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Sr Research Scientist Sensory Innovation
The Hershey CompanyUnited Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 20 Jul 2026
About the role
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
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