R&D Associate Manager - Sweets & Refreshments

Location: El Salto, Jalisco. Carretera Guadalajara 05-KM 8, El Castillo, 45680 El Salto, Jal.
Bilingual: Advanced English (spoken, written and read)

Career Level: T40

At The Hershey Company, you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of some of the world's most iconic brands while working alongside passionate, high-performing teams. We offer a collaborative environment where innovation, leadership, and continuous improvement drive real business impact, giving you the chance to grow your career while making a meaningful difference.

Why Hershey?

At The Hershey Company, you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of some of the world's most iconic brands while working alongside passionate, high-performing teams. We offer a collaborative environment where innovation, leadership, and continuous improvement drive real business impact, giving you the chance to grow your career while making a meaningful difference.

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 to operate with 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?

We are looking for a Research & Development Associate Manager (Junior), Sweets & Refreshments, to lead innovation and product development initiatives that drive business growth and strengthen consumer preference. The ideal candidate combines hands-on product development expertise, strong technical knowledge of food and confectionery technologies, and proven leadership skills. This individual thrives in cross-functional environments, influences key business decisions, and successfully transforms ideas into commercially viable products.

What will you do?

• Lead end-to-end innovation and product development projects from concept through commercialization.
• Build and execute short- and mid-term innovation pipelines aligned with business goals.
• Develop and qualify new ingredients, formulations, and processing solutions.
• Partner with Marketing, Supply Chain, Quality, Regulatory, Engineering, and Operations teams to deliver successful product launches.
• Support manufacturing operations, scale-ups, troubleshooting efforts, and business continuity initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with Stage Gate and corporate R&D systems, processes, and documentation requirements.
• Identify productivity, quality, and cost optimization opportunities.
• Monitor market trends, competitive products, and consumer preferences to drive innovation.
• Manage multiple complex projects simultaneously while ensuring technical excellence and timely delivery.
• Lead, coach, and develop a small R&D team while fostering technical capability growth.
• Support technical negotiations and collaboration with suppliers, co-manufacturers, and external partners.
• Participate in strategic regional and international innovation initiatives.

Minimum Education & Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related Engineering discipline. Master's Degree preferred.
  5+ years of experience in Product Development, Food R&D, Process Engineering, or Innovation within the food, confectionery, consumer goods, or related industries.
• Experience leading product development projects from laboratory through pilot plant and industrial implementation.
• Experience managing complex cross-functional projects.
• Previous people leadership experience preferred.
• Experience collaborating with Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Regulatory, and Finance teams.
  Strong knowledge of confectionery technologies, ingredient functionality, formulation development, and manufacturing processes.
• Product development expertise from benchtop through commercialization.
• Knowledge of pilot plants, production startup, commissioning, and process troubleshooting.
• Strong project management capabilities.
• Ability to analyze market and consumer trends and translate insights into innovation opportunities.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Strong problem-solving, leadership, and decision-making abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, and Word).
• Intermediate English required; Advanced English preferred.

Work Schedule, Work Model & Location:

• Location: El Salto, Jalisco, Mexico
• Work Model: 100% On-site
• Schedule: Monday to Friday
• Working Hours: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Flex Time available)

What We Offer:

• Very competitive salary aligned with the market.
• All legal benefits.
• Above-law benefits.
• Opportunities for professional growth and career development.
• Exposure to plant operations, product innovation, manufacturing, and cross-functional business leadership.
• Regional and international collaboration opportunities.
• The opportunity to work for a global snacking and confectionery leader with iconic brands and a strong focus on operational excellence, innovation, and long-term growth.
• Opportunities to grow within the company.
  
  

Don’t forget to attach your up-to-date CV in English and your personal contact information updated.