Job Description

:

India is among the top ten priority markets for General Mills, and hosts our Global Shared Services Centre. This is the Global Shared Services arm of General Mills Inc., which supports its operations worldwide. With over 1,300 employees in Mumbai, the center has capabilities in the areas of Supply Chain, Finance, HR, Digital and Technology, Sales Capabilities, Consumer Insights, ITQ (R&D & Quality), and Enterprise Business Services. Learning and capacity-building is a key ingredient of our success.

Job Title: Senior Manager FSQ - LRC

Reporting to: GEMS LRC manager and GEMS ITQ Director

Functional Area: ITQ

Location: Mumbai, India.

Frequent Contacts: Customers, Distributors, GEMS and US FSQ teams, all levels of the Business teams, Supply Chain, Product Registration partners, R&D, Consumer Relations partners, external relations, trade associations, Risk Management and Legal.

The Role

Key Objective

To provide General Mills Global Emerging Markets (GEMS) with labeling, regulatory, and technical specification support to effectively protect our brands and manage product safety, quality, and regulatory compliance. This position is accountable for ensuring regulatory compliance and overseeing processes to support the development of product label information. This position will partner cross-functionally to manage regulatory, food safety, litigation, brand and third-party risk for General Mills products and businesses and will interface across ITQ and the business to ensure alignment on priorities and resources to support business needs.

Key Responsibilities

Team Management

• Manage team of 8-12 direct reports in India, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with responsibility for those countries, India exports to global locations, and Southeast Asia countries
• Utilize engaging leader behaviors to develop team and work through performance management processes
• Manage budgets for travel and team development
• Develop team priorities and strategy for meeting goals of ITQ and business objectives

Labeling and Regulatory Affairs Compliance

• Oversee the development and maintenance of accurate food labeling information for ingredients and finished products (e.g. allergens, nutrition, ingredient statements, product name, claims) to assure compliance with various government regulations, third-party certifications (non-GMO project, GFCO) and General Mills policies.
• Be the contact person for Regulatory Affairs, providing regulatory advice upon innovation and import/export projects to ensure compliance at the target country of sale.
• Oversee the development of ingredient and finished product specifications for the GEMS region
• Validate and review existing and proposed product claims for General Mills products in various markets
• Monitor required countries proposed and new regulations, assess the business impact, and ensure the business team is aware.
• Support development of corporate positions on labeling regulatory topics and represent General Mills externally within trade associations and interface with regulators as needed to protect General Mills' freedom-to-operate.

• Activate and lead the implementation of any changes in labeling regulation within the region (EG: India Star Model)
• Develop open and effective cross-functional relationships with Export Compliance, Government Relations, Nutrition & Health, Law, Central FSQ, Trade Associations (FICCI, FIA) and other relevant functions and stakeholders internal and external.
• Approve all new packaging and labeling.
• Provide FSQ input on imported products through feasibility process.
• Ensure that all issues raised by regulatory authorities are resolved to protect General Mills.
• Support Product Registration with the execution of Sanitary Registration by providing regulatory guidance when barriers to registration are encountered.

Other responsibilities

• Facilitate and support the implementation of General Mills Policies & Standards. Request exception decisions as necessary and provide training to ensure Food Safety and Regulatory compliance.
• Coordinate distributor/warehouse approval and/or development including audits, temperature monitoring and ongoing training.
• Provide support to new and existing distributors to ensure regulatory, distribution, and storage requirements are understood and complied with.
• Coordinate the process of Recall, Donation and Destruction of products in distributor markets.
• Proactively manage communication of product reformulations and sourcing changes to minimize the potential business impact for GEMS.
• Lead the development of FSQ support for marketing claims, new product introductions and customer information requests.
• Conduct Mock Recalls (Distributors) to identify any gaps and work with the team to implement improvement plans.
• Connect with R&D Teams that support GEMS
• Represent ITQ in PEAK meetings for Southeast Asia and bring perspective to the various projects
• Identify resource needs from ITQ and utilize teams to get alignment on projects for Distributor Markets

Qualifications/Skills/Experience

• BS in Food Technology/Science Degree or related discipline.
• Minimum 10-15 years in Labeling and Regulatory Affairs experience.
• Preferred prior management experience with local and remote teams
• Knowledge of Food regulations related to additives, labeling, packaging and export/import in India and Southeast Asia.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, and Power Point).
• Good leadership, communication (written and verbal) and influencing skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills capable of communicating with different countries and teams.
• Able to work on a variety of different projects and prioritize appropriately.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Flexible and able to handle ambiguity.
• Able to work independently and still support team in other functional areas.
• Some travel within the region will be necessary.

ADDITIONAL SKILLS/EXPERIENCES

• Experience with gPLM business process and systems
• Experience and skills in developing and influencing business and/or regulatory strategies
• Takes accountability to win, has a bias for action, and can deliver results through others
• Mentoring and coaching others for growth
• Demonstrated ability to guide risk-based decisions

DEVELOPMENT CANDIDATE WILL RECEIVE IN THE ROLE

• Managing People
• External regulatory influence and collaboration across industry trade associations
• Technical expertise in nutrition and labelling regulations
• Influencing and Collaboration across ITQ and with Business Teams
• Problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Effective and strategic communications
• Business Process and System knowledge