Senior Director, Legal Counsel - Human Rights

Location(s):

United States of America

City/Cities:

Atlanta

Travel Required:

26% - 50%

Relocation Provided:

Job Posting End Date:

April 18, 2025

Shift:

Job Description Summary:

The Senior Legal Counsel, Human Rights will report directly to the Associate General Counsel, Global Strategic Partnerships, and will lead the Company’s Global Human Rights Compliance Strategy and related Human Rights programs. The successful candidate will be an experienced lawyer, a Global Human Rights regulatory subject matter expert, and will have executive presence, the ability to influence, and will provide dynamic advocacy, within our system and with external stakeholders, to ensure alignment with the Company’s Human Rights Compliance Strategy and to protect our license to operate.  They will also work cross functionally across our legal networks, as well as with Global Procurement, Technical Innovation & Supply Chain, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, and our Operating Units and System Bottlers to identify, evaluate, mitigate, remediate and report, as appropriate, human rights risks in our supply chain.  The role also engages in multi-stakeholder forums and drives industry collaboration.  

Responsibilities include:

Legal Compliance:

• Maintain an ongoing and deep level understanding of all relevant laws and regulations including any and all Transparency laws (ex. California Transparency in Supply Act and the UK Modern Slavery Act); Due Diligence laws (ex. The EU’s CSDDD); Trade Restrictions (ex. Forced Labor regulations in Mexico, the EU and Canada); and other relevant forms of liability (ex. TVPRA and SEC material disclosure standards).
• Collaborate with colleagues in the Global Legal Function and particularly, operating unit lawyers, and provide leadership and trainings to same to increase awareness of relevant Human Rights Laws and Regulations, and to support their local compliance efforts.
• Establish routines with sourcing colleagues in Technical & Supply Chain, and Global Procurement, to ensure inclusion of the latest standards regarding Human Rights Compliance in our contracts, including ongoing transparency, access to data and other information, and continuing audit rights.
• Participate as a regulatory SME in supply negotiations.
• Provide ongoing advice and guidance to legal colleagues supporting our manufacturing plants and warehouses. 
• Support the Human Rights Team’s reporting obligations to internal and external stakeholders including the Operating Unit Presidents, Executive Leadership Team and any report outs to the Board of Directors.
• Support the Human Rights Team’s reporting obligations to regulatory agencies around the world.

Due Diligence:

• Support our internal and cross-functional Global Human Rights Committee and establish relationships across the Network (Global Procurement, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Technical Innovation & Supply Chain, Legal and Human Resources).  Establish routines and processes to raise issues for review and approval by the Committee.  
• Continuously monitor Global Human Rights risks and trends, and maintain a dashboard that organizes risk, mitigations, remediations, and reporting.  Conduct ongoing evaluation of tools to support this responsibility. 
• Work with Global Procurement to ensure that the Supplier Guiding Principles are up to date and embedded appropriately in our supply agreements, including routine industry benchmarking as well as working with Global Procurement and our ingredient suppliers to develop and implement programs mitigating human rights risks beyond the Tier 1 level.
• Support the development and assist in updating audit program materials to ensure global consistency and rigor for audit firms, suppliers, bottlers and relevant The Coca-Cola Company’s functions. Program materials include audit protocol materials, audit toolkits, program guidance, FAQs and documentation for KORE, The Coca-Cola Company’s Operating Requirements.
• Support the development of materials to build bottler and supplier capabilities to cascade respect for human rights through their operations and supply chain. Provide support, subject matter expertise and governance on topics related to human rights for global procurement functions and our networked procurement program (the Cross Enterprise Procurement Group or “CEPG”), which include The Coca-Cola Company’s functions and bottling partners.
• Work collaboratively with Operating Unit counsel to manage global customer agreements related to human rights and respond to global customer inquiries, including global stewardship reporting with large customers. Review and approve contract language as needed.
• Support global relationships with audit firms and the development of training for audit firm account leads (the train-the-trainer approach).
• Support The Coca-Cola Company’s relationship with APSCA (Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors) to promote auditor quality and consistency.
• Work cross-functionally with Procurement, Technical and Global Audit Organization (GAO) to coordinate on audit approach, results and reporting.
• Support internal and external communications related to supplier programs.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Help identify the key external stakeholders, including industry peers, civil society, international organizations, and government agencies, to establish relationships with same, and support the implementation of the Global Human Rights stakeholder engagement strategy.
• Represent The Coca-Cola Company’s in industry associations and multi-stakeholder initiatives such as AIM-PROGRESS and relevant Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) workstreams. Assume leadership role to drive collective industry efforts and facilitate and coordinate involvement in industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives. Represent Company on panels and at forums, when relevant.
• Liaise with global public affairs and legal teams to track and provide input into global regulatory trends and address priority issues.
• Work closely with the Senior Vice President, Global Policy & Sustainability to provide leadership and advocacy on behalf of the Company, our bottlers and extended supply chain, raising awareness regarding the Company’s Human Rights program and defending our license to operate. 

