Chief of Staff Customer Officer

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.

Job Overview

Location of Job: Hershey, PA

NOTE: Will consider remote candidates who reside near a major airport.

The Hershey Company is seeking our next Chief of Staff to the Chief Customer Officer (CCO). This role serves as a strategic right-hand to the CCO, acting as a force-multiplier in driving Hershey's global brand agenda. The Chief of Staff Customer Officer orchestrates the execution of the strategic plan and top-priority initiatives, ensuring they progress efficiently across the U.S. business. By coordinating cross-functional teams and business processes, this leader enables the CCO to focus on high-impact decisions while maintaining momentum on key projects. In essence, the role bridges strategy and execution - improving decision quality and speed and optimizing how global brand strategies are implemented enterprise-wide.

Accountabilities

• Strategic Planning Liaison: Lead the Customer Officer annual planning process and strategy on behalf of the CCO. This involves aligning business unit plans with enterprise objectives and preparing strategy reviews. The Chief of Staff ensures that long-range strategic priorities are clearly defined, communicated, and translated into actionable roadmaps for the US organization.
• Program Leadership & Execution: Oversee and drive execution of the CCO's highest-priority initiatives and strategic projects. This includes setting up project structures for initiatives, tracking milestones, and proactively resolving roadblocks. The Chief of Staff steps in to lead cross-functional project teams when needed, guaranteeing that strategic initiatives deliver expected outcomes on time.
• Operational Excellence: Ensure effective processes for strategic initiatives. The role coordinates across different functional areas within the Company to streamline operating rhythms.
• Decision Support & Governance: Act as a proxy for the CCO in leadership forums and decision meetings, uniting stakeholders and enforcing governance around growth decisions. This includes preparing agendas and briefing materials for executive meetings, ensuring data-driven discussions, and following up on action items. The Chief of Staff facilitates fact-based decision-making by making sure the right information and analyses are available to the CCO and leadership team.
• Communication & Alignment: Serve as a communication hub to align the Customer Office with other parts of the business. The Chief of Staff cascades the CCO's vision and updates to teams and conversely surfaces insights and concerns from across the organization back to the CCO. By maintaining open channels with business unit leaders and supporting functions, this role ensures that everyone is informed of strategic priorities and that feedback is integrated, fostering a one-team culture in executing growth plans.

Minimum Education & Requirements

Strategic Agility

Program Management Excellence

Influence & Collaboration

Business Acumen

Adaptability & Problem-Solving

A bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Commercial Management, or a related field is required; an MBA or similar advanced degree is strongly preferred.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years of experience in strategic planning, business operations, or marketing leadership roles. This experience should include leading cross-functional initiatives and partnering closely with senior executives on strategic decision-making. Experience within a top-tier consulting firm or corporate strategy function is highly desirable, as is a track record of developing and launching growth initiatives within a consumer-focused organization. Given the leadership nature of the role, candidates should also possess people management experience or significant project team leadership experience, along with a demonstrated ability to drive organizational change, improve processes, and deliver measurable business results.

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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 individuals 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.