R&D Scientist II - Pizza - General Mills

OVERVIEW

Our North America Foodservice (NAF) Pizza team is fast paced and agile, and our business is growing! Our roles are designed to offer you a differentiated experience – one where your ideas lead to impactful decisions and where your contributions visibly shape the direction of our business. We believe in empowering our employees, giving you the autonomy to influence our success through both technical excellence and business acumen. This position requires a bias for action, high tolerance for change & ambiguity, and ability to manage a wide range of assignments. If you're looking for a place where your work matters, where you can make real decisions, and where collaboration and growth are part of the daily menu, then the NAF segment may be your next great career destination.

This role will support the development and scale-up of products for operators & customers across our foodservice channels, focusing on our extensive pizza portfolio which is a key growth driver for NAF to triple our frozen baked goods revenue. You will collaborate closely with ITQ & business peers to work on innovation, renovation, & product matching projects. You’ll have the unique opportunity to build empathy & work with customers, build close relationships with our Sales Team, develop products that support our innovation + renovation pipelines, and execute projects across manufacturing locations & technologies.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Independent project leadership of innovation, renovation, & product matching product development projects throughout the development cycle (benchtop, pilot plant, plant trials, commercialization).
• Immerses into the problem to solve by building a relationship & empathy with the customer / operator, plant team, or peers. Leverages learnings to present technical solutions & recommendations to peers & stakeholders.
• Partner with the business team and ITQ stakeholders to drive projects to completion.
• Build technical foundational knowledge & acumen in pizza dough applications.
• Build & leverage technical rigor, your network, and GMI’s systems/tools to execute work.
• Build collaborative relationships with R&D + cross-functional partners and demonstrate ability to influence key decisions.
• Balance priorities by managing time across projects & tasks to meet deadlines.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s Degree in Food Science or Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering, or related field
• 3+ years of experience in product development or an applied science
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with internal + external partners to deliver business needs
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with various audiences
• High attention to detail, with a methodical approach to tackling technical challenges
• Bias for action and ability to advance projects with speed & accuracy
• Willingness to travel (25%)

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Product development experience with dough products
• Possibilities thinker who challenges the norm & is willing to try new approaches

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. General Mills will not sponsor applicants for a U.S. work visa.
• Relocation support will not be offered to applicants within the United States.
• International relocation or international remote working arrangements (outside of the US) will not be considered.

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.