Location: Hershey, PA (Onsite) How will you fit in the big picture?As a Packaging Sustainability Engineer, you will help bring The Hershey Company's packaging sustainability priorities to life. You will apply packaging engineering expertise to evaluate and qualify new materials, lead testing and trials, and support scalable solutions that protect product quality, consumer experience, manufacturability, cost, and regulatory compliance. This role offers the opportunity to collaborate across the business and with external partners to advance practical, high-impact packaging improvements.
What will you do?• Execute sustainable packaging projects focused on recyclability, recycled content, material efficiency, circularity, and greenhouse gas reduction while maintaining product protection, quality, and manufacturing reliability.
• Evaluate new packaging materials and technologies through supplier reviews, feasibility assessments, laboratory testing, design of experiments, transport simulations, line trials, technical qualification, specification updates, and post-launch follow-up.
• Partner with suppliers, converters, material developers, recyclers, and technology providers to identify and advance sustainable material solutions for potential commercialization.
• Translate established sustainability priorities, customer and consumer needs, and regulatory requirements into practical technical workplans, test methods, risk assessments, and implementation steps.
• Collaborate with Procurement, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Legal, Commercial, Marketing, Finance, Sustainability, and equipment partners to deliver solutions that are technically sound, cost effective, scalable, and compliant.
• Use packaging data, lifecycle thinking, supplier inputs, and sustainability analytics to develop clear technical recommendations and identify material reduction and performance opportunities.
• Support packaging regulatory readiness, including Extended Producer Responsibility, recyclability claims, labeling implications, recycled content requirements, and packaging data needs.
• Document specifications, testing outcomes, technical decisions, assumptions, risks, and implementation requirements; share learnings and provide technical guidance to project partners and less experienced engineers.
• Monitor emerging packaging technologies, material science developments, recycling infrastructure, customer expectations, and regulatory trends and apply relevant insights to assigned projects.
Minimum Education & RequirementsExperience: 5+ years of relevant experience in packaging development, packaging engineering, material science, sustainability, or a related technical field.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Packaging Engineering preferred; Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Environmental Engineering, or a related technical field is acceptable.
Preferred Qualifications • Advanced knowledge of packaging materials, converting technologies, equipment interaction, manufacturability, quality requirements, and specification management across flexible, rigid, paper-based, corrugate, film, resin, polymer, fiber-based, or emerging material systems.
• Experience executing packaging trials, supplier evaluations, technical qualifications, specification updates, commercialization support, and sustainable packaging implementation.
• Knowledge of sustainable packaging principles and regulatory-driven packaging change, including EPR, recyclability claims, recycled content, labeling, packaging data, or carbon reduction.
• Strong analytical, project management, communication, and cross-functional influence skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-moving environment.
• Working knowledge of SAP, PLM/PDM, specification systems, packaging data dashboards, Microsoft Office, project management tools, or sustainability reporting inputs.
Benefits and Perks At Hershey, we offer competitive pay and a comprehensive total rewards package designed to support your wellbeing, financial security, and life outside of work.
- Health & Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus wellness programs that support your physical and mental health
- Financial Security: Competitive pay, annual incentive opportunities, and a 401(k) with company match
- Time Off & Flexibility: Paid time off, company holidays, and flexible ways of working where applicable
- Growth & Development: Career development programs, learning opportunities, and internal mobility
Benefits may vary based on role, location, and eligibility.
The anticipated base salary range for this role is $114,480 to $143,100 per year. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of job-related factors, including, but not limited to, experience, skill set, education, and training. In addition to a market-competitive base salary, our Total Rewards package includes performance-based incentives and a comprehensive, competitive benefits package designed to support overall physical, mental, and financial well-being (as applicable). Learn more about Hershey's benefits and all the resources Hershey provides to support our employees' physical, emotional, and financial well-being by visiting the Hershey Digital Employee Experience at www.askHRbenefits.hersheys.com
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