Job LocationHershey, PA
Job OverviewThe Senior Manager, Learning and Capability Acceleration will play a critical role in helping Hershey learn faster, build future-ready capabilities, and turn intelligence into action across the enterprise. This leader will develop and advance Hershey's strategy for enterprise learning and capability acceleration, AI-enabled intelligence, and future-ready ways of working-while designing, scaling, and embedding the systems, tools, methods, and routines that strengthen how teams use consumer, shopper, commercial, market, and AI-enabled intelligence to make better growth decisions.
This role sits within the Enterprise Intelligence & Learning Capability Acceleration team and will help build the connective tissue between foresight, consumer learning, business intelligence automation, AI strategy, external partner ecosystems, and enterprise capability building. The ideal candidate is a strategic capability builder, change leader, business translator, and ecosystem orchestrator who can simplify complexity, partner with cutting-edge external organizations, and help teams adopt new ways of working with confidence and impact.
Accountabilities- Develop Hershey's strategy and multi-year roadmap for consumer learning capability, AI-enabled intelligence, and future-ready ways of working.
- Define the priority spaces where new learning models, technologies, external partnerships, and capability investments can create the greatest enterprise impact.
- Translate business priorities into a clear capability agenda that guides investment, partner selection, learning design, and adoption sequencing.
- Establish governance, success measures, and decision frameworks to ensure capability acceleration efforts are focused, scalable, and connected to Hershey's growth strategy.
- Partner with functional leaders to identify priority capability gaps and translate them into practical learning roadmaps tied to business priorities, including where AI can accelerate learning, reduce manual effort, and improve the quality of business recommendations.
- Help create a culture of curiosity, consumer obsession, disciplined learning, and responsible experimentation with AI across Consumer & Commercial Intelligence and broader enterprise partners.
- Accelerate adoption of AI-enabled learning approaches that help teams learn faster, iterate more often, and scale consumer and market feedback with appropriate human judgment and governance.
Leadership Expectations- Learning Pioneer: Develops the strategy and roadmap for Hershey's consumer learning, capability, AI-enabled intelligence, external partner ecosystem, and global supplier approach.
- Capability builder: Builds repeatable systems, tools, routines, and learning experiences that strengthen how the enterprise learns over time.
- Change leader: Brings people along through new ways of working with clarity, empathy, and disciplined execution.
- Curious problem solver: Challenges the status quo, asks better questions, and helps teams move from activity to impact.
- Collaborative partner: Builds trust across functions and levels, influencing without authority and creating shared ownership for capability growth.
Minimum Education & RequirementsKnowledge, Skills, and Abilities- Strong ability to design and scale capability-building programs, learning experiences, playbooks, and adoption plans.
- Deep understanding of consumer insights, commercial intelligence, foresight, business analytics, or related disciplines, with the ability to translate enterprise strategy into practical learning agendas and business action.
- Practical understanding of AI-enabled learning, automation, digital tools, data platforms, or emerging research technologies preferred.
- Experience developing external partner strategies, supplier ecosystems, vendor selection criteria, or global supplier roadmaps in partnership with Procurement or equivalent functions.
- Strong change management skills, including stakeholder engagement, communication planning, adoption tracking, and behavior change.
- Excellent executive communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and influence senior stakeholders.
- High intellectual curiosity, comfort with ambiguity, and ability to develop a clear point of view when information is incomplete.
- Strong project leadership skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, partners, and deliverables with discipline and pace.
- Collaborative mindset and ability to work effectively across a matrixed organization.
Experience and Education- 5+ years of experience in consumer insights, commercial intelligence, learning and development, capability building, and analytics.
- Experience leading cross-functional capability-building, upskilling, adoption, or transformation initiatives in a matrixed organization.
- Experience developing roadmaps, or operating models for emerging capabilities, external partnerships, learning ecosystems, digital transformation, or supplier networks.
- Experience working with AI, advanced analytics, digital learning platforms, syndicated data, consumer research platforms, social listening, or business intelligence tools preferred.
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