Associate Principal R&D Flavor Scientist

As the Pet Segment continues to expand in General Mills, Our R&D team is looking for a highly motivated and experienced professional to join our technical and innovative pet palatability team working on the Blue Buffalo Brand. The Pet Palatability team is responsible for bringing new product innovation to enhance pet enjoyment in our premium product portfolios. In this role, you will be responsible for developing new palatable ingredients and product design solutions, conducting research studies, as well as managing internal and external partnership in areas of dog and cat palatability research.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Identify & Develop Palatable Ingredient Solution:

• Lead palatability solution strategy development in Blue Buffalo products.
• Identify and evaluate new palatability technologies that enhance current product palatability performance and/or create best in class palatable solutions in new products while ensuring to meet the company's high standard food safety and regulatory requirements.
• Drive strategic internal and external partnership management on palatable ingredient solution development.
• Holistically evaluate palatability from pet and pet parent perspective.
• Conduct research and document all the learnings in a scientific manner.

Manage Palatability Solution Knowledge:

• Document all the palatability knowledge in our central system.
• Drive palatability knowledge stewardship to support internal R&D team.
• Keep up to date with industry trends by networking with the technical community and attending meetings/conventions.

Support Product Commercialization:

• Communicate palatability solutions to key stakeholders and realize solutions to be adopted in the market.
• Oversee in-development product palatability results and drive problem solving where palatability challenges are realized.
• Provide technical learning plans to support excellence in execution of product commercialization.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD in Flavor Science, Flavor Chemistry, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in palatability studies and flavor development in the pet food industry.
• Understand dog and cat palatability.
• Hands on experience in working with external partners and strategic communication management.
• Strong understanding of research study design, predictive modeling, and data driven making decision.
• Ability to translate complex data into clear and actionable insights for non-technical audiences.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail and a commitment to accuracy.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong understanding of consumer research to holistically develop a palatable product design.
• Familiar with statistical analysis to independently develop DoEs and analyze data.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

• General Mills cannot provide international relocation support for this role.
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. General Mills will not sponsor applicants for a U.S. work visa.
• Preference is for this person to work in Minneapolis, MN at our World Headquarters.

We exist to make food the world loves. But we do more than that. Our company is a place that prioritizes being a force for good, a place to expand learning, explore new perspectives and reimagine new possibilities, every day. We look for people who want to bring their best - bold thinkers with big hearts who challenge one other and grow together. Because becoming the undisputed leader in food means surrounding ourselves with people who are hungry for what's next.