General Mills · 1 day ago
Sr Quality Engineer - Pilot Plant - Golden Valley, MN
Golden Valley, MN
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$94K/yr - $141K/yr
4+ years expGeneral Mills is a company that prioritizes making food the world loves while fostering a culture of learning and growth. The Senior Quality Engineer will serve as the technical leader for Food Safety and Quality within the JFB Pilot Plant, focusing on problem-solving and continuous improvement in food safety and quality assurance processes.
Food and BeverageFood ProcessingManufacturingSnack FoodWholesale
No H1B
Responsibilities
Lead Food and Human Safety through Safety 2.0 leadership principles and standards
Cultivate a Human Safety Culture that reduces risk to our people and communities by increasing the capability to identify and control critical risk
Cultivate a Food Safety Culture that is committed to manufacturing safe food that is compliant with policy and regulatory requirements
Role model Engaging Leader behaviors
Demonstrate a strong learning mindset for personal development & growth in expanded areas of subject matter expertise
Engage internally and externally (NA & globally) with cross-functional partners and Subject Matter Experts and demonstrate quality engineering skills
Train, develop content, and coach QEs and plant personnel (SE, operators, etc.)
Build alignment & strategies with cross-functional partners across the pilot plant
Partner with SE and site leadership to advocate and influence for site and product improvements and CAPEX investments
Potential leadership of FSQ technicians, FSQ professionals, and mentoring others
Provide FSQ leadership and direction through technical depth in the areas of regulatory compliance, sanitation, food safety risk mitigation, quality improvement, and loss reduction
Synthesize JFB Pilot Plant-wide action plans with Operations, R&D, Engineering, and FSQ teams to ensure product specifications and execution of FSQ policies & standards are appropriate and meet system capability and key consumer requirements
Deliver training in the areas of food science, applied statistics, regulatory requirements, sanitation, and quality measurement systems
Review plans for new and changing systems and ensure effective product safety and sanitary design
Serve as experts in systems/programs with cross-plant / corporate/global connections
Provide leadership and technical support for R&D, HMM, reformulations, and new product testing
Maintain pilot plant food safety programs (FSRA, HACCP, etc.), audit readiness, and GMI policy requirements
Provide technical leadership in the identification and implementation of product and process quality improvement opportunities and resultant productivity gains
Provide and lead risk assessment analysis and manage issues with non-conforming products to ensure proper control, minimize losses, and conduct root cause analysis to eliminate future occurrences across the pilot plant
Provide FSQ leadership and direction through technical depth in the areas of SPC, system capability, fishbone analysis & problem solving
Lead problem-solving events of strategic value to the JFB Pilot Plant with cross-functional partners and apply DMAIC / Six Sigma approach and data to appropriately manage non-conformances and issues, prevent re-occurrence, improve product quality, reduce and eliminate risks & related losses, and run to target
Engage in identification of loss opportunities (food safety, quality, overuse, etc.) to drive performance and influence loss reduction through corrective and preventative actions using foundation systems
Actively participate in daily direction setting, scheduling meetings, and managing multiple projects and priorities
Lead digitization initiatives, leveraging advanced technologies such as automation, data analytics, and digitalization to enhance quality processes and performance
Using quality engineering principles, collect, analyze, and interpret in-process and analytical data to make quality and food safety evaluations, recommend actions for improvement and make data-driven decisions
Showcase expertise across Problem Solving, FSQ systems, and Data & Analytics & tools, and coach & mentor QEs and other roles across the JFB pilot plant
Identify & execute JFB Pilot Plant-wide HMM, Food Safety and Quality initiatives
This position will also provide backup support as needed to technical partners on the platform team (SE, QE, and Maintenance) and JFB Pilot Plant FSQ Manager, ensuring business continuity and operational efficiency
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering, Food Processing, Food Science, or other related fields with 4 years of relevant quality or manufacturing experience
Demonstrated ability to manage cross-platform projects, be comfortable with ambiguity, and create clarity of mission and program improvement in a fluid R&D environment
Proven ability to work well on a team, build effective relationships, and influence others across all levels of the organization
Ability to effectively work with and coach cross-functional teams while affecting change/department direction via influence management
Demonstrated mechanical aptitude, ability to apply engineering principles, and ability to troubleshoot
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Ability to lead constructive, positive change within the plant environment
Ability to develop mutual respect with operators, engineers, etc. to execute programs, manage conflict, resolve issues, and achieve goals
Clear, concise, well-directed communication
Demonstrated knowledge of statistics and related systems (e.g., Minitab), data reporting platforms (e.g., MA, Power BI, Tableau, etc.), MES platforms (e.g., MQIS), advanced analytics and tools (e.g., Seeq, Sight Machine), and FSQ and Supply Chain systems knowledge (SAP, Blueyonder, etc.)
Preferred
Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering, Food Processing or Food Science with 6+ years of relevant quality or manufacturing experience
Certified Quality Engineer by third party organization or Six Sigma Green Belt certified
Strong knowledge of in-process measurement/detection capabilities (e.g., NIR, Vision systems)
People leadership experience
Demonstrated leadership and initiative
Demonstrated ability to navigate complex organizations
Ability to communicate with the leadership team to gain broad support for ideas
Benefits
Foundation of health benefits
Retirement and financial wellbeing
Time off programs
Wellbeing support and perks
Annual incentive program
Company
General Mills
General Mills is a food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods.
10001+ employees
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$2.7B2024-10-15Post Ipo Debt· $2.7B
1928-11-30IPO
Leadership Team
Asheesh Saksena
Chief Growth Officer
Jacqueline R. Williams Roll
Chief Human Resources Officer
Recent News
AgTechNavigator.com
2026-02-03
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