Job Description

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) presents an exciting opportunity for a Trade Quality Specialist, to join the KZN & Eastern Cape team at CCBA.The role will report to the Trade Quality Lead.
CCBA is the 8th largest Coca-Cola authorised bottler in the world by revenue, and the largest on the continent. It accounts for over 40% of all Coca-Cola ready-to-drink beverages sold in Africa by volume. With over 14 000 employees in Africa, CCBA group services more than 800 000 customers with a host of international and local brands. CCBA group operates in 14 countries: South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi and the islands of Comoros and Mayotte.
Functional Capabilitie

• End-to-End Quality Management
• Trade Quality Surveillance
• Market Incident Management
• Consumer & Customer Complaint Handling Oversight
• Commercial and Supply Chain Collaboration
• QSE Risk Identification & Mitigation
• Regulatory & Brand Standard Compliance
• Data Analysis, Insights & Reporting
• Stakeholder Engagement & Governance
• Quality Communication & Issue Escalation

Key Duties & Responsibilities
Key Outcomes
National Trade Quality Leadership

• Lead the execution and improvement of CCBSA's Trade Quality Strategy across South Africa.
• Collaborate with plant quality teams, logistics, and commercial functions to ensure product quality is protected across distribution and trade environments.
• Monitor post-dispatch product performance, including storage, handling, shelf conditions, and returns.

Market Surveillance & Product Compliance

• Oversee periodic market surveys, quality audits, and trade visits to assess in-market product conditions.
• Analyze trade quality data and trends to identify systemic issues, risks, and areas for improvement.
• Ensure corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) are implemented by relevant teams.

Consumer and Customer Complaint Governance

• Provide oversight to the Consumer Care and Trade Complaint management process.
• Support resolution of escalated consumer issues and ensure timely response and closure.
• Lead root cause analysis and follow-up actions for critical and high-risk complaints.

Commercial & Regulatory Interface

• Serve as the primary quality liaison with commercial teams, customer representatives, and external partners.
• Provide input to product launch readiness assessments, packaging changes, and promotional activities to ensure product integrity.
• Ensure compliance with local regulatory and Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) standards for trade and consumer product quality.

Incident & Crisis Management

• Lead trade quality incident investigations and participate in national incident and crisis response teams.
• Coordinate response plans, communication strategies, and risk mitigation measures for product quality concerns in the trade.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Manage and mentor the Trade Quality Specialist and Consumer Care functions.
• Lead cross-functional reviews and present trade quality performance to senior management and bottling partners.
• Influence a culture of quality excellence across commercial, logistics, and plant teams.

KBI

• Consumer Complaint Response & Closure Time
• Repeat Complaint Ratio
• % Product Compliance in Market Audits
• In-Market Product Quality Incident Rate
• Corrective Action Closure Effectiveness
• Shelf-Life and Storage Compliance Score
• Trade Quality Non-Conformance Trend

Skills, Experience & Education
Education

• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Microbiology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Advanced certifications in Quality Management (e.g., ISO 9001 Lead Auditor, FSSC 22000, Six Sigma) are an added advantage.

Experience

• 8-10 years in Quality Assurance, Quality Control, or Trade Quality roles within FMCG (preferably beverage production and bottling).
• At least 5 years in a supervisory or leadership position.
• Hands-on experience in market quality surveillance and managing customer complaints.

Skills

• In-depth knowledge of food and beverage quality systems, ISO, HACCP, and local regulatory requirements
• Strong analytical, risk assessment, and problem-solving skills
• Data visualization and reporting
• Effective stakeholder communication, negotiation, and cross-functional collaboration
• Crisis management and root cause analysis capability
• Familiarity with CRM, and quality management systems

General
The advert has minimum requirements listed. Management reserves the right to use additional or relevant information as criteria for short-listing.
Interested applicants, who meet the above employee specifications, should please apply. Suitable equity candidates will be given preference in line with our Equity Plan.
Policy
At Coca-Cola Beverages Africa we are proud to celebrate diversity and we strive to achieve an equal opportunity workplace by being cognisant of affirmative action requirements. It is our policy to be mindful and compliant with all our regional requirements and national laws for those regions. Employment at Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is based solely on an individual's merit and qualifications directly related to their field of competence. We do not discriminate against an employee or potential employees because race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability and gender identity.
At the heart of our recruitment processes is the need to create a value driven experience for all applicants. To all recruitment agencies: Coca-Cola Beverages Africa does not accept agency resumes for roles that we post and make available. Please do not forward any resumes to any Coca-Cola Beverages Africa employees and Talent Teams as we are not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

Skills Required