Process Lead

Process Lead

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.

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.

As a Process Lead, you will play a critical role in driving Hershey Lean Daily Management systems within the plant and advancing our vision of a zero-loss culture. You will lead process discipline, develop and implement improvements, and build operator and mechanic capabilities within a TPM environment. You will own centerline and changeover systems while partnering across the Business Unit to ensure losses are identified, analyzed, and eliminated using data-driven decision making. As a key member of the line-centric leadership team, you will help shape a culture focused on operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Accountabilities:

• Lead daily problem-solving and data-driven planning for the assigned Business Unit
• Coach operators and mechanics on executing standardized work
• Develop and maintain line standards and procedures using digital tools (e.g., Augmentir)
• Establish and manage equipment centerlines and optimize changeover processes
• Drive process efficiency and performance across multiple production lines
• Own loss tracking and analysis to ensure top losses are addressed with clear actions and escalation
• Lead daily management activities including direction setting, shift hand-offs, and huddles
• Partner with engineering teams to support successful system design, start-up, and implementation
• Support financial evaluation of capital projects, pipeline initiatives, and new item costing

Minimum Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor's degree preferred
• Experience: 3+ years of relevant experience in a manufacturing environment
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, TPM, and continuous improvement methodologies preferred

Additional Skills & Capabilities:

• Strong leadership and ability to influence and drive change
• Proven problem-solving and analytical skills
• Ability to develop and execute action plans based on operational data
• Experience working independently and taking ownership of results
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Experience with data collection and visualization tools (e.g., OSI PI, Power BI, PowerApps, O365) preferred

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.