Director Marketing Gifting, Packaging & Seasonal Innovation
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 (within drivable distance to be in Hershey, PA for collaboration weeks)
About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) 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?
The Director Marketing Packaging, Gifting & Seasonal Innovation will lead the development of high-impact growth platforms that leverage packaging, gifting occasions, and seasonal consumer moments to drive portfolio expansion and brand relevance across Hershey’s iconic brands. This leader will shape innovation strategies that create incremental demand through differentiated packaging, premium gifting solutions, and seasonal experiences that delight consumers. Working across Marketing, Commercial, Consumer Insights, R&D, Supply Chain, Packaging Development, Finance, and Manufacturing, this role will identify, prioritize, and commercialize scalable growth opportunities that strengthen Hershey’s leadership in key occasions and categories.
What will you do?
- Develop and lead Hershey’s long-term gifting strategy, identifying opportunities to expand participation in gifting occasions and premium consumer experiences.
- Build a robust pipeline of consumer-inspired gifting innovations that drive growth across brands and markets.
- Establish and execute a multi-year packaging innovation strategy focused on premiumization, differentiation, and consumer demand creation.
- Identify emerging packaging, design, format, and experience trends and translate them into scalable innovation opportunities.
- Lead seasonal growth strategies that recruit new consumers into priority brands and occasions.
- Develop platform innovations that can be scaled across multiple brands, geographies, and seasonal moments.
- Build and manage a multi-year innovation roadmap supported by consumer insights, financial analysis, volume forecasts, and investment considerations.
- Partner with customers and commercial teams to gather input and validate future innovation concepts.
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team focused on gifting, seasonal demand creation, and packaging innovation.
- Influence senior stakeholders and drive alignment around strategic growth priorities across the enterprise.
Minimum Requirements
Experience:
- 10+ years of experience in marketing, innovation, commercialization, brand management, product development, or related business leadership roles.
- Proven success leading innovation initiatives from concept through commercialization and launch.
- Strong strategic, analytical, and financial acumen, including experience building business cases and long-range growth strategies.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders in a complex organization.
- Experience translating consumer and customer insights into scalable growth opportunities.
- Preferred experience in premium consumer products, gifting, confectionery, spirits, toys, food and beverage, or other highly seasonal categories.
- Experience with packaging innovation, premiumization strategies, and global innovation planning is strongly preferred.
Education:
- Bachelor's degree required.
- MBA preferred.
The anticipated base salary range for this role is $179,200 to $224,000 per year. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of job‑related factors, including, but not limited to, experience, skill set, education, and training. In addition to a market-competitive base salary, our Total Rewards package includes performance‑based incentives and a comprehensive, competitive benefits package designed to support overall physical, mental, and financial well‑being (as applicable). Learn more about Hershey’s benefits and all the resources Hershey provides to support our employees’ physical, emotional, and financial well‑being by visiting the Hershey Digital Employee Experience at www.askHRbenefits.hersheys.com
The Hershey Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The policy of The Hershey Company is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual's race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other categories protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
The Hershey Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Minority/Female/Disabled/Protected Veterans. You may request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our online application process as a result of a disability.
You can request an accommodation via phone or email.To request an accommodation via phone, please call +1 877-804-1794 and leave a voicemail with your contact information. You may also email a request for accommodation to ApplicationHelp@hersheys.com. Please be sure to include “Accommodation Needed” in the subject line. This will ensure that your email is routed to the appropriate contact who will handle your request.
#LI-SW1
Nearest Major Market: Harrisburg
