Great things are happening in the Europe and Australia (EUAU) region. Each day, our 2,500 plus colleagues bring their passion to our offices, manufacturing sites, R&D center, and commercial/distributor markets across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. We are energized by over 150 years of bringing people together with the food they love. With beloved brands Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Jus-Rol, Fibre One,  Latina Fresh and more, we are on a mission to become the undisputed growth leader in food for EUAU.  In a world that’s ever-changing, we look to stay ahead and seek people who share our love of food and are hungry to shape the future. 

What your role is

The ITQ Senior R&D Manager Snacks EUAU will

• have Europe and Australian business segment accountability for the Nature Valley, Fibre One and other snacks offerings and the R&D team that supports this area
• report to the ITQ Director, EUAU and will be a member of the Snacks Brand Development Leadership Team.  
• lead a European back team of 16 that includes 11 direct reports.
• provide R&D leadership in the areas of innovation, core renovation, and holistic margin management (HMM) and serve as the business interface to your cross-functional colleagues
• partner with global technical leaders to advance projects, technical strategies, people development, and organizational initiatives
• be an active member of the EUAU ITQ leadership team and will have additional opportunities for growth and leadership within the International business

Key Responsibilities:

• Guide team to executional excellence on business and technical initiatives.
• Build and advance consumer-first Innovation, HMM, and renovation pipelines for EUAU Snacks through partnership with the global Snacks R&D team, key cross-functional partners, and external partners
• Provide strategic leadership to develop, advance, and implement health and nutrition and packaging sustainability road maps
• Identify and develop internal and external capabilities to support innovation, experimentation, and other priority initiatives
• Provide leadership to further develop our Snacks R&D teams including focus on advancing capabilities and business impact; talent development, building community; and increasing organizational agility. 
• Support capacity expansion initiatives
• Leverage internal and external networks to connect team members to help solve problems
• Provide coaching guidance and performance management to direct reports
• Connect with key cross functional partners to align on business strategies & direction; and create solutions to deliver against these strategies.
• Allocate resources according to priorities, people skills and development goals
• Function as the ITQ interface to the EUAU Snacks business
• Partner with global technology leaders on global technical initiatives
• Partner with global ITQ leaders on organizational initiatives

What you will bring to the team

Required Skills/Experience:

• B.S. or M.S. degree in Food Science, Engineering, or related field
• 7+ years of experience leading applications teams (product or blended roles)
• Demonstrated experience in bringing new products, core renovations, and margin improvement initiatives successfully to market 
• Experience with quality and regulatory considerations and practices
• Proficient in the English language
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills, strategic planning, and engaging leader skills
• Demonstrated organizational savvy, business acumen and ability to influence the business and cross-functional teams
• Demonstrated leadership and initiative with the ability to work collaboratively to drive results
• Strong communication skills and global mindset
• Takes accountability to win, has a bias for action, and can lead through others
• Business judgment and problem solving 
• Comfortable leading through ambiguity and change
• Engenders cross-cultural empathy and embraces a diverse environment

Preferred Skills/Experience:

• Experience in relevant snacks technologies – cold formed, baked and extruded products is preferred
• Experience in packaging R&D is a positive
• Experience with omnichannel and customer-centric innovation is preferred
• Experience with in-market experimentation to further learning objectives is preferred
• Recent experience with digital technology to gather insights and further learning is of interest

What you get from us

• Flexible and employee-focused work culture
• Equal Employment opportunities
• Competitive package with benefits

At General Mills, we are committed to recruiting ,retaining, developing, and advancing an inclusive workforce that reflects the diversity of the consumers and communities we serve globally. Come and be part of our team's journey. Hungry to Shape the Future.