Senior Director, PACS, SAF

Senior Director, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability (PACS)

Location: South Africa

Function: PACS (Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability)

Scope: Single Country (South Africa, Africa OU)

Role Purpose

The Senior Director, PACS leads the country strategy across

Public Affairs, Communications, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Engagement to protect and elevate the company’s license to win, build reputation, and enable long-term business growth.

This role acts as a strategic advisor to senior leadership as a powerful catalyst for growth, shaping policy outcomes, driving integrated communications, and leading sustainability and social impact programs aligned with business and societal priorities.

Key Responsibilities

• Government Affairs & Policy Advocacy
• Develop and execute public policy strategies aligned with business priorities
• Lead engagement with government entities, regulators, and industry bodies
• Influence regulatory outcomes in areas such as taxation, circular economy (EPR), water, and trade
• Build coalitions and partnerships to support advocacy efforts
• Integrated Communications & Reputation Management
• Lead internal, external, and executive communications strategies
• Oversee media relations, brand PR, and digital communications
• Shape executive positioning and visibility platforms
• Track and drive reputation drivers & metrics (e.g., media sentiment, trust index)
• Crisis & Issues Management (IMCR)
• Chair country IMCR and lead crisis preparedness and response
• Drive scenario planning, crisis simulations, and response protocols
• Ensure fast, compliant communication during crises
• Safeguard business continuity and reputation
• Sustainability & Social Impact
• Lead sustainability strategy across water, circular economy, climate and community programs
• Align country priorities with Operating Unit and global sustainability goals
• Drive system collaboration with bottlers and external partners
• Oversee sustainability reporting and transparency
• Stakeholder & Coalition Management
• Build and maintain relationships with government, NGOs, communities, media, and industry stakeholders
• Map and prioritize key stakeholders to drive influence and trust
• Lead partnerships that deliver shared value outcomes

Strategic Impact

• Plays a critical role in shaping country and OU strategy, particularly on policy, reputation, and sustainability agendas
• Directly impacts business continuity, regulatory environment, and growth potential
• Decisions can have immediate (crisis) to long-term (policy and sustainability) business implications

Key Challenges & Complexity

• Operating in a highly regulated and dynamic socio-political environment
• Managing multi-stakeholder expectations with competing priorities
• Leading cross-system collaboration (TCCC, bottler, and external partners)
• Navigating reputational risks and high media scrutiny

Leadership & Team

• Leads a team of senior professionals across public affairs, communications and sustainability
• Provides indirect leadership to agencies and cross-functional teams
• Acts as a leader of leaders, building capability and driving high performance

Qualifications & Experience

• 12–15+ years of relevant experience
• Proven leadership in:
• Government affairs and public policy
• Corporate communications and media relations
• Crisis and issues management
• Sustainability strategy
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing capabilities
• Technology including AI, and data-driven foresight capabilities
• Experience operating in complex, highly regulated environments

Capabilities

• Government affairs & policy advocacy
• Strategic communications (internal & external)
• Crisis & issues management
• Technology including AI and digitization
• Sustainability strategy
• Stakeholder & reputation management
• Digital communications and social listening
• Public policy analysis
• Social impact program design
• People leadership, executive coaching and spokesperson development
• Change management

Location(s)

South Africa

City/Cities

Johannesburg

Travel Required

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided

No

Job Posting End Date

June 16, 2026

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.

Annual Incentive Reference Value Percentage:30

Annual Incentive reference value is a market-based competitive value for your role. It falls in the middle of the range for your role, indicating performance at target.