Reliability Lead

The Hershey Company; Hershey (PA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

The Hershey Company is seeking a Reliability Lead to drive equipment reliability, maintenance excellence, and continuous improvement across an assigned production area in Hershey, PA. You will lead maintenance planning, establish preventive and predictive programs, and partner with cross-functional teams to optimize asset performance and site reliability.

Responsibilities include leading RCA, capital planning, and cost-effective maintenance practices while coaching mechanics and operators to

Qualifications

• 3+ years of relevant maintenance, reliability, or manufacturing experience.
• Reliability-centered maintenance, preventive maintenance, and predictive maintenance methodologies.
• Lean Manufacturing, TPM, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• SAP-PM or similar CMMS platforms, with SAP S/4 experience preferred.
• Leading projects, driving change, and influencing cross-functional teams.
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead overall maintenance and asset reliability activities for assigned production lines or process areas.
• Manage maintenance planning and scheduling through SAP work order prioritization and development of maintenance schedules.
• Drive preventive and predictive maintenance programs through analysis of maintenance and equipment performance data.
• Partner with Technical Assurance to support asset management processes, inventory accuracy, and maintenance cost effectiveness.
• Support development of site capital plans and manage capital improvement projects.
• Lead root cause analysis, defect handling, and breakdown elimination activities to improve equipment reliability and reduce downtime.
• Participate in daily operational huddles, report maintenance performance metrics, and drive corrective actions.
• Coach and develop mechanics and operators to strengthen equipment ownership, autonomous maintenance practices, and technical capability.
• Apply advanced troubleshooting and diagnostic techniques to identify and resolve complex equipment issues.
• Ensure compliance with all safety, quality, and technical standards while promoting a culture of continuous improvement.

Skills

Reliability engineering

Maintenance planning

Root Cause Analysis

Lean Manufacturing

Team coaching

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related

Mechanical Engineering degree preferred

Tools

SAP-PM

CMMS

SAP S/4HANA

Job description

Reliability Lead

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.

Job Location: Hershey, PA

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 (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 tooperatewith 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?

The West Hershey Maintenance Department has the tools and resources in place to be a world-class maintenance organization that maximizes preventive and predictive practices. As the Reliability Lead, you will play a critical role in driving equipment reliability, maintenance excellence, and continuous improvement within an assigned business unit. You will lead maintenance planning and reliability strategies that maximize asset performance, improve operational efficiency, and support Hershey's manufacturing journey. This role offers the opportunity to influence plant performance, develop long-term maintenance strategies, and collaborate across operations, engineering, and technical teams to deliver sustainable results.

What will you do?

• Lead overall maintenance and asset reliability activities for assigned production lines or process areas.


• Manage maintenance planning and scheduling through SAP work order prioritization and development of maintenance schedules.


• Drive preventive and predictive maintenance programs through analysis of maintenance and equipment performance data.


• Partner with Technical Assurance to support asset management processes, inventory accuracy, and maintenance cost effectiveness.


• Support development of site capital plans and manage capital improvement projects.


• Lead root cause analysis, defect handling, and breakdown elimination activities to improve equipment reliability and reduce downtime.


• Participate in daily operational huddles, report maintenance performance metrics, and drive corrective actions.


• Coach and develop mechanics and operators to strengthen equipment ownership, autonomous maintenance practices, and technical capability.


• Apply advanced troubleshooting and diagnostic techniques to identify and resolve complex equipment issues.


• Ensure compliance with all safety, quality, and technical standards while promoting a culture of continuous improvement.

Minimum Education & Requirements

Experience

• 3+ years of relevant maintenance, reliability, or manufacturing experience.


• Reliability-centered maintenance, preventive maintenance, and predictive maintenance methodologies.


• Lean Manufacturing, TPM, and continuous improvement initiatives.


• SAP-PM or similar CMMS platforms, with SAP S/4 experience preferred.


• Leading projects, driving change, and influencing cross-functional teams.


• Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodologies.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline preferred.


• Mechanical Engineering degree preferred.


• Equivalent combinations of education and relevant manufacturing maintenance experience will be considered.

Preferred Certifications / Skills

• Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP)


• Root Cause Analysis (RCA) training


• Predictive Maintenance (PdM) experience


• Maintenance Planning & Scheduling


• Reliability Engineering


• Troubleshooting and Advanced Diagnostics


• Safety Management


• Capital Project Management


• Lean Manufacturing and TPM


• Coaching and Team Development

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: Harrisburg