Sr. Manager R&D Sensory Quality Program

Location: Hershey, PA

Summary:

Reporting to the Director of Global Sensory and Product Insights R&D and located at the Technical Center (TC) in Hershey, PA, the Sr. Manager R&D Sensory Quality Program is responsible for managing the Sensory quality team and programs that support R&D and Supply Chain and serves as primary Sensory contributor to the Shelf-Life Committee (SLC) and is a Subject Matter Expert (SME). The Sr. Manager will oversee the Employee Testing Program at both Hershey locations (TC and 19E) and will lead a program focused on ensuring ingredient and finished product quality, oversee all Sensory testing in support of Commodity Approvals, Technical Review and Alignment projects (TR&A), and shelf-life determination for all Hershey brands. The Sr. Manager will work closely with the Manger R&D Sensory Professional Panels who has oversight of the Tech Center Descriptive Program.  

The senior manager will have complete oversight for the overall Sensory Quality Program including commodities and shelf life support and will establish goals and timelines, ongoing training programs, and establish processes for monitoring data quality across geographies to ensure that business decisions in each region are made from valid reliable Sensory results. The Quality Team primary responsibilities include support for Supply Chain Continuity, Strategic Sourcing of Cacao Ingredients and Nuts, validation testing for the approval of Advanced Technologies and Alternate Ingredients, Continuous Improvement (product/process changes), Manufacturing Troubleshooting and Shelf-Life testing. This role entails a wide range of external collaborations, such as strategic cacao ingredient suppliers, research vendors, consultants, and university partnerships. They will work with direct reports to determine goals and timetables for research projects and ensure diligence in execution of Sensory testing. They will resolve resource allocation and timing issues to ensure that business objectives are achieved. The Sr. Manager will consult on International Innovation projects and will also have primary responsibility for planning and executing training for the Sensory department to continue method exploration and capability building.  

The Sr. Manager will lead a team composed of 4 professional level project leaders and technicians and will closely collaborate with an additional 30+ members supporting the departments Descriptive Panels. They will engage with external Sensory and statistical consultants as needed to support various projects. The successful candidate will work closely with business partners in Product Development, Marketing, Manufacturing, Engineering, Procurement, Quality, and Venture teams to align on research objectives and deliverables. Oversight includes supervising communication of all results and final reports to key stakeholders. They will ensure timelines are met with high quality deliverables and provide ongoing progress reports to senior management as needed. 

Shared responsibility with the SPI Director for the development of a 3–5 year strategic plan contributing to the development and advancement of department capabilities to meet the requirements of R&D Vision.   

This role will interact and partner with: 

• Technical and professional employees within Global R&D 

• Manufacturing, Operations and Plant Quality Assurance 

• Quality and Regulatory Compliance 

• Procurement 

• Marketing 

• Engineering 

• External Suppliers, Vendors and Consultants 

Major Responsibilities:

• Sensory Quality Program: The role entails participating in recurring meetings with project leaders in region to ensure all Sensory testing that is executed delivers valid and reliable results against research objectives within timelines.  They will work cross-functionally to define project objectives and design research protocols (includes consumer, discrimination, and descriptive testing).  Team leadership includes planning, execution, analysis, and interpretation of sensory/consumer tests, (including working with external vendors), communication of results both verbally and in report/presentation format leading to sound recommendations and business decisions.  This program is key in ensuring the ongoing high quality and standards of the Hershey company and prevents erosion of product quality and sales. 
• Shelf Life Governance Committee Member:  This role is an integral member of the Shelf-Life Governance Committee responsible for determining all labelled shelf-life on products across North America, AEMEA, and Brazil businesses and is responsible for attending monthly committee meetings and communication of decisions.  This role provides leadership of Sensory methodology review for shelf-life determination, protocol documentation, and validation of new methods. Also holds primary responsibility for other quality initiatives such as manufacturing troubleshooting, plant cost avoidance, alternate supplier testing, etc.  This program is key in maintaining the quality of our incoming ingredients, prevents supply chain disruptions and ensures high output of quality finished product from our manufacturing system.   
• Talent & Organizational Development:  Provide overall leadership as it relates to People Development and Team Structure:  Attracts, leads, manages, and mentors employees in such a way to ensure retention, development, and high performance of talent. Provide subject matter expertise, mentorship and technical support to U.S. Sensory Dept., Global Satellite Programs, and R&D personnel looking to broaden R&D experience.  
• Knowledge and Capability Building:  Assessment and implementation of new sensory and consumer research methods and tools to drive capabilities, efficiencies, and performance.  Recurring Sensory team meetings to gain and maintain alignment on methods and best practices; etc.   This role collaborates with business partners to develop and oversee Consumer Learning Plans, allocate resources, set priorities, goals and timetables for projects. .  Interface with suppliers and industry professionals to assess and incorporate new research approaches and serve as company functional representative. 

Education and Experience Requirements:

• B.S., M.S. or Ph.D. degree in Food Science (Sensory), Statistics, Market Research or related discipline   
  • BONUS:  MBA 
• Typically, a bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Statistics, Market Research, or equivalent plus 12-15 years’ experience or a Master’s degree and 10-12 years’ experience or a Ph.D. and 8-12 years applicable work experience.  Experience should have been obtained while functioning as sensory & consumer researcher and in managerial positions. Significant technical and/or scientific contributions should have been demonstrated through new product launches, product or process optimizations, strong technical leadership of projects and publications

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