Sr Research Scientist Sweets

Job description

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. About The Hershey Company The Hershey Company 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? Design innovative products for beloved brands including Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Sour Strips, Ice Breakers, and Bubble Yum! Reporting to the Senior Manager, Sweets & Refreshment, this role is part of The Hershey Company’s Product Development R&D team at the Technical Center in Hershey, PA. The Senior Research Scientist will lead product and process development across hard candy, gummies, licorice, gum, and mints. This role translates consumer insights and business needs into scalable products through formulation, prototyping, pilot plant trials, manufacturing scale-up, and commercialization. The successful candidate will bring strong technical expertise, project leadership, and cross-functional collaboration to drive innovation, product improvement, supply continuity, and future technical capabilities across the Sweets & Refreshment portfolio. Specific Role Focus Area Lead product development projects across hard candy, gummies, licorice, gum, mints, chewy confections, and sugar-free/polyol systems. Develop formulations and prototypes from bench through pilot plant and full-scale manufacturing. Partner with Marketing, Consumer Insights, Sensory, Quality, Regulatory, Engineering, Manufacturing, Procurement, Supply Chain, Project Management, Commercialization, Technology Development, and external suppliers/co-manufacturers. Support innovation, renovation, capacity expansion, cost savings, supply continuity, and transformation initiatives. Design and execute experiments, manufacturing trials, and technical evaluations; analyze results and provide recommendations. Build expertise in confectionery and refreshment technologies while mentoring peers and sharing knowledge. Foster a collaborative, fast-paced R&D culture focused on technical rigor, problem solving, and consumer-first innovation. Approximately 25% travel required, including domestic and international travel for plant trials, supplier/co-manufacturer engagement, technical learning, and commercialization support. What will you do? Experience leading innovation, renovation, quality improvement, cost improvement, technology validation, supply continuity, or process optimization initiatives. Strong foundation in food science, chemistry, ingredient functionality, formulation development, and/or process development; experience in confectionery is preferred. Ability to develop hypotheses, design experiments, execute trials, analyze data, troubleshoot results, and translate learning into clear technical recommendations. Experience working in lab, pilot plant, and/or manufacturing environments, including scale-up, commissioning, start-up, commercialization, or plant trial support. Ability to collaborate across Sensory, Consumer Insights, Marketing, Engineering, Packaging, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, Procurement, and Supply Chain to deliver aligned project outcomes. Demonstrated project leadership, prioritization, decision-making, financial awareness, and business integration skills in a fast-paced environment. Strong influencing skills with the ability to communicate technical information clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leaders. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including technical reports, trial summaries, presentations, and recommended next steps. Comfortable with ambiguity, changing priorities, hands-on experimentation, and practical problem solving in a growth-oriented business. Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team while building and sharing technical knowledge across the organization. Key partners include: Marketing & Consumer Insights Sensory, Quality & Regulatory Manufacturing, Engineering & Alliances Procurement, Packaging & Supply Chain Project Management & Commercialization Technology Development & External Suppliers/Co-manufacturers Minimum Education & Requirements Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biology , or a related technical field with 4–6 years of relevant experience ; Master’s degree with 2– 4 years of relevant experience ; or PhD with 0–2 years of relevant experience . Experience in food, beverage, confectionery, ingredient, consumer packaged goods, or related product development environments is preferred. 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. Health & Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus wellness programs that support your physical and mental health Financial Security: Competitive pay, annual incentive opportunities, and a 401(k) with company match Time Off & Flexibility: Paid time off, company holidays, and flexible ways of working where applicable Growth & Development: Career development programs, learning opportunities, and internal mobility. Benefits may vary based on role, location, and eligibility. 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 . 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-KR1 #LI-Onsite