Sr Mgr Operations Excellence

Hershey Company; Robinson (IL); On-site; USD 142,000 - 177,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) savings with company match

Paid time off and holidays

Career development programs

Job summary

The Hershey Company is seeking a Sr Mgr Operations Excellence at the Robinson, IL site. You will lead the site’s operations excellence strategy, drive continuous improvement initiatives, and manage a team of direct and indirect reports across CI pillars.

You will leverage TPM, Lean, Six Sigma, and digital tools to improve safety, quality, service and cost while partnering with plant leadership. Key responsibilities include directing governance, performance standards, and an improvement pipeline,

Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant experience in manufacturing and leading continuous improvement or operational excellence initiatives.
• Proven Lean adoption and digital work processes in high-speed consumer packaged goods manufacturing.
• Advanced Excel, SAP S/4, and Power BI capabilities.
• Experience with Augmentir Connected Worker, Electronic Value Stream Mapping, TPM, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, change management, and performance analytics.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Robinson site Operations Excellence strategy and Integrated Continuous Improvement program using TPM, Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma methodologies.
• Partner with plant leadership to establish objectives, governance, performance standards, audits, and work plans aligned with site and company priorities.
• Lead and develop an organization of 7 direct reports and 12 indirect reports across Process Leads, Labor & Scheduling, the Learning and Development Pillar, and Training.
• Drive improvement across safety, quality, service, cost, engagement, and operating performance through structured problem solving and a healthy improvement pipeline.
• Coach and develop leaders, Process Leads, line-centric teams, and employees across shifts to strengthen capability, ownership, and CI tool usage.
• Guide linedeployment, pillar development, Focus Teams, capability progression, and sustainability of Hershey Lean across the site.
• Monitor performance and financial impact against multi-year glidepaths, identify major risks, and communicate updates to senior stakeholders.
• Lead deployment of Connected Worker solutions, including Augmentir, and electronic value stream mapping to strengthen digital work processes.
• Proactively analyze operating trends using Excel, SAP S/4, and Power BI, translate insights into actions, and communicate results to stakeholders.
• Coordinate with central teams and Operations Excellence leaders for scalable implementation.

Job description

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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.

Sr Mgr Operations Excellence

Posted Date: Sep 16, 2026

Requisition Number: 130394

Job Location: Robinson, IL

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 commitmentoriginated withour founder, Milton Hershey, and continues to shape who we are today.

Guided by our employee value proposition,Lead Today. Create Tomorrow,weempower our people to drive impact now while shaping what comes next. OurOne Hersheymindset 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 SrMgrOperations Excellence will lead the Robinson site Operations Excellence strategy and Integrated Continuous Improvement program for a 1,000-person manufacturing facility using TPM, Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma methodologies. This role partners with plant leadership toestablishobjectives, governance, performance s, audits, and work plans aligned with site and company priorities. As a key change leader, you will drive improvement across safety, quality, service, cost, engagement, and operating performance through structured problem solving and a healthy improvement pipeline. This role leads 7 direct reports and 12 indirect reports, with the Process Leads, Labor & Scheduling, Learning and Development Pillar, and Training teams reporting into the role.

What will you do?

• Lead the Robinson site Operations Excellence strategy and Integrated Continuous Improvement program using TPM, Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma methodologies.
• Partner with plant leadership toestablishobjectives, governance, performance standards, audits, and work plans aligned with site and company priorities.
• Lead and develop an organization of 7 direct reports and 12 indirect reports across Process Leads, Labor & Scheduling, the Learning and Development Pillar, and Training.
• Drive improvement across safety, quality, service, cost, engagement, and operating performance through structured problem solving and a healthy improvement pipeline.
• Coach and develop leaders, Process Leads, line-centric teams, and employees across shifts to strengthen capability, ownership, and consistent use of CI tools.
• Guide linedeployment, pillar development, Focus Teams, capability progression, and the sustainability of Hershey Lean across the site.
• Monitorperformance andfinancial impactagainst multi-year glidepaths,identifymajor risks or roadblocks, and communicate clear updates to senior stakeholders.
• Lead deployment of Connected Worker solutions, includingAugmentir, andadvanceElectronic Value Stream Mapping to strengthen digital work processes and frontline adoption.
• Proactively analyze operating trends using Excel, SAP S/4, and Power BI, translate insights into clear actions, and communicate measurable results to stakeholders.
• Coordinate with central teams and Operations Excellence leaders across the network to share knowledge and support consistent, scalable implementation.

Experience:

• 7+ years of relevant experience, including manufacturing experience anddemonstratedleadershipofcontinuous improvement or operational excellence initiatives.
• Provenresultsbuilding Lean adoption and implementing digital work processes arerequired. Experience in high-speed consumer packaged goods manufacturing is highly preferred.
• Advanced Excel skills and strong SAP S/4 and Power BI capabilities arerequired;
• Experience withAugmentirConnected Worker, Electronic Value Stream Mapping, TPM, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, change management, and performance analytics is preferred. Must be able to clearly articulate insights, actions, and measurable results.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in engineeringor a related discipline strongly preferred,MBA a plus.
• Six Sigma Green Belt certification or abovepreferred.

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

Financial Security: Competitive pay, annual incentive opportunities, and 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.

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The anticipated base salary range for this role is $141,520 to $176,900 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 [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.