Senior Director, Host Market Strategy & Partnerships - FIFA World Cup 2026

Primary Location: Atlanta, GA preferred (Atlanta Office Complex)

Secondary Locations: The 16 host cities - Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, Kansas City, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey

The Senior Director, Host Market Strategy & Partnerships - FIFA World Cup 2026 will lead the Host Market related activities for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage for the Coca-Cola system. This role will coordinate Coca-Cola’s plans, processes, and execution initiatives across host and selected non-host cities to maximize the return on investment generated by the North America Operating Unit (NAOU) and the Latin America Operating Unit (LATAM OU) for the largest sporting event in the world, to be held across 16 cities and 3 markets – USA, Canada and Mexico.

The Senior Director, Host Market Strategy & Partnerships will also lead the execution plans related to FIFA contractual obligations, approvals, and external partnership opportunities to support the FIFA GM in delivery of the overall event. The successful candidate should have experience with management of external stakeholders, execution of contractual obligations, management of approval processes, and have a strong understanding of soccer programs and working with The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) assets.

What You’ll Do For Us

Host City Coordination

• Primary liaison to all external stakeholders related to FIFA World Cup 2026 event execution; manage stakeholder engagement including issue resolution.
• Develop and implement an account management process for external constituents (FIFA, other local, federations, etc.) integrating all relevant internal cross-functional associates and groups.
• Negotiate, and execute relationships with other FIFA Commercial Affiliates with regards to 2026 host countries matters such as adidas, Visa, Hyundai/Kia, Booking.com, Unilever, etc.
• Lead the 2026 FIFA World Cup Project Team relationships with Host Cities, Public viewing locations, Stadiums (non-operational elements), Football Federations, and other key constituents
• Act as the main contact for other external opportunities and develop, negotiate, and execute fitting opportunities, such as food festivals, music festivals, trade shows, etc.
  
  

Events/Internal Engagement

• Lead the execution of Internal Engagement events, e.g. Mascot Launch, 500 days out, 100 days out, etc.
• Help determine opportunities with influencers for system, motivational speeches, team building, guest management, etc.
• Main point of contact for archives, licensing, etc.
  
  

Digital

• Coordinate Digital and Social efforts around the FIFA World Cup 26
• Liaise between Global and the OU’s and provide guidance on needs and local execution
• Align project Legacies on Digital with Company’s Digital Big Bets
• Develop and implement an Influencer Program for the FIFA World Cup 26
  
  

Approvals & accreditation management

• Oversee all TCCC’s approvals for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Host Countries.
• Manage of Customer approvals for customized programs
• Act as the 2026 FIFA World Cup Project Team Lead for any potential IMCR cases.
  
  

Qualifications & Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required or equivalent experience. Post-grad degree preferred
• 10+ years’ Marketing/Commercial experience within Coca-Cola or a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) organization; event marketing/management experience a plus
• Experience with marketing partnerships, customer marketing, business analytics
• Demonstrated knowledge of operational and technical aspects of TCCC and bottlers’ business including distribution center knowledge
• Strong organizational skills, ability to coordinate inputs, requirements, and demands of numerous constituencies and stakeholders
• Strong communication skills at all levels of organizations, internally and externally, and spanning multiple markets
• Understanding of strategic marketing (i.e. brand strategies and activation/utilization concepts) and the discipline of business planning
• Must possess excellent relationship building skills, as well as strategic leadership abilities, to influence stakeholders
• P&L management skills
• Event experience preferred
  
  

What We Can Do For You

• Iconic Brands: Work with the TCCC’s most recognized brands and to be part of developing the brands’ growth opportunity.
• Large Business Opportunity: A unique experience to drive impact for the largest TCCC’s markets with the largest sporting event in the world
• Exposure to World Class Leaders: Exposure to senior cross-functional leaders across 3 markets, and TCCC’s EPICS team, that will expand your network and skillset
• Learning Culture: Access to vast resources/learnings from previous large-scale events, and on the ground, start-up, “make it happen” team experience