Hershey's Territory Sales Lead (Akron, OH)

Hershey Company; Akron (OH); On-site; USD 49,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care

Vision

Dental

Retirement

Vacation

Sick leave

Job summary

The Hershey Company in Akron OH is seeking a Territory Sales Lead to ensure flawless execution of store-level sales and promotion plans with retailers in the assigned territory. The role emphasizes driving incremental sales and maintaining best-in-class merchandising strategies across high-volume grocers and mass merchandisers.

The TSL will partner with KDMs, analyze data to guide decisions, and execute promotional plans to achieve 100% distribution of Hershey items.

Qualifications

• GED or HS Diploma
• 2-year Associate/Community College degree required OR 3 years of previous sales experience.
• Bachelor's degree strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Consultative Business Partnering with customer Key Decision Makers at all levels.
• Develop and execute action plans to increase sales with KDMs.
• Analyze store and market data to optimize routes and promotional opportunities.
• Drive merchandising execution and maintain displays to maximize incremental sales.

Skills

Driver's license

Territory travel

Sales call execution

Store merchandising

Education

HS diploma or GED

Associate degree or 3 years sales experience

Bachelor's degree preferred

Job description

Note: To protect the confidentiality, privacy, and security of The Hershey Company, its personnel, and its interview process, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools during interviews to listen, transcribe, record, or assist with answering interview questions is prohibited unless explicitly approved in advance. This is consistent with local data protection laws.

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.

Hershey's Territory Sales Lead (Akron, OH)

Posted Date: Aug 25, 2026

Requisition Number: 130122

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 Overview

Title:Territory Sales Lead

Job Location: Akron OH

Summary

The Territory Sales Lead (TSL) ensures flawless execution of store level sales and promotion plans with customer retailers in assigned territory. The territory consists of high-volume food chain grocers and mass merchandiser customers. The TSL masters retail execution plans by driving incremental sales, implementing, and maintaining best-in-class promotional and merchandising strategies, and ensuring 100% distribution on authorized Hershey items across all classes of trade. A successful TSL will be driven, entrepreneurial, influential, and planful.

Accountabilities

Responsibilities

Consultative Business Partnering

• Build and maintain consultative business relationships with customer Key Decision Makers (KDMs) at all levels.
• Partner and collaborate with KDMs to develop and execute action plans to increase sales. Cultivate a network of influential contacts at all levels of customers to achieve sales objectives.
• Leverage strategic relationships with KDMs to influence and negotiate customers’ assistance in the merchandising of Hershey products.

Data Analysis

• Obtain and analyze relevant store, product, and market data and leverage trends and analytics to build the business.
• Utilize and complete pre-call planning methods and other company tools.
• Review and make recommendations to modify routes that maximize business efficiencies for all sales calls within territory.
• Effectively solve problems by analyzing information, utilizing consumer trends and customer insights to guide decision making and influence others to act.
• Engage in forward selling via consultative sales techniques using provided data sources, technology, processes and procedures.
• Maximize sales and display opportunities by conducting store walk-throughs and gaining commitment by KDMs on successful outcomes.
• Tailor strategies to influence KDMs to order additional products to increase incremental sales and to obtain best in class quality of merchandising locations.

Merchandising
Achieve all merchandising objectives executing customer specific promotional plans to the sales floor using forward selling. Partnership at store level is critical for TSL’s to effectively build, maintain and execute product on the sales floor, in addition to merchandising and maintaining permanent secondary displays and other display vehicles

Administrative Responsibilities
Complete and submit reports of daily and weekly activities, expenses, competitive activity, account changes, promotions and all administrative functions within assigned territory using company approved methods and technology

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• GED or HS Diploma
• 2-year Associate/Community College degree required OR 3 years of previous sales experience.
• Bachelor's degree strongly preferred.

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform essential duties/responsibilities, with or without a reasonable accommodation:

• Must have a valid US state issued driver’s license
• Must reside or be willing to commute within territory boundaries
• Must be able to drive to make multiple sales calls on a daily basis
• Must be able to lift 10-60 lbs. on a regular basis with or without reasonable accommodations
• Must be able to bend, kneel, stoop down and demonstrate manual dexterity on a frequent basis with or without reasonable accommodations
• Occasionally climb ladders
• Occasionally use equipment such as crushing balers, handheld electric trucks
• Must be able to use tablet and other wireless technology; some roles will require an intermediate level of computer skills with the Microsoft Office products
• Must have daily access to wireless internet
• Must have flexibility and adaptability to changes in territory coverage
• Occasional weekend work may be required during peak seasons and select territories may require occasional overnight stays.

Employees can expect to be paid a starting base salary of $54,000. Additional compensation may include overtime & incentives. Other benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, vacation, sick leave.

#LI-AM2

#INDTSA

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 [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.

Nearest Major Market: Akron
Nearest Secondary Market: Cleveland