Brand Manager, Beverages

The Brand Manager, Beverages owns KFC's beverage business – tea, carbonated soft drinks, KWENCH, seasonal offerings, and future innovation. The role owns this Consumer Understanding Opportunity (CUO) from validated concept to market, with accountability for commercialization and performance, turning beverages into traffic, check, and engagement.

This role is critical to the Bird Comeback Plan because it owns concept-to-market for the beverage growth platform that enables KFC to become more Relevant, Visible, and Consistent with customers. It anchors Modern Menu and prices within Modern Value guardrails, and unlocks Partnerships – leveraging The Coca-Cola Company to fund and fuel category growth.

Reporting to the Sr Director, Retail Marketing, this leader develops and owns the annual beverage business plan – strategy, commercialization pipeline, promotional calendar, financial targets, and metrics – pricing within the guardrails Value & eComm sets, and leads cross-functional teams, franchisees, and Coca-Cola to deliver measurable results across the system.

Education / Certifications

- Undergraduate degree required (Marketing or Business preferred); MBA a plus.

Experience

- 6–9 years of progressive experience in brand, category, or product marketing.
- Proven record owning a category, business, or platform with demonstrated commercial results.
- Experience leading commercialization from validated concept through national launch.
- Experience owning a category, business, or portfolio and leading external supplier partnerships.
- QSR, restaurant, beverage, or CPG experience preferred.

Functional Capabilities

- Strong commercial acumen and financial literacy – P&L, pricing within guardrails, and category economics.
- Skilled at business case development, forecasting, and turning insight into growth.
- Excellent project management across multiple complex initiatives at speed.

Leadership Capabilities

- Leads through influence across cross-functional teams, agencies, and franchisees.
- Presents and defends recommendations to senior leaders and franchise governance.

Mindset

- Thinks and acts like an owner; balances creativity with commercial discipline.
- Consumer-first, data-informed, accountable, and thrives in ambiguity and speed.

Salary Range: $132,480 to $139,840 annually + bonus eligibility. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.