Senior Pet Product Insight Leader

General Mills, Inc

Minneapolis (MN)

On-site

USD 111,000 - 166,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

General Mills, Inc. is seeking an Associate Principal Product Guidance & Insights Scientist to lead PGI for the Pet business, focusing on companion animal research to inform feeding and treating products.

You will translate learning into actionable guidance for innovation, core renovation, quality, and value optimization. You will build PGI capability through people leadership, prioritization, and adoption of modern methods and tools, influencing cross-functional teams and shaping product

Qualifications

Master's degree or PhD in Sensory Science, Behavioral Science, Psychology, Animal Science, Consumer Science, or related field.
7+ years of relevant pet experience in sensory science, consumer product research, product guidance, or related technical roles.
Experience applying sensory science to product development, optimization, quality, and pet parent guidance within complex product systems.
Experience developing and executing robust learning plans with appropriate rigor to risk in partnership with cross-functional business and technical teams.
Strong understanding of experimental design, statistical analysis, and interpretation of sensory and consumer data.
Proven ability to connect technical product knowledge with consumer or user experience to inform product design decisions.
Strong interpersonal, communication, collaboration, and influence skills. Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively in a matrixed organization.
Demonstrated passion for leading and developing people.
Strong learning agility, problem-solving capability, experimentation mindset, and comfort with ambiguity.

Responsibilities

Lead Sensory and Product Guidance strategy and execution for the Pet business with a focus on companion animal research (for dogs and cats).
Lead and develop one direct report, including coaching, work prioritization, development planning, and performance management.
Partner on cross-functional project teams to define the most important product and pet parent questions, build effective learning plans to answer them, and de-risk critical business decisions.
Design and lead sensory guidance, pet parent product understanding, descriptive, discrimination, and confirmatory learning plans from early exploration through iterative product optimization and validation.
Generate actionable insights and recommendations by integrating sensory data, product knowledge, technical understanding, and business context.
Influence product design, optimization, and troubleshooting decisions by helping teams understand the sensory and experiential drivers of product performance and preference.
Communicate findings clearly and persuasively to technical and non-technical stakeholders, tailoring recommendations to drive alignment and action.
Partner closely with the Pet Technology Team to ensure holistic product guidance from both pet and pet parent perspectives.
Build foundational knowledge of key pet feeding and treating product spaces, including relevant product forms, formats, textures, aromas, palatability-related cues, and usage occasions.
Build and strengthen external partnerships to strengthen foundational knowledge in pet feeding and treating.
Champion the product and pet parent voice to ensure products deliver on the intended experience, functionality, and preference.
Prioritize projects against available resources and business needs, ensuring the highest-value work is resourced and executed with excellence.
Identify capability gaps and bring forward new tools, methods, and ways of working to improve the speed, quality, and impact of PGI learning.
Contribute to a strong team culture by modeling collaboration, curiosity, technical rigor, and a continuous learning mindset.