This is a senior role within The Coca-Cola Company’s Legal function and the Global Strategic Partnerships team.  The successful candidate will be expected to participate in cross-functional teams and establish and maintain positive, collaborative working relationships with other legal specialists (Ethics & Compliance, the Corporate Secretary’s Office, Litigation & Regulatory, Marketing and our Operating Unit Counsels) and corporate functions such as Finance, Global Procurement, Public Affairs, Technical Innovation & Supply Chain, Corporate Audit and within the Global Supply Chain Network.  They also will be required to efficiently support matters on an individual basis while participating on a global team, so the ability to balance multiple urgent competing priorities, often in a compressed timeline, prioritize effectively, and instill confidence in senior level stakeholders will be paramount to the successful execution of this role.    

ROLE LOCATION:    

Atlanta, Georgia

What You’ll Do for Us 

• Lead and coordinate all legal matters for the Company’s global human rights compliance strategy, support The Coca-Cola Company Human Rights Governance structure, and provide leadership to The Coca-Cola Company Global Human Rights Committee;
• Collaborate with the Senior Legal Counsel, Head of Strategic & Digital Partnerships to provide advice and guidance to the Operating Committee of CEPG regarding legal compliance with global regulations in our supply agreements.
• Participate on the Global Supply Chain Network to share updates on the Human Rights Strategy with internal stakeholders; 
• Develop and deliver key business objectives and execute the Human Rights strategy while establishing strong relationships across Global Procurement, Technical Innovation & Supply Chain, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Legal and Human Resources. 
• Serve on the Global Strategic Partnerships leadership team and demonstrate a collaborative spirit and a ‘can do’ attitude with a demonstrated willingness to support projects and strategic initiatives in other categories as needed; 
• Develop and scale efficiencies and new ways of working across multiple projects and environments; 
• Manage, in partnership with the Associate General Counsel, to continuously assess the talent on the Human Rights team and ensure the right structure and consistent alignment with the Global Human Rights strategy.   
• Build a brand of excellence by positively teaming and actively collaborating with other attorneys in the Global Legal Function and business colleagues across the system;
• Demonstrate executive presence, a high degree of responsiveness, and an inclusive and communicative leadership style; 

  

Qualifications & Requirements 

• Bachelor’s Degree; 
• Juris Doctorate Degree; 
• Licensed to practice law and in good standing; 
• 15+ years of experience providing regulatory legal advice and guidance, related to Human Rights, in a global organization.
• Ability to analyze and articulate complex issues for a non-legal audience, and provide business-practical legal advice where possible;
• Ability to manage and pivot among multiple urgent projects and priorities;
• Executive presence and excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Strong business acumen and demonstrated global mindset;

• Excellent management and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to build positive relationships instilling confidence in senior stakeholders and drive consensus among multiple functions;
• Ability to work independently to drive key initiatives;

• Ability to anticipate risks and find creative and practical solutions to complex problems;
• Thrives and reinforces our leadership behaviors by developing and leading a team;
• Willingness to travel up to 35% of the time. 

Skills:

Compliance, Global Support, Human Rights, International Human Rights, Legal Practices

Pay Range:

$236,000 - $271,000

Base pay offered may vary depending on geography, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position, is offered.

Annual Incentive Reference Value Percentage:

50

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.

Long-term Incentive Reference Value Percentage:

20

Long-term Incentive reference value is a market-based competitive value for your role.

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.

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. When we collect your personal information as part of a job application or offer of employment, we do so in accordance with industry standards and best practices and in compliance with applicable privacy laws.