Sr Mgr QA Manufacturing (Edgerton, KS, US) @ The Hershey Company

Job Location: Kansas Hub Why Hershey At The Hershey Company, we make more moments of goodness through some of the world's most iconic brands, including Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat®, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Dot's Pretzels, Lesser Evil and more. Our team supports a global portfolio of over 90 brands, creating opportunities to shape strategies and drive impact across a breadth of businesses that few companies can offer. While many organizations focus on a handful of brands, Hershey provides exposure to a diverse portfolio of category-leading brands enjoyed by consumers around the world.

What truly sets us apart is our legacy. Inspired by Milton Hershey's belief that business should create opportunity for others, we have been making a positive impact for more than a century through our commitment to communities, philanthropy, and our longstanding partnership with Milton Hershey School. When you join Hershey, you become part of a company where purpose, growth, and making a difference are woven into how we do business every day.

How will you fit in the big picture? As Sr Mgr QA Manufacturing for the Kansas Hub, you will provide strategic and technical leadership for food quality and safety across multiple manufacturing sites. You will strengthen testing, preventive controls, risk management, and continuous improvement while partnering with Operations, R&D, laboratories, and senior leaders to protect consumers, our brands, and long-term business performance.

What will you do?

• Lead the design, governance, and rollout of multi-site quality and food safety initiatives, with clear objectives, success measures, and implementation plans.
• Set direction for analytical and microbiological testing capabilities, identifying gaps in methods, technology, or capacity and prioritizing improvements with key partners.
• Lead complex risk assessments and HACCP or preventive control reviews for new technologies, products, processes, and network changes.
• Provide technical leadership for significant food safety or quality incidents, including investigation strategy, root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and effectiveness verification.
• Use quality, testing, incident, and process-performance insights to recommend improvements to standards, systems, governance, and resource allocation.
• Ensure compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, Good Manufacturing Practices, corporate programs, and GFSI/SQF expectations; serve as a key liaison during inspections and external interactions.
• Build capability across site Quality, Microbiology, and Sanitation teams through coaching, training, technical direction, and cross-functional collaboration.

Minimum Requirements Education

• Bachelor's degree required; Food Science, Food Engineering, Biology, Management Science, or a related field preferred.
• SQF Practitioner, Preventive Controls Qualified Individual, HACCP, and Six Sigma certifications are preferred.
• Experience: 7+ years of relevant experience in quality assurance, food safety, or manufacturing, including progressive leadership responsibility in a high-speed consumer goods environment.
• Experience with regulatory compliance, HACCP or preventive controls, microbiological and analytical testing, sanitation, incident management, and multi-site or business-unit programs is required.

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 begin on Day 1. 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 . #IND #LI-CE1 Job Overview This role serves as an advanced Food Quality & Safety SME with broad impact across multiple sites or a business unit, providing technical leadership to strategic initiatives and advising senior leaders on functional area systemic risks and opportunities.

Individuals oversee large-scale QA and food safety programs, including strategic testing capabilities, risk management frameworks, and major continuous improvement efforts. They provide technical direction to junior SMEs and project teams and represent the function in cross-functional and, where appropriate, external forums. Working with limited direction, they address complex, multi-factor issues and develop strategic recommendations that shape system design and resource allocation. Their work enhances multi-site or business unit capability, reduces significant quality and food safety risks, and supports long-term brand protection.

Accountabilities

• 1. Lead Cross Divisional or Multi-Site Food Quality and Safety Initiatives Leads the design, governance, and rollout of large-scale QA and food safety initiatives across multiple sites or a business unit. Defines objectives, scope, and success measures for these initiatives and aligns stakeholders around implementation plans. Monitors execution and performance and recommends adjustments to ensure intended outcomes are achieved.
• 2. Oversee Strategic Analytical and Microbiological Testing Capabilities Sets direction for complex analytical and microbiological testing programs that support enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance, and innovation. Evaluates current capabilities against emerging hazards and regulatory expectations and identifies gaps in methods, technologies, or capacity. Partners with laboratory, R and D, and operations leadership to prioritize and implement investments or changes to testing strategies.
• 3. Drive Complex Risk Management and Preventive Control Strategy Leads major risk assessments and high-level HACCP or preventive control reviews for new technologies, product platforms, or network changes. Uses enterprise-level data on testing, incidents, and process performance to evaluate systemic risks. Recommends strategic improvements to control frameworks, standards, and governance processes to reduce risk and support long-term resilience.
• 4. Direct High-Visibility Incident Investigations and Cross-site Corrective Actions Provides technical leadership for significant or cross-site food safety and quality incidents, guiding investigation approach, data collection, and root-cause analysis. Integrates findings across sites or functions and develops corrective and preventive actions that address systemic contributors. Presents results and recommendations to senior leaders, secures alignment on actions, and oversees follow-up verification to confirm risk reduction.
• 5. Provide Technical Leadership, Reporting, and External Representation for Quality and Food Safety Consolidates quality and food safety performance insights at an enterprise or business-unit level and communicates trends and implications to senior leadership.

Uses these insights to influence priorities, resource allocation, and strategy for quality and food safety systems. Where appropriate, represents the organization in interactions with external stakeholders such as regulators, industry groups, or external laboratories to align on standards and share learnings. Minimum Education & Requirements 7+ years The anticipated base salary range for this role is $136,000 to $170,000 per year. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of job‑related factors, including, but not limited to, experience, skill set, education, and training.

In addition to a market-competitive base salary, our Total Rewards package includes performance‑based incentives and a comprehensive, competitive benefits package designed to support overall physical, mental, and financial well‑being (as applicable). Learn more about Hershey’s benefits and all the resources Hershey provides to support our employees’ physical, emotional, and financial well‑being by visiting the Hershey Digital Employee Experience at www.askHRbenefits.hersheys.com 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 [email protected]. 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.