Senior leadership appointments at Coca-Cola

Senior leadership appointments at Coca-Cola

Robert Long

The Coca-Cola Company has announced a number of senior leadership appointments. Key changes, which will be effective when President and COO James Quincey becomes Chief Executive Officer on May 1, include:

  • Combining Global Marketing, Customer and Commercial Leadership, and Strategy into one combined function under the leadership of a new Chief Growth Officer to drive growth across five strategic beverage categories.
  • Appointing a Chief Innovation Officer to elevate Global Research & Development into a standalone innovation function reporting directly to the CEO. This represents the increased importance of innovation to the company’s growth plans.
  • Positioning the Information Technology function as a direct report to the CEO given the importance of digitization as a growth enabler for the company’s business.
  • Combining key global transactional and expertise services into an expanded and reconstituted Integrated Services organization that will primarily focus on financial, procurement and associate shared services.

The organisational announcement “is another building block in our company’s transformational journey,” Quincey said. “We are moving quickly to structure our organization for faster growth and to ensure we can respond to the fast-changing needs of our consumers, customers, system and associates around the world. Each of the leaders named is highly capable and understands our clear mandate for change, and I look forward to partnering with them as we transform our business for the future.”

The changes support work already under way to create a leaner, more agile corporate organization that is focused on strategy, governance and vital strategic initiatives, such as innovation and portfolio growth through leading brands and categories. They also follow changes made by Quincey to the company’s international operations leadership team last year.

Francisco Crespo

Leaders assuming new or expanded responsibility in the organization and reporting directly to Quincey, effective May 1, include Francisco Crespo, who currently serves as President of the Mexico business unit. He will fill the newly created role of Chief Growth Officer. A 28-year company veteran, Crespo will lead the company’s global marketing, corporate strategy, and customer and commercial leadership teams to create a consolidated team with a clear mandate for driving global growth. This role will lead the evolving category cluster model focused around five beverage categories: sparkling, juice/dairy/plant-based, tea and coffee, water and enhanced waters and energy.

Julie Hamilton, Chief Customer and Commercial Leadership Officer, and the Corporate Strategy and Planning and Global Marketing leadership teams will report to the Chief Growth Officer.

Robert Long, currently Vice President, Research and Development, will become a direct report to the CEO as Chief Innovation Officer.

Barry Simpson, currently Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, will remain in his role but be elevated as a direct report to the CEO to increase visibility and focus on efforts to digitize all aspects of the company’s business. Barry became CIO last fall and oversees all of the company’s global information technology strategy, services and operations.

Kathy Waller

Kathy Waller, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will assume expanded responsibility for the company’s strategic governance areas as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and President, Enabling Services.

In addition to the Global Finance organization, the Global Technical team led by Dr. Ed Hays, a newly created Integrated Services team, which will be led by Robin Moore, and a new Business Transformation team to be led by Mark Eppert will report to Waller. The Integrated Services team will focus on financial, procurement and associate shared services while the Business Transformation team will be responsible for driving the changes needed to implement the company’s new operating model, including productivity and zero-based work.

Retirements

Marcos de Quinto, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, will retire after a nearly 35-year Coca-Cola career.

Ceree Eberly, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer, will retire after a 27-year Coca-Cola career.

Clyde Tuggle, Senior Vice President and Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer, will retire after a 28-year Coca-Cola career.

Did you know?

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands and nearly 3,900 beverage choices. The company’s portfolio features 21 billion-dollar brands, 19 of which are available in reduced-, low- or no-calorie options. The billion-dollar brands include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Dasani, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Del Valle, Georgia and Gold Peak.

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