Senior Innovation Coach - Häagen-Dazs International

Great things are happening in the Europe and Australia (EUAU) region. Each day, our 2,500 plus colleagues bring their passion to our offices, manufacturing sites, R&D center, and commercial/distributor markets across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. We are energized by over 150 years of bringing people together with the food they love. With beloved brands Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Jus-Rol, Fibre One, Latina Fresh and more, we are on a mission to become the undisputed growth leader in food for EUAU. In a world that’s ever-changing, we look to stay ahead and seek people who share our love of food and are hungry to shape the future. What your role is Innovation Coaches guide and inspire teams to use Consumer First Design (CFD) best practices to deliver 10x better holistic innovation solutions to deep consumer needs. The Innovation Coach will design, develop, and execute experiments to help teams identify and deeply understand consumer problems, and take teams to validating product market/fit. The innovation coach will also provide end to end hands on support and guidance to help teams navigate the innovation process. You will be successful in this role if you are the authority in consumer discovery research, can effectively blend research with storytelling of captured data, and can train teams to approach learning in a CFD way. The Innovation Coach will play a critical role in partnering with teams to validate revolutionary technologies, products and business models as they develop meaningful solutions for the future. Accountabilities Coach teams from problem identification through Product / Market fit, validating/invalidating problems, solutions, business models and early go-to-market approaches Fully immerse teams in the consumer perspective to understand their problems, needs, and pain points. Develop appropriate research plans to test and validate our hypotheses through an iterative series of experiments. Execute full research plans, from creating interview guides, writing screeners, conducting customer research, and synthesis and analysis of findings into reports. Selection of appropriate research methodologies to execute, including but not limited to: interviews, surveys, digital experiments, prototype tests, and ethnography. Energize diverse teams to excel beyond status quo by applying CFD tools and mindset: Lean Start Up, Agile, and Design Thinking methodologies Consumer ethnography and other consumer qualitative learning Leap of Faith Assumptions (LOFA)s and potential ways to experiment Create project momentum through effective planning and coaching Create opportunities to build consumer empathy What you bring to the team BS in Food Science or Engineering or Sensory / Consumer Science or BA in GCI or Marketing or Innovation Studies Experience with Lean experimentation, Design Thinking, user-centered design, rapid prototyping, or similar techniques. Proven experience leading consumer research including: Creating and executing customer interviews and ethnographic studies. Implementing surveys, digital experiments, and usability test programs Participating in iterative prototype development and testing programs Facilitating and moderating research sessions in person and remotely Project managing programs and coordinating stakeholders and participants Synthesizing learnings and creating actionable reports Leading discussions and presentations about findings to executives and teams Combination of start-up experience and corporate experience preferred Understanding of how research drives the innovation process, finding creative ways to gather insight and inspire confidence in ambiguous situations. Commitment to constant learning and development as a researcher Team facilitation skills preferred This position requires some flexibility with working hours to support regional time zones and some travel will be required (max ~25% or less) What you will get from us Flexible and employee-focused work culture Equal Employment opportunities Competitive package with benefits At General Mills, we are committed to recruiting,retaining, developing, and advancing an inclusive workforce that reflects the diversity of the consumers and communities we serve globally. Come and be part of our team's journey. Hungry to Shape the Future.