Director, Brand & Platform Innovation – The McDonald’s Division (TMD), North America

Summary: The Director, Brand & Platform Innovation will lead the beverage innovation agenda for The McDonald’s Division across the United Stated and Canada. This leader is responsible for identifying, developing, and advancing innovation opportunities that drive near- and long-term growth for both McDonald’s and The Coca-Cola Company. This role will partner closely with insights and brand teams to translate strategic opportunities and consumer needs into beverage concepts, platforms, products, equipment-enabled solutions, and experiences to strengthen the overall beverage category. Serving as TMD's innovation subject matter expert, this role will partner closely with McDonald's Beverage, Menu, and Culinary teams, as well as TMD and Coca-Cola Marketing, R&D, Supply Chain, Finance, Commercial, and Business Development partners to shape innovation strategies, build and steward innovation pipelines, and bring new beverage platforms, products, and experiences to market. Success requires strong cross-functional leadership to align stakeholders, navigate commercialization requirements, and ensure innovations deliver sustainable growth for both McDonald's and The Coca-Cola Company, capturing evolving consumer trends. The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking, curiosity, creativity, strong commercial acumen, and an ability to influence across fast-paced and complex stakeholder environments. Additionally, the candidate should have a passion for product development, thrive with cross-functional leadership, and be familiar with custom research and product research methodologies.   What You’ll Do   Lead North America Beverage Innovation Strategy •    Lead development of TMD North America's beverage and equipment innovation agenda, partnering closely with Global TMD Innovation to share learnings and identify opportunities for scale. •    Work closely within the Strategy & Insights team to identify emerging growth opportunities through consumer, category, cultural, beverage, and marketplace trends. •    Translate strategic business opportunities into innovation platforms and product concepts; support sizing and prioritization of growth initiatives. Own Innovation Pipeline Development •    Collaborate with McDonald's Menu & Culinary team to shape innovation priorities, inform future roadmaps, and identify emerging opportunity spaces for growth. •    Develop and steward a robust pipeline of product, flavor, menu, beverage platform, and equipment-enabled innovation ideas. •    Identify opportunities to leverage equipment, technology, and operational capabilities to unlock new beverage experiences and support long-term category growth. •    Collaborate with R&D, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Commercial teams to ensure successful development and execution of innovation initiatives from concept through commercialization and successful marketplace execution. Build Innovation Insights & Learning •    Lead and influence custom innovation and product research programs in partnership with internal experts and external agencies. •    Serve as steward of beverage trends, flavor trends, competitive activity, and emerging consumer behaviors. •    Integrate syndicated data, custom research, trend services, marketplace observations, and consumer, customer, category, and competitive insights to identify innovation opportunities and recommendations. •    Partner with Coca-Cola Marketing, Innovation, and Foodservice teams to leverage best practices and identify ways to accelerate growth through innovation. Lead Customer Innovation Partnership •    Serve as the primary innovation partner to McDonald’s Menu & Culinary team in the US and Canada •    Manage multimillion dollar innovation budget in collaboration and partnership with McDonald’s Menu team. •    Build deep understanding of McDonald’s innovation priorities, processes, and business