Staff Project Mgr Engineering

The Hershey Company; Hershey (PA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

The Hershey Company is seeking a capital engineering project leader to drive major projects within our food manufacturing facilities. You will manage planning, design, execution, commissioning, and closeout while coordinating across engineering, operations, finance, and supply chain to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery of high-impact capital investments.

Applicants should have a bachelor’s (or master’s) in engineering and 5+ years of post-bachelor project management experience, with a track

Qualifications

• Experience managing capital projects with large budgets (>$10M).
• Experience leading cross-functional teams across functions.
• Compliance with corporate capital control policies.
• Industry knowledge in food, beverage, or pharma manufacturing.
• Proficiency with Clarity, SAP, and MS Office suite.

Responsibilities

• Plan, execute, and govern capital engineering projects across plants.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams and define roles, responsibilities, and accountability.
• Manage full lifecycle of complex capital projects from planning to closeout.
• Oversee portfolio governance, approvals, and prioritization across groups.
• Provide technical leadership for design, cost estimation, installation, and commissioning.
• Develop business cases, feasibility studies, and plant acceptance plans.
• Ensure compliance with quality, safety, and regulatory standards.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s degree in engineering

Tools

Clarity Portfolio Management

SAP

MS Project

MS PowerPoint

MS Excel

MS Word

MS Teams

Job description

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.

Location

Hershey, PA

How will you fit in the big picture?

This role organizes and executes technical solutions foundational to engineering project and program delivery. It ensures deliverables meet required quality, reliability, and performance standards while addressing complex technical challenges. The role collaborates with engineering, operations, and cross functional partners to ensure alignment with technical requirements, project constraints, and engineering methodologies. It also supports continuous improvement by enhancing standardized engineering practices.

What will you do?

Responsible for leading the planning, execution, and governance of capital engineering projects and programs within food manufacturing plants, ensuring successful delivery within defined scope, schedule, and budget. Use engineering knowledge, judgment, creativity and experience to lead and direct multidisciplinary engineering project teams, establishing clear roles and responsibilities, fostering collaboration, and ensuring accountability for project delivery. Manage the full lifecycle of complex capital projects, including planning, design, execution, commissioning, and closeout, in alignment with business objectives, quality, and safety requirements. Oversee capital portfolio management, including governance, approval processes, and prioritization of projects across multiple business groups. Provide technical leadership and guidance for all phases of projects, including system design, cost estimation, equipment installation, checkout, and commissioning. Demonstrate negotiation skills to “sell” projects through the capital approval process. Develop the business case, technical feasibility and plan for customer (plant) acceptance. Establish new procedures and technology, identifying new industry trends with a continuous improvement mindset. Promote and teach a performance-driven (versus task-driven) project management process during the development of capital projects. Ensure all project activities comply with corporate capital control policies and relevant industry standards. Engage and coordinate with stakeholders across engineering, operations, finance, supply chain, and external vendors/contractors. Manage project budgeting, scheduling, risk mitigation, and project controls to ensure delivery within scope, schedule, and budget. Provide accurate and timely project status reports and updates to senior leadership in Engineering and Finance and supply chain management. Lead and manage diverse project teams, including internal engineers, plant engineers, contract engineers, and external contractors/suppliers. Oversee the preparation and delivery of system operation manuals, equipment maintenance documents, and operator training. Ensure compliance with all applicable quality standards, codes, and safety regulations within the food, pharmaceutical, or beverage industries. Travel 50% of work time domestically and internationally to company facilities and client sites.

Minimum Education & Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing or a related technical/engineering field plus five years of post-bachelor engineering project management experience. Alternatively, the employer will accept a master’s degree in engineering, manufacturing or a related technical/engineering field plus three years of post-bachelor engineering project management experience. Experience must include the following (but need not extend over the full period of required experience):

• Experience managing capital projects with budgets exceeding $10 million with total budget responsibility of $15 – 20 million.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and directing activities of individuals not directly assigned to the project team (e.g., Marketing, Production Planning, R&D, Quality).
• Experience ensuring compliance with corporate capital control policies.
• Experience in food, pharmaceutical, or beverage industries related to manufacturing, packaging, construction processes, and associated quality standards and codes.
• Experience in Good Manufacturing Practices.
• Proficiency in Clarity Portfolio Management, SAP, MS Project, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, MS Word, and MS Teams.

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.

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