The Hershey Company

Job Title: Category Development Consultant – Salty Snacks

Job Location: Hershey, PA preferred, Remote Considered

Travel Requirements: 0-25%

This will be posted internally until 7/1/2025.

Why Hershey?

Over more than a century, our iconic brands have been built on a foundation of community investment and connections between people around the world. Equally competitive and compassionate, we continue to build a legacy as we invest in the people and snacks of the future.

From the beginning, Milton Hershey believed that if you do good, you’ll do well. By doing what we do best—from our delicious snacks to spreading goodness in our communities—we bring people together.

Why Salty?

In 2017, Hershey purchased Amplify Snack brands as the first step to realize our CEO’sLeading Snacking Powerhouse (LSP) vision. The acquisition included Skinny Pop, now the #1 Ready to Eat Popcorn Brand. In 2019, Hershey acquired Pirate’s Booty followed by Dot’s Pretzels in 2021 allowing enough scale that a new division, The Hershey Salty Snack Company was created in 2023. Today, Hershey’s Salty Category Management and Shopper Insights team has been able to deliver best in class research, principles and recommendations with a category/shopper first approach that has distinguished us from our peer set, transforming how retailers plan assortments and design their aisles.

Why Category Development & Shopper Insights?

On the Hershey Category Development and Shopper Insights Team, our vision is clear; to be the indispensable partner for Retailers and Brand Teams by using Hershey’s curated resources to deliver actionable insights and incremental growth. As a member of this team, you will leverage the spirit of joint creation and provide best-in-class expertise to support the success and continued growth of the Salty Snacks Category. In addition, you will gain exposure to many parts of the business: Category Management, Sales, Marketing, Innovation, and Research. We work diligently to make access to insights more streamlined for both our CatMan field teams and our Home Office Cross-Functional Partners. Recognized for transforming data into insights, we are viewed as thought leaders in the Sales and Marketing enterprise. We know our people are our competitive advantage and we empower them to be the unbiased category experts.

We are a high-performing team that loves winning in a fast-paced environment but never doing it alone. We thrive on a collaborative spirit; we are fiercely competitive in business and highly supportive of each other.

If you are fueled by results, intellectually curious, and want to get in on the ground floor of building the future of snacking – this is the team for you!

Summary of Role

The Salty Category and Shopper Insights Consultant will be a key constituent to internal Category Development/Shopper Insights Team, Customer/CatMan Teams, and Brand Teams. Success in this role will be defined by the development and implementation of category initiatives that meet and exceed Hershey and customer financial objectives. This role will be responsible for leveraging foundational primary research, syndicated data, and consumer and macro trends to develop meaningful insights and strategic recommendations that drive category growth across the store and online.

The role will influence the development and implementation of Salty Snack Category and Hershey Brand initiatives in support of the customer/Hershey Joint Business Plan (JBP) through the pervasive use of insights and capabilities. Additionally, as a member of the team, the Consultant will be responsible for identifying the most relevant retailer and shopper challenges and building strategies and holistic solutions. The Consultant will excel in turning insights into action, working closely with the Category Management and Brand Teams to activate learning plan agendas.

What You’ll Do

• Be the Category and Shopper Insights expert to ensure the execution of the Strategic Business Plan, to deliver topline sales, net sales, distribution goals and share targets
• Ensure insights are at the heart of strategies and initiativesby staying connected to internal and external stakeholders, to proactively identify business opportunities and provide insights and recommendations as needed through category data (CIrcana), panel data

(Circana/Numerator), Loyalty Card Data (Luminate/84.51),or customized research that provides meaningful and actionable findings.

• Meet Regularly with Brand Teams, to be their conduit of information to and from the customer/category management teams. Provide category insights, volume and distribution estimates on new items, and planogram recommendations.
• Identify information gaps to help develop and execute a yearly learning plan that helps drive incremental and accretive growth for Hershey and our retail partners.
• Utilize quantitative and qualitative research methods to analyze shopper behavior, preferences and trends. Being able to lead shopper insights projects from conception to completion, ensuring timelines, budgets, and objectives are met effectively with minimal supervision. Analyze performance and distribution using tools such PowerBI and Excel.
• Deliver actionable and compelling presentations with PowerPoint/Mekko that communicate actionable insights to drive growth for Hershey and our retail partners.
• Build planograms using JDA to deliver Best in Class Planogram through the application of Principles, Research and Efficient Assortments

What You’ll Need to Succeed

Education:

Bachelor’s Degree Required

Experience:

Category Management and Shopper Research experience (2-5 years)’

Skills:

• Demonstrate strong data storytelling capabilities through strategic use of tools such as PowerPoint Charts and/ or Mekko.
• Display strong technical aptitude shown through data analysis capabilities.
• Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including survey design, data analysis, and statistical techniques.
• Working knowledge of market research fundamentals including primary & secondary consumer/shopper research and syndicated research.
• Knowledge of analytic data sources such as Circana & Numerator preferred.
• Have Strong knowledge of space analytics and the tools to support it, such as JDA Space Planning.
• Strong Knowledge of the category management process.
• Ability to work well under pressure, and comfortable taking ownership of projects and the confidence to professionally challenge retail leaders
• Ability to collaborate and work well cross functionally, while demonstrating a proactive mindset and strong initiative.
• Strong planning, organization and project management skills, along with excellent interpersonal, written/oral communication and presentation skills.

Equal Opportunity Employer Policy

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

If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact the HR Service Center (askhr@hersheys.com).