Staff Engineer, Controls

Hershey Company; Memphis (TN); On-site; USD 128,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

The Hershey Company is seeking an experienced engineering leader to provide technical leadership for electrical and automation systems across our Memphis plant. You will drive improvements in controls, instrumentation, and packaging equipment performance to boost reliability and efficiency.

The role requires a Bachelor’s degree in a related field and at least five years of post-bachelor experience in manufacturing controls, PLC/HMI programming, and project leadership, with strong collaboration

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechatronic engineering, manufacturing engineering or related field with five years of post-bachelor experience in manufacturing controls.
• Experience with PLC, HMI and automation systems across plant environments.
• Knowledge of controls networking, cybersecurity, and batch management systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership to plant operations in electrical and automation systems.
• Lead improvements in equipment capability, reliability and efficiency.
• Develop and manage capital projects and supplier relationships.

Skills

Electrical controls leadership

PLC programming

Analytical problem solving

Lean manufacturing

Mentoring teammates

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechatronic/manufacturing engineering or related field

Tools

RSLogix 500/5000

FactoryTalk ME/SE

ThinManager/ThinClient

Vijeo

Schneider controllers

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.

Posted Date: Oct 2, 2026

Requisition Number: 130299

Location: Memphis,TN

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.

How will you fit in the big picture?

Provide technical leadership and support to plant operational and maintenance staff in problem resolution and optimization of existing electrical control and automation systems.

What will you do?

• Manage electrical and controls resources.
• Support continuous improvement efforts through the development and implementation of equipment capability and performance data improvements, resulting in increased operational capability, reliability, and efficiency.
• Lead and support the development of controls and instrumentation expertise for plant technical resources.
• Manage and support capital projects; provide technical assistance to project teams and support development of future facility capital requirements.
• Develop and execute controls and automation strategies for process and packaging equipment optimization, including waste reduction, change-over improvement, reliability, efficiency, etc.
• Ensure process and packaging controls capabilities align with operational requirements (Lean, TPM). Coordinate and lead execution of controls, upgrades and change requests through collaboration with Business Units.
• Support the development of existing equipment autonomous maintenance activities (centerline, change-over).
• Provide technical leadership and support to plant operational and maintenance staff in training, troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
• Develop and manage controls capital projects for the facility.
• Assist in development of the plant’s 5-year capital plan.
• Develop and manage external supplier relationships.

Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in mechatronic engineering, manufacturing engineering or a related technical/engineering field plus five years of post-bachelor experience working with manufacturing controls systems. Experience must include the following (but need not extend over the full period of required experience):

• Advanced programing knowledge and experience with PLC, HMI (RSLogix 500, RSLogix 5000, Connected component, Allen Bradley FactoryTalk ME and SE, Schineder controllers and Vijeo machine)
• Advanced configuration and troubleshooting knowledge of controls networking systems and network security, including Virtual networks and Firewalls
• Program, modify and troubleshoot recipes and phase control process in Allen Bradley Batch Management system, configure ThinManager and ThinClient
• Programing knowledge and experience with robotics (Fanuc and ABB)
• Management and support of capital projects
• Ability to develop, mentor, and train technical and operational personnel

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 a 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.

The anticipated base salary range for this role is $127,840 to $159,800per 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.