Sr Scientist - Blue Buffalo Dry - Golden Valley, MN

OVERVIEW

As the Pet segment continues to expand, we are taking the opportunity to augment our team to help deliver against short- and long-term plans in this critical category for General Mills.

The Senior R&D Scientist will lead a variety of initiatives across dry pet food, including the ideation, development, and execution of Blue Buffalo innovation, core renovation, and HMM (holistic margin management, cost savings) projects. The role relies heavily on strong partnerships within Pet R&D, Quality, Supply Chain, Marketing, and other cross-functional colleagues. It includes leveraging strong technical skills, critical problem-solving skills, and the ability to challenge assumptions.

An ideal candidate is someone who strives for technical rigor in product development and formulation, is willing to build internal and external connections to successfully execute projects, has passion to strategically influence the business and lead in a cross functional team environment, and excitement to work on pet food.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Provide product development leadership on innovation, core product renovation, and HMM projects to meet consumer and business needs within manufacturing considerations
• Develop robust technical plans, collaborate with peers to strengthen approach, and build a pipeline of activities to deliver exciting new or renovated products in support of strategic business priorities
• Forge successful cross-functional partnerships to commercialize projects with efficiency and excellence
• Champion food safety, pet safety, pet parent insights, and product quality from product design through production
• Manage multiple complex projects from concept through launch and flex prioritization based on business needs
• Drive projects forward amidst complexity
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of pet food product development, formulation, and comfort level during execution of pilot plant trials and manufacturing

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in food, animal, or meat science, food engineering, or related field with 5+ years product development/processing and commercialization experience OR Ph.D. in food, animal, or meat science, food engineering, or related field with 3+ years product development/processing and commercialization experience
• Demonstrated strong leadership skills with agility to adapt quickly to changes in project scope
• Effective communication skills and ability to collaborate in cross-functional and external environments
• Self-starter with high bias for action, learning mindset, and passion to challenge assumptions

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in food, animal, or meat science, food engineering, or related field with 5+ years product development/processing and commercialization space
• Pet food development/processing and commercialization experience in pet industry or similar experience from an adjacent pet industry (e.g., ingredient supplier, processing equipment supplier)
• Excellent interpersonal and executional skills, particularly when working with cross-functional and external supply chain partners

Additional Considerations

• International relocation or international remote working arrangements (outside of the US) will not be considered
• Applicants for this position must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. General Mills will not sponsor applicants for this position for work visas
• This role is located in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Remote working arrangements will not be considered.

Salary Range

The salary range for this position is $91900.00 - $138000.00 / Annually. At General Mills we strive for each employee's pay at any point in their career to reflect their experiences performance and skills for their current role. The salary range for this role represents the numerous factors considered in the hiring decisions including, but not limited to, educations, skills, work experience, certifications, etc. As such, pay for the successful candidate(s) could fall anywhere within the stated range. Beyond base salary, General Mills offers a competitive Total Rewards package focusing on your overall well-being. We are proud to offer a foundation of health benefits, retirement and financial wellbeing, time off programs, wellbeing support and perks. Benefits may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors. You may also be eligible to participate in an annual incentive program. An incentive award, if any, depends on various factors, including, individual and organizational performance.