Quality Engineer I - Avon, IA Plant

OVERVIEW

As a Quality Engineer I, you will be responsible for championing supplier food safety, managing material (ingredient or packaging) categories, and working with both internal and external partners to ensure the safety of General Mills’ products and processes. You will also have the unique opportunity to impact the Innovation, Technology, and Quality function by leveraging your knowledge and skills to provide deep technical expertise, become a leader of global connections, and be recognized as a valued partner for our plant, sourcing, and business teams. The right candidate for this role will leverage strong project management skills, relationship management skills, be results orientated, and be able to find opportunities for value creation in order to help the company succeed.

In this role you will have the opportunity to develop communication and influencing skills, a deep technical expertise of food safety and quality, and you will have an exposure to manufacturing environments.

To learn more about our Avon facility and the surrounding area, click here!

General Mills will provide relocation services for this position for those who qualify. 

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Provide Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) leadership and direction through technical mastery in the areas of regulatory compliance, SPC, system capability, sanitation, and food safety risk mitigation and champion material supplier food safety and regulatory compliance.
• Provide plantwide support for Food Safety Program management and training.
• Build alignment and strategy with cross functional partners; lead risk assessments and root cause analysis activities for issue resolution.  
• Provide leadership and technical support for R&D, HMM, reformulations, and new product start-ups.
• Provide leadership in the identification and implementation of product and process quality improvement opportunities and resultant productivity gains.
• Develop action plans with Operations, R&D, Engineering, and FSQ teams to ensure product specifications, analytical procedures, and sampling programs are appropriate and meet system capability and key consumer requirements.
• Using quality engineering principles, collect, analyze and interpret in-process and analytical data to make quality evaluations, recommend actions for improvement.
• Provide leadership for sanitation excellence.
• Review plans for new and changing systems and ensure effective product safety and sanitation design.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Food Science, Packaging, Material Science, or related field
• 1+ years of relevant experience
• Ability to manage cross platform projects and be comfortable with ambiguity
• Demonstrated mechanical aptitude, ability to apply engineering principles, and ability to troubleshoot
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and adjust priorities
• Knowledge of product protection and Quality Engineering principles
• Self-starter who can prioritize workload while meeting commitments
• Strong understanding of product quality, sensory, and food safety
• Strong understanding of Zero Loss Culture philosophy and tools
• Demonstrated leadership and initiative
• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex organizations
• Plant Quality Engineer, manufacturing, or auditing/consulting experience
• Food Safety and Quality Experience

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• PCQI Certification, HACCP Certification

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs and perform physical tasks for extended periods of time including standing, walking, climbing, bending, pushing, pulling, and twisting over surfaces

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.
• This role is located in Carlisle, IA and will not consider remote applicants or international applications. General Mills will provide relocation to the candidate selected for this role as long as they meet the relocation assistance policy.