Senior R&D Scientist/Engineer- Pet New Products Development Team - Blue Buffalo at General Mills, Inc in Golden Valley, Minnesota

Job Description:

As the Senior Research and Development Scientist/Engineer for Innovation, Technology, and Quality (ITQ) you will be responsible for the execution of new product strategy, concept development, product formulation, and process development for Pet New Products Development team to enable a 3 year, cross-category innovation pipeline.

In this role, you will have the unique opportunity to impact the ITQ function by leveraging your strong technical, influence, innovation and project management skills to support conceptualization of new product ideas through charter and successful hand-off to commercialization team. You will closely collaborate with internal and external business partners to develop and expand new product businesses across multiple pet categories- dry, wet and treat.

The right candidate for this role will leverage strong innovation and learning mindset, project leadership, and technical problem-solving skills, to create new and continuously improve existing products and processes.

The projects you manage in this role will provide you with technical depth and breadth, as well as cross-functional exposure.

In this role you will have the opportunity to develop the ability to influence across organizations at multiple levels, advance technical possibilities, and develop leadership skills as a subject matter expert on a business team.

Key Career Experiences Gained:

The following experiences are commonly gained in this type of ITQ role.

• 
  Functional: Consumer First Design, Technology, Experimentation, Total Product Experience


• 
  Leadership: Matrix Relationship Management, Cross-Functional Team Leadership


• 
  Broadening: Multi-Functional, Multi-Business

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Provide new product development leadership for Pet ITQ- design and develop products that meet consumer and business needs within manufacturing considerations


• Build and leverage consumer empathy for our pet parents


• Develop sound technical plans, collaborate with peers to strengthen approach, and build a pipeline of activities to support business priorities.


• Develop successful cross-functional partnerships to effectively manage projects from strategy charter to steps needed to begin commercialization


• Manage multiple projects and flex prioritization based on business needs


• Identify innovation opportunities for Blue Buffalo by collaboration across our Innovation, Technology & Quality teams to leverage GMI technical assets and know-how and to help "humanize" pet categories


• Champion food safety, pet safety, and product quality from product design through production


• Understand and apply pet nutritional requirements in partnership with Pet formulator to product development


• Collaborate with Operations and key suppliers to provide line of site on technical feasibility

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Food Science, Packaging, Chemical Engineering, Animal Science or related field


• 5+ years of experience in product development or an applied science


• Travel (10%)


• Proven ability to deliver executional excellence, facilitate cultural learning, and develop technical and scientific rigor


• Ability to collaborate in a cross-functional and external environment and provide key product guidance


• Ability to be agile and adapt to multiple situations with learning mindset

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Masters or Ph.D. in Food Science degree


• Demonstrated ability to lead technically driven projects


• Strong experience and technical background in human food or pet food


• Innovative thinker, creative, willing to challenge established methods and beliefs


• Self-starter with a strong bias for action, as well as skills for problem-solving and troubleshooting

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.