Sales - Consumer Foods

Undergraduates

Job Overview

Business Management Associate

As a Business Management Associate, you'll work for an industry leader, while experiencing the responsibility and challenge associated with managing a small business. During your first 24 months, you will be exposed to our field selling business and our business development teams. In these positions, you'll develop strategies to increase the sales of our category leading products such as Cheerios, Yoplait Yogurt, Betty Crocker baking mixes, and Pillsbury refrigerated dough.

• World Headquarters - Assignments at the General Mills World Headquarters in Minneapolis involve providing technical and analytical support and expertise to the category management team for your assigned categories and account teams. You will provide support by accessing and gathering information through available sources and applications. You'll support marketing and trade marketing through the development of new product templates and providing information to support sales presentations.
• Business Development - Business development assignments involve creating business development strategies that can be implemented by your counterparts in the field. You'll learn the basics of trade analysis and category management as you work on ways to develop our business and improve our productivity and efficiency. When filling a business development role, you'll work in one of our six business centers located across the country in either Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, or Bentonville.
• Field Sales - In a field sales role, you will be responsible for managing your assigned accounts, including the development and implementation of trade and merchandising programs that result in increased sales and customer satisfaction. Often, you'll be allowed to work out of your home office where you'll have the flexibility to structure your business day to better serve your customer's needs.

Career Path

Territory Manager

As a Territory Manager you may be the direct sales representative for your assigned account(s), or you may play a role as a member of a larger account business team. Either way, you're sure to be challenged as the structure of your assignment will likely involve developing and implementing account business plans that focus on promotion, distribution, shelf management and logistics. You'll experience what's it's like to manage your own business as you manage the merchandising and promotional funding for General Mills products at your assigned accounts.

Business Planning Associate

Business Planning Associates provide support to the trade, business development and category management departments with analysis of all trade and promotional-related programs. You will contribute to the business in achieving volume, merchandising, distribution and shelf management goals. You may also act as a consultant and key liaison to your region's management team by interacting with marketing divisions.

Customer Account Manager I

As a Customer Account Manager I, you will be responsible for one or more direct or headquarters accounts. In helping General Mills achieve its volume and merchandising goals, you will often have responsibility for coordinating activities and providing direction to the company's retail representatives and or retail brokers. Your role as a Customer Account Manager I will likely expose you to every aspect of field sales.

Business Planning Manager

Business Planning Managers must have the ability to wear many different hats at General Mills. You must be able to contribute as the "in-house" market and customer expert for the region's senior management team, marketing divisions and our account managers. You will also act as the project leader in category management, trade and promotions. You must also provide market and customer analysis and offer your business solutions. You may also develop your leadership skills by selecting, developing and training business planning associates.

Customer Account Manager II

As a Customer Account Manager II you will likely lead a field sales team. You'll be responsible for setting the retail team priorities while ensuring the team's time and energies are spent in the most productive and efficient manner. Additionally, you will also be involved in identifying new business opportunities and in the creation of business strategies to capitalize on those opportunities.

Product Sales Manager

Product Sales Managers act as liaison between the sales business centers and the divisional marketing departments. In this role, you will work in Minneapolis in one of our product divisions. Your time will be spent coordinating marketing, promotional, and funding strategy between the corporate headquarters and the field.

Key Account Manager

Key Account Managers are responsible for managing the business operations associated with our larger direct headquarters accounts. As a Key Account Manager you will likely direct the activities of one or more business teams. You'll develop and implement account business plans that focus on achieving profitable sales volume and increased market share.

Development Manager

Development Managers are the primary point of contact for all issues involving trade and funding. As a Development Manager you will work closely with the customer managers and field sales teams to determine the appropriate level of funding necessary to finance the region's sales and marketing strategies.

Customer Manager

As a Customer Manager you will be the primary point of contact for all account business plans within your respective region. You will be responsible for developing "top-to-top" relationships with our customers while identifying account specific selling opportunities. Additionally, you will likely manage a number of direct reports within the business center.

Director, Field Sales

Director, Field Sales is responsible for all sales operations within a geographic or corporate region. As a Director, Field Sales, you will be involved in every facet of business and personnel development. Director, Field Sales ensure all divisional policies and procedures are executed and that region sales objectives are achieved.

Training and Development

We believe training and development are the cornerstones of professional success. You'll have the opportunity to participate in a variety of sales-specific training programs including on-the-job- training, customized team programs and a world-class corporate training institute, all focused on making you successful.

Education

Competitive candidates have a bachelor's degree, preferably in business administration, marketing, economics or liberal arts.