Senior Specialist, R&D Training Excellence Program

Job Location: Hershey, PA

Summary:

Reporting to the Senior Manager Reese Research & Development and working at the Technical Center in Hershey, PA, the Associate Manager R&D Excellence Program position is responsible for coordinating onboarding and technical training activities programs with an opportunity to expand into equipment training programs. This role focuses on program coordination and execution excellence, strategic partnership with functional training leaders, and contributing to building a unified and sustainable onboarding and training model A high level of autonomy is required. A successful candidate is demonstrating excellent program, timing, and budget management, along with working across multiple teams and priorities. This candidate can solve problems & think critically. This candidate will be able to successfully communicate across functions and with management. This candidate will need to be able to influence cross-functional team members and build personal networks.

Specific Role Focus Area:

• Own the end‑to‑end training calendar for R&D onboarding and technical courses-build the annual plan, schedule sessions, secure rooms/equipment, and coordinate speakers/SMEs; serve as the single point of contact for all training logistics
• Partner with functional training leads and people leaders to assess needs, define target audiences, and prioritize training demand against capacity; align offerings with site and enterprise L&D standards.
• Coordinate content development with internal SMEs and external vendors (scoping, SOWs, delivery method, materials review), ensuring consistency with our unified onboarding model and brand/product‑area depth.
• Ensure proper management of LMS for assigned programs (enrollment, pre‑work, completions, reminders), and digitize artifacts (job aids, videos, decks) to improve access and consistency.
• Act as 'experience owner' for new‑hire onboarding in R&D, orchestrating week‑by‑week checklists, buddy/mentor touchpoints, site tours, and resource wayfinding to reduce time‑to‑competency
• Track and report program KPIs (attendance, satisfaction, assessment scores, time‑to‑competency), translate insights into improvement backlogs, and share monthly updates with R&D leadership.
• Own training budget basics (POs, invoices, accruals, vendor set‑up), monitor cost per learner, and surface trade‑offs to keep programs on plan.
• Establish governance and cadence (planning forums, change control for content, review cycles with training leads) to maintain accuracy and ongoing viability of the onboarding and training model.
• Maintain source‑of‑truth content and documentation standards (versioning, naming, storage), improving findability and knowledge capture for new‑to‑R&D and new‑to‑role employees.
• Drive stakeholder communications (pre‑reads, agendas, calendars, Teams posts, recap notes) to keep learners, managers, and SMEs aligned before, during, and after each training.
• Continuously improve learner experience by curating feedback (surveys, quick polls, post‑class debriefs) and testing refinements to sequencing, formats, and modalities
• (Optional Role Expansion) Coordinate equipment training and rollouts (with Process/Tech Ops and vendor partners), including prerequisite tracking, floor access, and documentation of standard work / safety considerations.

This role will interact and partner with:

• Leadership (director level and above)
• Technical and professional employees within R&D
• External Vendors
• Manufacturing, Operations, and Plant Quality Assurance
• Quality and Regulatory Compliance
• Procurement
• Engineering
• Marketing

This role will require 5-15% domestic and <5% international travel.

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform major duties/responsibilities:

A general understanding of Confections, Food Science or Food Engineering is desirable.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to tailor messages to technicians, scientists, and leadership and to produce crisp agendas, recaps, and learner communications.
• Excellent time and project management, with demonstrated ability to prioritize across multiple calendars, meet deadlines, and manage high‑volume logistics with accuracy.
• Strong budget management capabilities, including raising POs, tracking invoices/accruals, and monitoring cost‑per‑learner to stay within plan.
• Excellent stakeholder and vendor coordination, with proven ability to influence without authority, align cross‑functional SMEs, and manage external training partners against scope and schedule.
• Strong data and LMS administration skills, including enrolling learners, tracking completions/assessments, and building basic reports/dashboards to inform decisions.
• Strong process discipline and documentation rigor, including version control, naming/storage standards, and maintaining "source‑of‑truth" training materials.
• Working knowledge of adult learning principles and facilitation, with the ability to structure pre‑work, live sessions, and post‑work that improve knowledge retention and time‑to‑competency.
• Solid analytical and continuous‑improvement mindset, including comfort with KPIs (attendance, satisfaction, assessment scores), root‑cause thinking, and turning insights into action.
• Strong digital fluency in Microsoft 365 (Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, Excel, PowerPoint) and scheduling tools; working proficiency with survey tools (e.g., Forms) and basic data visualization.
• Foundational technical aptitude for R&D environments, including familiarity with lab/pilot plant safety expectations and the ability to quickly learn new equipment/process contexts.
• Strong interpersonal skills and service orientation, demonstrating empathy for the learner experience, responsiveness, and a collaborative approach with managers and training leads.
• High personal accountability and judgment, with the ability to operate with medium‑to‑high autonomy, escalate risks appropriately, and uphold confidentiality and compliance standards.

Education and Experience:

• Associate's or Bachelor's degree required (any discipline); preferred fields include Psychology, Learning & Development/HR, Project Management, Food Science, Engineering, Business, or related.
• 4+ years of relevant experience in program coordination, training/L&D administration, operations support, project coordination, or similar; internships/co‑ops and strong campus leadership may count toward the experience range.
• Hands‑on experience coordinating schedules and events (e.g., training calendars, speaker/SME logistics, room/equipment booking) in an academic, internship, or professional setting.
• Exposure to Learning Management Systems (LMS) and basic training operations (enrollments, completions, reminders) through coursework, internship, or prior role; on‑the‑job ramp supported for entry candidates.
• Foundational familiarity with R&D or manufacturing environments (lab/pilot plant/site tours, capstone projects, or prior internship) and willingness to learn technical and safety practices.
• Basic vendor coordination or purchasing exposure (e.g., supporting POs/invoices during a project or internship); formal budget ownership can be developed on the job.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 (Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, Excel, PowerPoint); comfort learning survey tools (Forms) and simple dashboards for reporting.

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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.

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