Assoc Mgr R&D US CMG Reese

Why Hershey: At The Hershey Company, our culture is rooted in purpose and inspired by Milton Hershey’s enduring vision that business should create opportunity for others. Through our commitment to corporate philanthropy, we create positive impact by supporting communities, helping children thrive, and operating as a business for good. This includes our deep and long standing partnership with Milton Hershey School, where we invest in education, workforce readiness, and hands on engagement to help students succeed beyond the classroom. Supported by strategic grantmaking, product donations, cross brand collaboration, and strong employee volunteerism, Hershey offers a place to work where making a difference—locally and globally—is part of how we do business every day. Location: Hershey, PA (Onsite)

The Hershey Company is an industry-leading snacks company known for making more moments of goodness through its iconic brands. With a strong portfolio across chocolate, confectionery, and salty snacks, Hershey delights consumers every day. Our beloved brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, KitKat®, Dots Pretzels, Lesser Evil, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, and more.   At Hershey, we are committed to making a meaningful difference in the communities where we live, work, and do business. This commitment originated with our founder, Milton Hershey, and continues to shape who we are today.   Guided by our employee value proposition, Lead Today. Create Tomorrow, we empower our people to drive impact now while shaping what comes next. Our One Hershey mindset brings teams together across functions, geographies, and businesses, enabling us to operate with speed, collaboration, and shared purpose.   The Hershey Company is proud to be recognized as a top employer in the United States, reflecting our commitment to our people, culture, and purpose. How will you fit in the big picture?

Reporting to the Senior Manager, Reese Research & Development, the Associate Manager R&D, US CMG Reese will play a critical role in driving innovation across Hershey's chocolate portfolio. This position combines people leadership with technical product development, spending approximately 40% of time leading organizational initiatives and talent development and 60% of time leading medium-complexity product development projects.   You will help bring innovative products to life by partnering across Marketing, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality & Regulatory, Project Management, Technology Development, and Supply Chain. This role offers the opportunity to influence strategic initiatives, develop technical talent, and shape the future of Reese's and other chocolate innovations. What will you do?

Talent & Organizational Leadership

Lead and develop a team of 2-5 Research Technicians and/or Assistants, fostering engagement, capability building, and high performance. Provide leadership on organizational priorities, project execution, talent planning, and employee development. Identify and drive organizational and strategic improvement opportunities through stakeholder engagement, change management, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Product Development & Innovation

Lead product development projects focused on innovative chocolate and confectionery products. Drive formulation development, ingredient innovation, and product transformation initiatives from concept through commercialization. Conduct prototyping and scale-up activities from benchtop development through pilot plant and full-scale manufacturing. Apply scientific principles and technical rigor to solve complex product and process challenges. Assess technical feasibility and provide recommendations for new product concepts. Partner with Supply Chain to support quality improvements, value engineering efforts, and process optimization activities. Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to deliver successful