MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills Inc. has promoted Dana McNabb, group president of North America Retail (NAR) and North America Pet, to chief operating officer, re-establishing the COO role.
Plans call for McNabb to start as COO on June 1, and she will continue to report to Jeff Harmening, chairman and chief executive officer, General Mills said. With the appointment, McNabb also will join the Minneapolis-based food company’s board of directors. She also serves on the board of directors of Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW), General Mill’s cereal joint venture with Nestle.
As COO, McNabb will oversee all of General Mills’ operating segments and key operating functions, including the International and North America Foodservice segments and the Digital & Technology, Innovation, Technology & Quality, Strategy and Growth and Supply Chain teams, on top of her current responsibilities for North America Retail and North America Pet.
The last General Mills executive to serve as COO was Harmening. He was named to the then-newly created position of president and COO effective July 2016. He became CEO in June 2017.
“Dana is a disciplined, strategic leader and results-driven operator with a proven passion for our brands and consumers,” Harmening said. “As someone who looks ahead and acts with urgency, Dana has led an initiative to reinvigorate our brands by strengthening their remarkability. She is exceptionally well suited to lead our global operations and restore profitable growth for General Mills and our shareholders.”
McNabb’s promotion to COO comes almost a year after she added oversight of North America Pet to her duties as group vice president of NAR, General Mills’ largest business unit. She has been NAR group vice president since January 2024, when she was elevated to the post in a flurry of senior leadership changes after serving as chief strategy and growth officer since August 2021.
Previously, McNabb held roles including group president of Europe and Australia and spent more than four years as president of the NAR Cereal and Snacks operating units. Prior to that, she was vice president of global marketing for CPW, which is based in Switzerland. She joined General Mills in 1999, starting in the Canadian division in 1999, and her marketing experience spans the company’s major businesses, including cereal, snacks, meals and dairy, General Mills noted.
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