Senior Director IT Commercial

Job Location: Hershey, PA
Location: The preferred location is Hershey, PA but open to hybrid arrangement.  The role will require approximately 1-2 trips monthly to Hershey.

It’s an exciting time at The Hershey Company! The company is progressing its growth aspirations and vision to be a leading snacking company. To continue to grow and enable the achievement of our vision, Hershey is elevating its enterprise-wide technology platforms and driving digital transformation.  We have a new opportunity for a Senior Director IT Commercial leader which will report to our Chief Information Officer. The leader is accountable for thought leadership, vision, innovation, roadmaps, and implementation plans that drive value creation across all aspects of Hershey’s Commercial & Commercial Digital Solutions for all Hershey business units. This role partners with the business, including leaders at the highest level, to drive consumer value and to increase sales through superior thought leadership and retail partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

• Create and drive a comprehensive Commercial IT strategy that supports Brand/Marketing/Advertising, Communications, Sales, Customer, Consumer, and Commercial functions. Develop a multi-year roadmap in support of this strategy.
• Sit on the business lead teams for our two largest business units, partnering with other leaders to develop and operationalize our business strategy to help Hershey grow and win.
• Articulate, develop plans, and execute the glidepath to deliver committed business value.
• Oversee lifecycle of commercial technology products, ensuring they meet business needs.
• Successfully deliver state-of-the-art IS solutions for consumer/customer insights, category strategy, retail innovation, marketing, and digital initiatives. Innovate and identify new capabilities to drive business growth and transform existing capabilities. Significant focus on business transformation using technology – AI, data, analytics, retail execution, etc.
• Manage the annual opex and capex ($15M+) for category leadership solutions, monitoring market trends and engaging key customers to maintain a leading edge in customer reporting.

Qualifications

• Strategic Vision & Thought Leadership: Ability to create and communicate a clear vision for integrating business requirements with commercial digital solutions, ensuring alignment with company goals and driving innovation within the organization.
• Collaboration: Strong collaboration skills to partner effectively with Sales and Mktg leadership, fostering an environment that enhances intellectual capital and drives consumer value.
• Familiarity with commercial CPG landscape to articulate what is possible and how it can help Hershey win.
• Agile Leadership & Change Management: Proficiency in leading organizational change through Agile and DevOps transformations, promoting a common commercial technology architecture that supports rapid and efficient solution deployment. Familiarity with DevOps methods and knowledge of Fiori Apps is preferred. Ability to articulate what good looks like in terms of business outcomes and what it takes to get there through technology and process transformation is required.
• Financial & Resource Management: Expertise in developing and managing budgets, capital plans, and system development plans, ensuring financial performance.
• Vendor & Relationship Management: Ability to develop and maintain strategic relationships with key service vendors and internal stakeholders, ensuring rapid onboarding, access to skilled resources, and fostering strong partnerships for successful project delivery.

Education and Experience Level

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Mathematics, Information Technology, or a related field. An MBA or MS is strongly preferred.
• 20+ years of progressive experience in managing, implementing, or supporting IT solutions, with 7+ years of leadership experience in developing commercial solutions. Experience with leading sales and marketing platforms and technologies (e.g. Salesforce, AI transformations, marketing automation, trade fund/promotion management, etc.) is a significant plus.
• 10+ years of experience managing mid-to-large projects ($10M+) in commercial, marketing, or sales.

#LI-CT1