Sr. Manager, Strategic Initiatives & Project Management

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.

ABOUT GENERAL MILLS

We make foodthe world loves: 100 brands. In 100 countries. Across six continents. With iconic brands like Cheerios, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, and Hagen-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

Global Shared Services (GSS) enables General Mills to compete and win every day with a relentless focus on service excellence. Our Shared Services model leverages domain excellence to drive scaled cost-efficient delivery. We do that by delivering our services with a balance between cost and capability increasing productivity through optimized processes and tools and upholding company standards, policies, and practices. GSS touches virtually every aspect of the General Mills enterprise, including Employee Services, Business Services, Global Workforce Solutions, and Global Data Governance Services.

For more details about General Mills please visit this

Purpose of the role

This role is responsible for overseeing a team of Project Managers to ensure the successful completion of Strategic Initiatives based projects/programs within a fast-paced, agile environment. This role leads and ensures the execution of multiple, concurrent projects by enabling effective cross-functional collaboration between and across GIC and HQ teams, driving operational efficiency, and contributing to cost optimization and business expansion goals. The Team Lead balances people management with tactical and operational oversight to ensure effective project execution by the GIC-based Project Managers and leveraging technology to improve effectiveness. The role is also responsible for project in-take demand management and deployment of resources for the projects. The position offers significant leadership development opportunities within a global matrix organization and requires strong expertise in team management, stakeholder management, and GBS ways of workin g.

This role will also lead local site-wide strategic Initiatives and provide thought leadership to Management Team for site-wide/functional strategic initiatives.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Delivery Leadership & Portfolio Oversight
• Own and lead high impact Strategic Initiatives, Transformation projects, CI led Initiatives (across full project lifecycle of assessment, planning and execution) for select Operating/ Business unit(s) or GIC as required
• Provide operational oversight and guidance to Project Managers across project development, milestone adherence, and critical cross-functional go/no-go decision points, etc.
• Institutionalize project management best practices, applying Run-Improve-Transform methodology and operational excellence principles.
• Monitor and manage resource allocation across teams/OUs/BUs ensure prioritization across complex interdependencies and risk scenarios.
• Act as the escalation point for risk identification and mitigation participate in issue resolution forums and executive decision-making cadences, as required.
• Drive process simplifications and clarity across cross-functional teams and BU's/OU's
• Continuously improve process, hand-offs and workflows within enterprise process.

People Leadership

• Coach and develop all levels of Project Managers in initiative planning, stakeholder engagement, and problem-solving.
• Build project management capabilities across the team through structured learning programs, playbooks, and governance toolkits.
• Foster a high-performance culture grounded in accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Facilitate internal workshops on compliance, governance protocols, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Conduct Talent Reviews, performance appraisals and career development plans
• Strategic Governance, Metrics & Standardization
• Elevate communication flow through integrated dashboards, senior leadership briefings, and structured KPI tracking regarding overall project performance.
• Lead strategic forums to review pipeline status for selected OUs, risk registers, and business impact scenarios.
• Drive data-driven, transparent approach to performance by developing KPI's and metric

Advance PMO Capabilities & Culture

• Be the point of contact for GBS for onboarding projects, branding PMO capabilities
• Create Value dashboard for Pipeline Projection

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Education: Full time Graduation
• Professional Experience: 12 years of full-time work experience

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Masters
• 15 years of full-time work experience
• Preferred Professional Certifications: PMP, Power BI
• Preferred Major Area of Study: Shared Service Operations / Business / Engineering

Desired Profile

• Proven experience in project or program management within cross-functional, fast-paced environments-ideally in FMCG, supply chain, or product commercialization contexts.
• Ability to translate complex data and insights into actionable strategies skilled in balancing long-term vision with short-term execution.
• Strong leadership capabilities with demonstrated success in coaching, mentoring, and developing diverse teams ability to build a high-performance culture rooted in accountability and continuous improvement.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a proven ability to influence and align cross-functional stakeholders, resolve conflicts, and build consensus across global and regional teams.
• Ability to communicate complex topics clearly and effectively to senior leadership through presentations, dashboards, and briefings tailored to varied audiences.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, including proficiency in root cause analysis, scenario planning, and risk mitigation frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to lead under pressure, manage ambiguity, and remain composed in high-stakes or time-sensitive situations.
• Understanding of global function's dynamics, commercialization drivers, and how project execution impacts broader business goals.
• Ability to lead teams through chang e, drive adoption of new ways of working, and embed continuous improvement practices across the organization.
• Familiarity with project and portfolio management tools, KPI tracking systems, and collaboration platforms (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, Power BI, or similar tools).

Specific Job Experience or Skills Needed

Technical Skills:

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio)

Portfolio Management

Change Management principles

Project Management principles

Soft Skills:

Proven ability to effectively navigate a matrixed, global organization

Strong business acumen and leadership skills

Keen learner, process driven, and strong bias for action Sense of urgency and ownership of resolution

Strong collaboration skills and ability to partner with customers to drive results

Strong change management skills

Excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Excellent communication skills with the ability to interact with all levels of the organization

Proven ability to influence without authority

Proven ability to facilitate groups of all sizes

Comfortable and flexible when dealing with ambiguity and/or change

Willingness and ability to engage in productive discourse (challenge/question)

Additional Information

Manager of 2-3 direct reports (Manager & above)