OVERVIEWTalent is our competitive advantage at General Mills. The Manager, Leadership Recruiting & Strategic Search is responsible for identifying, engaging, and hiring predominantly Director-level talent across the organization. This role combines executive search expertise, strategic talent advisory, and hands-on recruiting leadership to help General Mills build exceptional leadership teams and strengthen its long-term talent pipeline.
The Manager will serve as a trusted advisor to senior business and HR leaders, bringing market insight, disciplined search strategy, and a high-touch candidate experience to complex and confidential searches. The role will manage the full recruiting lifecycle, from intake and search strategy through assessment, selection, offer, and transition.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIESLead Director-level recruiting and strategic searches- Lead full-cycle recruiting for predominantly Director-level roles and new capabilities across business segments and functions.
- Develop and execute tailored search strategies for complex, confidential, and high-impact leadership positions.
- Partner with senior leaders and HR Business Partners to clarify business needs, role scope, leadership capabilities, and success measures.
- Build diverse, high-quality candidate pipelines through proactive sourcing, networking, market research, referrals, and external search partners when appropriate.
- Assess candidates against defined requirements, leadership capabilities, cultural contribution, and potential for sustained impact.
- Manage multiple searches simultaneously while maintaining strong candidate and stakeholder experiences.
- Provide timely, informed recommendations throughout the search process and proactively manage risks, tradeoffs, and market realities.
Serve as a strategic talent advisor- Advise leaders on talent markets, competitive intelligence, candidate availability, compensation considerations, and recruiting implications.
- Challenge and influence search assumptions to ensure roles are designed to attract the talent needed now and in the future.
- Partner with HR Business Partners and Global Talent Org teams to connect external hiring with broader talent, succession, and organizational priorities.
- Bring an enterprise perspective to leadership hiring and help leaders make thoughtful, equitable, and evidence-based talent decisions.
- Use data, insights, and market knowledge to shape recruiting recommendations and inform workforce and talent strategies.
Drive high-quality assessment and selection- Establish clear search criteria and structured evaluation approaches with hiring leaders and interview teams.
- Facilitate effective, consistent, and equitable assessment and selection practices.
- Coach leaders on interviewing, candidate engagement, decision-making, and bias disruption.
- Lead candidate review and decision discussions, consolidating feedback and ensuring alignment to agreed-upon criteria.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality and discretion throughout sensitive searches.
- Partner with leaders and HR colleagues to support compelling, competitive, and well-informed offers.
Deliver an exceptional candidate experience- Build trusted relationships with candidates and serve as a knowledgeable ambassador for General Mills.
- Clearly communicate role expectations, leadership culture, organizational priorities, and the candidate journey.
- Partner with leaders to ensure a compelling and consistent candidate value proposition.
- Maintain strong relationships with finalist and silver-medalist candidates to strengthen future leadership pipelines.
Strengthen recruiting capability and ways of working- Contribute to the evolution of leadership recruiting practices, tools, processes, and technology.
- Share market intelligence, sourcing approaches, and lessons learned across the Talent Acquisition community.
- Cultivate and nurture effective partnerships with external search firms and other talent providers when specialized expertise is needed.
- Use recruiting data and analytics to monitor search progress, identify opportunities, and improve outcomes.
- Support initiatives that advance talent acquisition effectiveness, simplification, inclusion, and candidate experience.
- Represent Leadership Recruiting in cross-functional projects and enterprise talent initiatives.
- Act as a key member of the Talent Acquisition Leadership Team, working across pillars to bring additional projects, mentorship, and process improvements to life.
KEY CAPABILITIES- Strategic influence: Shapes decisions by connecting talent recommendations to business priorities.
- Executive presence: Builds trust and communicates effectively with senior leaders and candidates.
- Search expertise: Applies sophisticated sourcing, market mapping, assessment, and selection practices.
- Business mindset and insights: Understands the business context and uses data to guide action.
- Credible partnership: Creates strong relationships across leaders, HR, candidates, and external partners.
- Situational agility: Adapts approach to changing priorities, markets, and stakeholder needs.
- Candidate advocacy: Delivers an engaging, transparent, and respectful candidate experience.
- Inclusive leadership: Promotes fair, equitable, and consistent talent practices.
- Executional excellence: Delivers high-quality outcomes with rigor, urgency, and sound judgment.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
- 8+ years of progressive recruiting, executive search, talent acquisition, and/or related HR experience.
- Demonstrated experience recruiting Director-level or other senior leadership talent.
- Experience leading complex, consultative searches from intake through offer and transition.
- Proven ability to influence senior leaders and build credibility with executives and HR partners.
- Strong sourcing, interviewing, assessment, stakeholder management, and offer negotiation skills.
- Experience managing confidential searches and sensitive candidate information.
- Strong written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, highly matrixed organization.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS- Experience in an in-house corporate recruiting or executive search environment.
- Experience recruiting across multiple functions, business segments, or geographies.
- Experience partnering with external executive search firms.
- Knowledge of leadership talent markets, succession practices, and contemporary sourcing strategies.
- Experience using recruiting data and market insights to influence decisions.
- Familiarity with Workday Recruiting or similar applicant tracking systems.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS- International relocation or international remote working 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. General Mills will not sponsor applicants for this position for work visas
SALARY RANGEThe salary range for this position is:
$110,800 - $166,300 Annual
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.
