Future Opportunities Electrical Controls Co-Op (Summer 2027)

Hershey Company; Hershey (PA); On-site; USD 28,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

The Hershey Company is offering an Electrical Controls Co-Op for Summer 2027 in Hershey, PA. The role spans three rotations within the Controls Engineering department, with exposure to electrical design, PLC/HMI development, and commissioning.

Ideal candidates are sophomores or juniors pursuing a BS in EE or EE Technology with a 3.0 GPA, who will gain hands-on experience, collaborate with engineers, and learn about manufacturing processes.

Qualifications

• Sophomore or Junior pursuing a B.S. in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology with a 3.0/4.0 GPA.
• Completed basic courses: Electrical Theory, Electronics, Electrical Design.
• Valid driver’s license; willing to travel internationally.

Responsibilities

• Assist controls engineer with electrical design, installation, and checkout of equipment.
• Develop PLC programs and HMI screens; support VFD/motion control commissioning.
• Collaborate with manufacturing personnel and other Hershey teams to troubleshoot and optimize processes.

Skills

Team collaboration

Willing to travel

Electrical troubleshooting

Project support

Education

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology

GPA 3.0/4.0 minimum

Tools

PLC programming

HMI development

Electrical design basics

Job description

Future Opportunities Electrical Controls Co-Op (Summer 2027)

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Note:If you apply for a role at Hershey through our career’s website, we may use technologies that use automation to filter your candidacy based on objective criteria. We also use AI-enabled tools that help us facilitate the selection of our future Hershey talent. These tools may help with activities such as matching and scoring candidates to roles based on requirements and scheduling interviews. These systems process only the information you provide in your application, including your resume, work history, education, and responses to screening questions. While these technologies assist with certain steps in our recruitment process and may provide recommendations, all final decisions, including those affecting whether candidates advance to subsequent stages in the applicant process, are made by our talent acquisition teams with meaningful human review and independent judgment. Depending on your location and the specific role you apply for, additional disclosures about our use of AI in recruitment may be provided to you separately.

Location: Hershey, PA

Duration: Summer 2027 (Full-time Co-Op May - August 2027 with possible additional 6-month rotation)

We are currently prioritizing recruitment for Spring 2027 Co-Ops. However, we do have a Fall 2027opening as well. Please refer to the correct job posting based on your availability to complete a Co-Op or Internship.

Overview:

This Controls EngineeringCo-Op has the potential for the selected candidate to work 3 consecutive rotations within the Controls Engineering department depending on your availability.

The available Intern/Co-op position would have the opportunity to begin in Summer 2027. Successive rotations would then follow school schedule for a co‑op experience.

Responsibilities

This position may include but is not limited to the following:

Project Work: Under the guidance of the controls engineer, the intern may be involved in project work which may include electrical design, equipment/instrument installation, equipment/instrument checkout, project startups and maintenance troubleshooting and support.

Intern Project: Working on their own assigned project. Projects may involve developing electrical elementary drawings, writing program logic controller (PLC) programs, Human Machine Interface (HMI) screen development, and commissioning of Variable Frequency Drives (VFD)/Motion Control systems. Project work may also include observing existing plant processes, making recommendations, setting up a test design and working with plant operators and supervisors to troubleshoot existing systems. Researching new technologies to implement in production environments.

Other: The student intern may also gain experience in talking to vendors, equipment/instrument selection, equipment/instrument set up and training of manufacturing personnel. The intern may also work with process engineering, packaging engineering, quality assurance, industrial engineering and other Hershey personnel.

Qualifications

Major: Sophomore or junior working toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0.

Coursework: The candidate must have completed the basic or introductory courses in the following areas:

• Electrical Theory
• Electronics
• Electrical Design

Coursework or experience in the following areas is not necessary but would be a plus:

• Networking
• SCADA Systems
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel
• Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Programming - Ladder Logic, Function Blocks, Structured Text
• Human Machine Interface (HMI) Development – Using Visualization Software
• Food Processing or Manufacturing

Candidate must have a valid driver’s license.

This position may involve international travel.

Technical Skills: Ability to use basic electrical instruments such as digital multimeter, current probes and signal calibrators. The successful candidate must also have basic electrical troubleshooting experience.

Personal Skills: The successful candidate works well with others, is organized, takes initiative, is dependable, has common sense and is flexible and willing to travel.

Please be advised that The Hershey Company welcomes all applicants to internships. However, Hershey will not provide immigration-related support for these internships.
Hershey also will not provide immigration-related sponsorship (such as H-1B) for entry-level roles should you later apply for one of those roles in the future.

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.

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You can request an accommodation via phone or email.

To request an accommodation via phone, please call [phone] and leave a voicemail with your contact information. You may also email a request for accommodation to [e-mail]. 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.