ABOUT GENERAL MILLS

We make food the world loves: 100 brands. In 100 countries. Across six continents. With iconic brands like Cheerios, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, and Häagen-Dazs, we’ve been serving up food the world loves for 155 years (and counting). Each of our brands has a unique story to tell.

How we make our food is as important as the food we make. Our values are baked into our legacy and continue to accelerate

us into the future as an innovative force for good. General Mills was founded in 1866 when Cadwallader Washburn boldly bought the largest flour mill west of the Mississippi. That pioneering spirit lives on today through our leadership team who upholds a vision of relentless innovation while being a force for good. For more details check out http://www.generalmills.com

General Mills India Center (GIC) is our global capability center in Mumbai that works as an extension of our global organization delivering business value, service excellence and growth, while standing for good for our planet and people.

With our team of 1800+ professionals, we deliver superior value across the areas of Supply chain (SC) , Digital & Technology (D&T) Innovation, Technology & Quality (ITQ), Consumer and Market Intelligence (CMI), Sales Strategy & Intelligence (SSI) , Global Shared Services (GSS) , Finance Shared Services (FSS) and Human Resources Shared Services (HRSS).For more details check out https://www.generalmills.co.in

We advocate for advancing equity and inclusion to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow.

JOB OVERVIEW

Function Overview

The Digital and Technology team at General Mills stands as the largest and foremost unit, dedicated to exploring the latest trends and innovations in technology while leading the adoption of cutting-edge technologies across the organization. Collaborating closely with global business teams, the focus is on understanding business models and identifying opportunities to leverage technology for increased efficiency and disruption. The team's expertise spans a wide range of areas, including AI/ML, Data Science, IoT, NLP, Cloud, Infrastructure, RPA and Automation, Digital Transformation, Cyber Security, Blockchain, SAP S4 HANA and Enterprise Architecture. The MillsWorks initiative embodies an agile@scale delivery model, where business and technology teams operate cohesively in pods with a unified mission to deliver value for the company. Employees working on significant technology projects are recognized as Digital Transformation change agents.

The team places a strong emphasis on service partnerships and employee engagement with a commitment to advancing equity and supporting communities. In fostering an inclusive culture, the team values individuals passionate about learning and growing with technology, exemplified by the "Work with Heart" philosophy, emphasizing results over facetime. Those intrigued by the prospect of contributing to the digital transformation journey of a Fortune 500 company are encouraged to explore more details about the function through the provided Link

JOB OVERVIEW

Function Overview

The Digital and Technology team at General Mills stands as the largest and foremost unit, dedicated to exploring the latest trends and innovations in technology while leading the adoption of cutting-edge technologies across the organization. Collaborating closely with global business teams, the focus is on understanding business models and identifying opportunities to leverage technology for increased efficiency and disruption. The team's expertise spans a wide range of areas, including AI/ML, Data Science, IoT, NLP, Cloud, Infrastructure, RPA and Automation, Digital Transformation, Cyber Security, Blockchain, SAP S4 HANA and Enterprise Architecture. The MillsWorks initiative embodies an agile@scale delivery model, where business and technology teams operate cohesively in pods with a unified mission to deliver value for the company. Employees working on significant technology projects are recognized as Digital Transformation change agents.

The team places a strong emphasis on service partnerships and employee engagement with a commitment to advancing equity and supporting communities. In fostering an inclusive culture, the team values individuals passionate about learning and growing with technology, exemplified by the "Work with Heart" philosophy, emphasizing results over facetime. Those intrigued by the prospect of contributing to the digital transformation journey of a Fortune 500 company are encouraged to explore more details about the function through the following Link

Purpose of the role

The Digital and Technology team at General Mills executes a portfolio of projects leveraging multiple methodologies ranging from traditional to agile product management. We are looking for an experienced, passionate, outcome-oriented team level Agile Coach to contribute to the Global Digital Transformation initiative at General Mills.

The Agile Coach at Team level supports Product Groups and Pods in understanding and applying Ways of Working within the Product and Platform Operating Model to deliver on their backlogs. This involves teaching and assisting the implementation of agile practices, facilitating ceremonies, identifying and removing impediments and shielding Pods from external distractions. Agile Coaches promote a culture of collaboration and continuous learning by working closely with individuals, teams, and leaders across the organization to identify and remove roadblocks, promote best practices, and ensure the effective implementation of agile principles.

Candidate must have demonstrated excellence in at least one of the following areas: Agile Mindset & Value, Scrum, SAFE, product management, coaching, design thinking, user experience, product design, team building, Lean, customer experience, training, and/or facilitation. This role will not have direct reports but shall be responsible for execution of work through their matrix pods.

Agile Coaches need to sense and respond to group situations, requiring exceptional listening, discernment, experience design, and written and verbal communication skills. Our ideal hire has a diverse and ever-expanding toolkit of methods to get groups to shared understanding, possibly including: Product definition, developing personas, story mapping, product and team chartering, forming working agreements, visualizing work, product definition/discovery, wicked problem solving, appreciative inquiry, innovation games, or others. We welcome a diverse range of professional and educational backgrounds.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Support teams in assessing their current agile maturity and identifying areas for improvement.
• Assist in facilitating workshops and training sessions to educate teams on agile principles, practices, and tools.
• Support Product Group leadership and teams on drafting of impactful and clear OKRs.
• Assist teams on effectively using agile ceremonies, such as sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.
• Help teams adopt and adapt agile practices to their specific needs and context, balanced with adherence to required standard ways of working.
• Track key Agile maturity metrics; lead glidepath towards sustained and increased maturity.
• Assist in identifying and addressing roadblocks and impediments that hinder team progress.
• Promote a culture of collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Advocate the benefits of agile to stakeholders across the organization.
• Stay informed on the latest Agile trends and best practices.
• Collaborate with other Agile Coaches and Agile Practitioners to share knowledge and best practices.
• Involve in shaping the forecasting of resourcing, succession planning, resource allocation
• Manage and evolve operating rhythms, ensure governance and effective capabilities of the team

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Candidate should have overall 8-10 yrs of experience alongwith the most recent 3+ years of relevant experience as a team level Agile Coach or a similar role.
• Experience supporting teams in adopting and improving agile practices with ability to master execution (observe cadence, conduct ceremonies, resolve impediments).
• Understanding of agile principles, practices, and frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, and XP.
• Ability to undertake financial/budget management, value analysis.
• Demonstrated collaborative leadership thru influence by focusing on the growth and development of people.
• Ability to build trust and rapport with individuals at various levels of the organization.
• Ability to identify opportunities and challenges and support in discussing and resolving them.
• Problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Ability to self-manage multiple, competing priorities and deliverables and provide coaching/mentorship to team members.
• Ability to run multiple pods
• Excellent communication skills – ability to communicate with the team and various stakeholders (oral & written), facilitation, alignment building
• Demonstrated drive to successfully deliver high impact, high value project/product outcomes within project constraints
• Demonstrated ability to independently take on ambitious initiatives to drive clarity and detailed plans to advance teams toward outcomes.
• Willingness to work flexible/extended hours in collaboration with multiple time zones.
• Experience and willingness to contribute as needed on managing projects/outcomes using multiple methodologies ranging from traditional to iterative to agile.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Familiarity with specific workflow tools such as Jira, Microsoft Azure DevOps, Confluence, etc.
• Base knowledge of agile scaling frameworks such as SAFe, LeSS, DAD, Spotify, etc.
• Relevant Agile Coaching certification, such as Certified Team Coach (CTC) or ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile coaching (ICP-ACC).
• Works well collaboratively across functional team boundaries.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, complex and transforming environment.