Senior Engineer, Salty R&D: Snack Process Innovator

Hershey Company

Hershey (PA)

On-site

USD 110,000 - 160,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Health & Wellbeing benefits

401(k) with company match

Paid time off & holidays

Career development programs

Job summary

The Hershey Company in Hershey, PA, is seeking a Senior Engineer for Salty R&D to lead end-to-end process development, scale-up, and commercialization across popcorn, extrusion, frying, baked snacks, and related platforms.

You will partner with Product Development, Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Manufacturing to drive robust processes, DOE projects, and plant trials, reporting to the Manager, Process Development.

Qualifications

BS in Chemical/Food Engineering or related field with 6–8 years of experience; MS/PhD with 2–4 years considered.
Two or more of the following strongly preferred: popcorn, extrusion, frying, pretzels, baked snacks.
Experience with DOE, statistical tools, and data-driven root cause analysis (Six Sigma).
Experience leading plant trials and troubleshooting manufacturing issues.

Responsibilities

Provide process development expertise across salty and baked snack platforms, including thermal processing, extrusion, frying, baking, drying, seasoning, oil systems, and airflow control.
Design and support process validation experiments to optimize throughput, yield, texture, color, moisture, energy use, and product consistency.
Lead pilot-scale and full-scale trials for new processes, equipment modifications, and technology introductions.
Partner with Operations and Engineering on equipment commissioning, FAT/SAT, and process validation.
Troubleshoot complex manufacturing challenges related to texture variability, oil quality, seasoning adhesion, expansion, airflow, heat distribution, and other process factors.
Develop process guides, operating windows, critical control parameters, technical documentation, scale-up recommendations, and engineering SOPs.
Serve as an engineering lead on cross-functional innovation teams, connecting formulation, process design, equipment capability, and manufacturing execution.
Contribute to long-term platform capability roadmaps and continuous improvement opportunities in areas such as frying technology, extrusion, baking systems, airflow, seasoning application, productivity, and energy reduction.