The Hershey Company

Sr Research Scientist Sensory Innovation

The Hershey Company  •  Hershey, PA (Onsite)  •  59 minutes ago
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Job Description

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company 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.

Why Hershey?

At Hershey, you'll have the opportunity to apply science in ways that directly influence some of the world's most recognized brands. This role offers a unique combination of ingredient science, advanced analytical characterization, global sourcing exposure, and innovation. You will work alongside leading scientists, cross-functional partners, suppliers, and external experts while helping shape the future of cocoa sustainability, ingredient functionality, and product quality.
Whether supporting origin diversification, evaluating new ingredient sources, developing innovative characterization methods, or uncovering insights that drive business decisions, you'll play a key role in advancing Hershey's technical capabilities while building your own career in a collaborative and purpose-driven environment.

Job Location: Hershey, PA

Reporting to the Sr. Manager, Sensory Innovation and based at The Hershey Company Technical Center, this role leads multiple medium-complexity sensory and consumer research initiatives and supports more complex projects. The position requires expertise in sensory science, consumer research, statistics, and data visualization, with the ability to translate research findings into actionable business recommendations. Success in this role requires strong problem-solving, critical thinking, stakeholder influence, and effective communication across technical and non-technical audiences.

Key Responsibilities

  • Serve as the sensory research lead for assigned brands.
  • Design, execute, analyze, and communicate sensory and consumer research studies independently and collaboratively.
  • Lead sensory research supporting innovation, product improvements, and margin enhancement initiatives.
  • Apply analytical sensory methods alongside consumer testing to meet project objectives.
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of new sensory and consumer research capabilities.

Key Partnerships

  • Product Development
  • Commercial & Innovation Marketing
  • Consumer Insights
  • Quality & Regulatory Compliance
  • Technology Development
  • External Research Suppliers

Travel

  • Up to 10% travel, primarily within the United States.

Accountabilities

-Proven success applying sensory and consumer research to support new product launches and product improvements.
-Strong knowledge of quantitative and qualitative consumer research methods (e.g., CLTs, HUTs, focus groups, ethnography, online surveys).
-Experience with analytical sensory methods, including descriptive and discrimination testing.
-Expertise in research design, statistical analysis, and translating complex data into actionable business insights.
-Experience with DOE, Drivers of Liking, product/process optimization, and category assessments.
-Proficiency with statistical software such as JMP, R, SPSS, SAS, Minitab, or similar tools.Experience with sensory data collection systems, preferably EyeQuestion, Compusense, or RedJade.Curiosity and adaptability in applying emerging technologies, including AI-enabled analytics, text generation, and predictive modeling.
-Strong collaboration, communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.
-Demonstrated leadership, business acumen, and conflict management capabilities.
-Proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook); experience with Copilot or similar AI tools is a plus.
-Ability to manage multiple priorities and work independently with minimal supervision.

Minimum Education & Requirements

MS in Food Science, Psychology, Statistics, or a related field with an emphasis in Sensory and Consumer Research and 2–4 years of relevant experience; or BS with 4–6 years of relevant experience.


A degree or certification in Market Research is a plus.

Job Location: Hershey, PA

#LI-KR1

#LI-Onsite

#IND

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 +1 877-804-1794 and leave a voicemail with your contact information. You may also email a request for accommodation to ApplicationHelp@hersheys.com. 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.

The Hershey Company

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company with a purpose to make more moments of goodness through its iconic brands. Hershey has approximately 20,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products.

The company has more than 70 brands around the world that drive more than $11 billion in annual revenues, including such beloved brands like HERSHEY'S, REESE'S, KIT KAT®, JOLLY RANCHER, ICE BREAKERS, SHAQ-A-LICIOUS, SKINNYPOP and DOT'S HOMESTYLE PRETZEL'S.

For more than 130 years, Hershey has been committed to operating responsibly and supporting its people and communities. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created Milton Hershey School in 1909, and since then, the company has focused on helping children succeed through access to education. 

Industry
Manufacturing & Production
Company Size
10,000+ employees
Headquarters
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Year Founded
1894
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