Associate Principal AI Innovation Engineer - Remote Eligible

JOB OVERVIEW:

Innovation, Technology & Quality (ITQ) is becoming a digital-first organization committed to delivering remarkably better outcomes at every stage of the innovation cycle. Within ITQ, the Stronger Innovation Digital Workstream accelerates what's next in new product development (NPD) by embedding Generative AI experimentation into our ways of working. To amplify that mission, we are adding an Associate Innovation Principal AI Engineer who will be the champion and help build our AI future, from scouting and experimentation through scale and change management.

This role reports to the Future Capabilities Manager and partners closely with Experimentation Labs, the Global Product Design Team, and IT Security.

Why You'll Love This Role:
You'll shape how cutting-edge AI accelerates product innovation, blending engineering rigor with creative experimentation. If you enjoy rapid prototyping, influencing strategy, and seeing your work drive tangible business impact, this role is for you.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Drive Innovation Through AI & Digital Tools
• Scout, vet, and prototype emerging Gen AI and digital innovation tools in collaboration with Ex
• Rapidly build proof-of-concepts (POCs) and minimum viable products (MVPs).
• Partner to productionize high-potential solutions, ensuring scalability and security.
• Design, develop, and maintain reusable AI agents and apps that automate or augment high-value innovation workflows (e.g., discovery and search, concept creation, etc.).
• Partner with Experimentation Labs & Coaches to implement successful/high high-potential agents and tools
• Build and Scale Best Practices
• Coordinate best practice development and knowledge sharing across innovation use cases and leads
• Maintain and refresh the AI innovation Playbook, including prompt engineering, evaluation, guardrails, and coding standards.
• Facilitate peer-led learning moments and internal showcases to build a collective skillset
• Lead Vendor Diligence and Scan for Opportunities
• Lead vendor diligence and manage onboarding processes, including coordination with Legal, Sourcing, and IT
• Proactively scan internal and external ecosystems (startups, academia, peers) to identify promising tools, capabilities, and partners
• Negotiate technical scopes and evaluation criteria to accelerate pilot-to-scale transitions.

KEY BEHAVIORS:

• Learning Curiosity - Self-directed in exploring emerging research, tools, and best practices; proactively shares takeaways to upskill peers.
• Adaptive Mindset - Comfortably adjusts priorities and approaches as project goals, data, or business context evolve.
• Builder Mindset - Breaks complex problems into testable components; writes clean, well-documented code, and automates repeatable tasks
• Agility in Execution - Moves quickly from insight to action, learn fast, and pivots when needed.
• Resilience & Grit - Maintains momentum through setbacks, viewing failures as data points that refine the next hypothesis.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Data Science, Engineering, OR another degree with demonstrated coding and gen AI experience.
• Experience in building AI-powered applications, agents, or workflows. Expertise in AI agent frameworks (LangChain, AutoGen, CrewAI) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns.
• Proficiency in Python (preferred) or TypeScript/JavaScript, version control (Git), and cloud services (e.g., Google Cloud Platform, AWS, Azure).
• Hands-on experience integrating LLM APIs and vector store

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience working in the CPG, Food, and Consumer Product industry
• Experience working in product innovation and commercialization
• Background or education in Psychology

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

• This role is remote eligible and will consider candidates throughout the domestic United States. International relocation or international remote work arrangements (outside of the US) will not be considered.
• Applicants for this position must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis, and General Mills will not sponsor applicants for this position for work visas.

Salary Range

The salary range for this position is $108900.00 - $163500.00 / Annually. At General Mills we strive for each employee's pay at any point in their career to reflect their experiences performance and skills for their current role. The salary range for this role represents the numerous factors considered in the hiring decisions including, but not limited to, educations, skills, work experience, certifications, etc. As such, pay for the successful candidate(s) could fall anywhere within the stated range. Beyond base salary, General Mills offers a competitive Total Rewards package focusing on your overall well-being. We are proud to offer a foundation of health benefits, retirement and financial wellbeing, time off programs, wellbeing support and perks. Benefits may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors. You may also be eligible to participate in an annual incentive program. An incentive award, if any, depends on various factors, including, individual and organizational performance.
Reasonable Accommodation Request

If you need to request an accommodation during the application or hiring process, please fill out our online accommodations request form by following this link: Accommodations Request.