Life at General Mills
The people behind the food at General Mills
Get to know the people behind our brands and discover what a career in manufacturing is like at General Mills.
The people behind our products
Ever wonder how we make our delicious cereal like Cinnamon Toast Crunch or high-quality Blue Buffalo pet food?
Our purpose is to make food the world loves, and our manufacturing employees are at the heart of this work.
Our dedicated manufacturing team of ~9,000 North America employees across our 20+ plant locations make a difference every day by producing a wide variety of products ranging from cereal and snacks to desserts and pet food, for consumers around the world.
When you join a manufacturing team at General Mills, you join a family.
While each of our plant locations are unique, they all foster a family environment and culture of belonging that empowers growth and development.
There’s a strong sense of pride, passion and comradery that comes with working at our manufacturing plants. Having the opportunity to collaborate, solve challenges, and see the fruits of your labor as a product comes to life and rolls off the production line, are a few reasons this career is so rewarding.
See how team members across our plants are helping build our brands through manufacturing careers at General Mills.
Manufacturing fuels growth and development
Manufacturing is a diverse industry with a variety of career paths and opportunities for growth and development.
We spoke with a few of our employees to hear about their unique journeys and experiences along the way, and what has had the greatest impact on their career.
Three key themes emerged – the people, sense of belonging and opportunity to lead.
Katie Holman
Katie Holman, vice president of Supply Chain, Meals & Baking Solutions, started at General Mills in 2010 as a Continuous Improvement leader. Since then, she’s held various roles including Plant Technical manager, Director of Supply Chain, Chief of Staff and Director of Business Performance Management.
Now she leads Supply Chain for the Meals and Baking team, which consists of brands like Betty Crocker and Pillsbury. Her cross-functional collaboration spans Planning, Sourcing, Manufacturing, Engineering, Logistics, and Customer Operations to drive innovation and efficiency across the full value chain.
What makes Katie’s job so rewarding? Hands down, it’s the people.
“I started in manufacturing because I was studying engineering and thought I should give it a try. I ended up falling in love with manufacturing because of the people – my favorite part of the job was being out on the floor and working with the team. You get the opportunity to work with people from all walks of life. You learn from each other and grow as a team to make something tangible – food for the world. How cool is that?”
She’s also benefited from leadership development opportunities throughout her journey at General Mills.
“Whether you are driving a fork lift, designing a new piece of equipment, or leading an entire department, you will develop as a leader. You will build empathy and high collaboration skills – learning how to connect across teams and departments to deliver results together.”
Samir Quraeshi
Samir Quraeshi serves as the plant manager of our Chanhassen plant which has more than 320 employees and is where many of our indulgent products like fresh baked cookies, brownies and cinnamon rolls are made.
Samir started at General Mills as an Operations Management Associate in Martel, Ohio in 2006. His career journey has included Continuous Improvement & Training manager, Operations Business manager of our North America Foodservice Segment, Senior manager of North America Manufacturing Initiatives among others.
He’s gained exposure working in different areas of the business and accrued countless learning and leadership experiences.
Samir is most proud of the resiliency of his team.
“There is an incredible sense of community in the plant. To see the way the team has come together in the face of so much external adversity – to truly come together and accelerate our results is something that I hold close to my heart every day. I have so much pride in the resiliency, agility and can-do attitude of the team.”
Isabel Quepons
Isabel Quepons started at our Kansas City Mill as a plant technical manager in 2004. Since then, she’s held a variety of roles including assistant plant manager at our Cedar Rapids plant and plant manager at our Joplin plant.
Today, she oversees our Albuquerque, New Mexico plant as plant manager where about 380 employees produce delicious cereal and bars every day.
“I show up to work every single day with energy and passion for what I do because of the people at the plant.”
Isabel says understanding the engineering behind our products and the needs of our customers and consumers is critical for leading a team.
“Working in manufacturing gives you a deep understanding of how our products are formulated and made. Learning about the technology and development of our products is key to be able to lead a successful team.”
Interested in a career in manufacturing? Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, explore our manufacturing roles and apply at careers.generalmills.com.