolution: Partner cross-functionally to address cross-domain QFS challenges (e.g., sourcing, logistics, customer complaints related to quality issues).
Key Metrics for Success:
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Achievement of Zero Quality Incidents (Zero Defect initiative).
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Reduced consumer complaints year-over-year (with Root Cause closure rates >90%).
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Successful audit performance (Internal/GAO/Third Party) with minimal corrective actions.
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Increased operational efficiency through QSE process optimization and innovation.
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Compliance with global and local QFS and regulatory requirements.
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Capability enhancement through training across the system.
Summary:
This position centres on driving a culture of excellence in Quality and Food Safety by focusing on quality assurance, risk management, incident resolution, capability upgrades, and system-wide governance. The Senior Manager will serve as a critical enabler in ensuring that Coca-Cola s products consistently meet consumer expectations, regulatory requirements, and the companys safety and sustainability priorities.
Skills:
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.
