Sr Mgr Operations Excellence
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.
Job Location: Robinson, IL
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 Sr Mgr Operations Excellence will lead the continuous improvement vision and roadmap for the Robinson site, driving measurable progress in safety, quality, cost, customer service, and employee engagement. This role partners with plant leadership and teams across the operation to strengthen Hershey Lean, build capability, and embed scalable, sustainable ways of working. As a key change leader, you will connect site priorities to broader business goals, provide clear updates on progress and risk, and help shape a high-performing, zero-loss culture.
What will you do?
• Lead the Robinson site Operations Excellence strategy and Integrated Continuous Improvement program using TPM, Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma methodologies.
• Partner with plant leadership to establish objectives, governance, performance standards, audits, and work plans aligned with site and company priorities.
• Drive improvement across safety, quality, service, cost, engagement, and operating performance through structured problem solving and a healthy improvement pipeline.
• Coach and develop leaders, Process Leads, line-centric teams, and employees across shifts to strengthen capability, ownership, and consistent use of CI tools.
• Guide line deployment, pillar development, Focus Teams, capability progression, and the sustainability of Hershey Lean across the site.
• Monitor performance and financial impact against multi-year glidepaths, identify major risks or roadblocks, and communicate clear updates to senior stakeholders.
• Coordinate with central teams and Operations Excellence leaders across the network to share knowledge and support consistent, scalable implementation.
Minimum Education & Requirements
Experience: 7+ years of relevant experience in an automated manufacturing environment, including demonstrated leadership of continuous improvement or operational excellence initiatives. Experience with TPM, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, change management, capability building, and performance analytics is strongly preferred.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related discipline strongly preferred. Six Sigma Green Belt certification or above preferred; MBA a plus.
Benefits and Perks
At Hershey, we offer competitive pay and a comprehensive total rewards package designed to support your wellbeing, financial security, and life outside of work.
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Health & Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus wellness programs that support your physical and mental health
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Financial Security: Competitive pay, annual incentive opportunities, and a 401(k) with company match
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Time Off & Flexibility: Paid time off, company holidays, and flexible ways of working where applicable
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Growth & Development: Career development programs, learning opportunities, and internal mobility
Benefits may vary based on role, location, and eligibility.
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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.
