Associate Principal Innovation Coach - Golden Valley, MN

OVERVIEW

Innovation Coaches guide and inspire teams to use innovation best practices to deliver robust pipelines of sustainable innovation solutions to deliver on consumer and business needs. Our team facilitates cross-functional teams through a series of Build-Measure-Learn Loops in focused, dedicated time periods (intensives) to deliver immediate scale innovation.

As an Associate Principal Innovation Coach, you will design, develop, and execute ideations, experiments and synthesis/story-telling activities for cross-functional teams as it relates to immediate scale innovation across OUs. You will be a subject-matter-expert in the Innovation Ecosystem, arranging and delivering training to upskill the organization on General Mills Innovation Academy best practices. Additionally, Innovation Coaches are encouraged to discover and utilize new methods and tools to continuously improve our approach to developing innovation pipelines.

You will be successful in this role if you can effectively blend a passion for consumer research, guidance and facilitation of teams, and stakeholder management with cross-functional managers & leaders. This role is for you if you enjoy working collaboratively and exchanging ideas in a fast-paced environment, and if you can mix an attention to detail and tactical work with big picture thinking.

This position requires an individual to come on-site 3-4 days regularly as part of this role.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Lead Coach on Innovation Intensives and Sprints
  
  • Coach cross-functional teams from problem identification through in-market experimentation to validate/invalidate problems and solutions in dedicated, time-boxed projects (Intensives, Sprints)
  • Fully immerse cross-functional teams in the consumer perspective (Jobs to be Done, Problems & Joys) and GMI business context.
  • Develop appropriate research plans to test and validate hypotheses through an iterative series of experiments
  • Oversee the execution of logistics of full research plans - from creating interview guides, writing screeners, working with internal and external vendors, coordinating consumer research, and guiding teams through synthesis and analysis of their findings
  • Energize diverse teams to excel beyond status quo by applying tools and mindset from the GMI innovation approach
    
    • Lean Start Up, Agile, and Design Thinking best practices
    • Consumer ethnography and other consumer qualitative learning
    • Leap of Faith Assumptions (LOFA)s and Experimentation
    • AI Tools to fuel innovation
  • Guide and mentor other coaches
  • Drive alignment with cross-functional managers and directors on successful project outcomes
  • Champion experimentation and adoption of AI on the team
• Leader & Subject Matter Expert in the Innovation Ecosystem
  
  • Co-lead and organize Innovation Academy and other relevant training opportunities for teams and leaders
  • Discover, create and adopt new methodologies & techniques for experimentation
  • Drive connection and between GPD and Product Design Accelerators to accelerate upskilling & alignment

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Sensory Science, Psychology, Sociology or Marketing, Insights, Product Design, Innovation or related fields
• 5+ years of experience with Innovation methods and/or new product development and/or consumer research
• Champion of and passionate about innovation with experience in group facilitation
• Familiarity with consumer research, including qualitative research, quantitative methods, and in-market experimentation
• Proven ability to work collaboratively across functions, platforms, vendors, and external partners
• Strong partnership & collaboration skills
• Capable of working and problem-solving with high levels of ambiguity
• Strong communication skills with a learning mindset

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• External orientation - agile in bringing outside ideas and resources
• This position requires minimal travel (likely ~10% or less)

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Applicants for this position must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis, and General Mills will not sponsor applicants for this position for work visas.
• This role is open to relocation, but international relocation and remote assignments 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.

Salary Range

The salary range for this position is $108900.00 - $163500.00 / 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.

Reasonable Accommodation Request

If you need to request an accommodation during the application or hiring process, please fill out our online accommodations request form by following this link: Accommodations Request.