Specialist Packaging

The Hershey Company•Bluffton, IN

22h•$72,400 - $90,500•Onsite

About The Position

The Packaging Specialist supports safe, reliable, and efficient packing operations at The Hershey Company’s Bluffton manufacturing facility. This hands-on technical role coordinates packaging equipment reliability, preventive maintenance, process improvement, SQF compliance, operator capability, and product qualification activities. The specialist partners with Production, Maintenance, Engineering, Training, R&D, and external technical resources to improve equipment performance, reduce waste, and strengthen operator effectiveness.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
At least 1 year of relevant experience in manufacturing equipment, packaging operations, maintenance, technical support, or a related environment.
Demonstrated ability to maintain, troubleshoot, calibrate, or repair manufacturing or utility systems using established procedures.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to adapt technical information for different audiences.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Outlook.
Strong organization, leadership, and prioritization skills, with the ability to work independently and manage multiple responsibilities.

Nice To Haves

Experience with snack food or food manufacturing equipment.
Green Belt certification, or the ability to obtain one.

Responsibilities

Maintain, troubleshoot, and support repairs of packaging equipment, including conveyors, scales, packaging machines, metal detectors, formers, and related ancillary equipment.
Own recurring preventive maintenance and inspection processes, including PMO routes, completion tracking, documentation, and SQF compliance.
Use structured troubleshooting and root cause analysis to resolve moderately complex equipment and process issues, escalating matters outside established authority.
Track and improve equipment reliability and performance measures, including mean time to failure, mean time between failures, machine rates, waste, and operator compliance.
Maintain the PMO Tier Progression program by assessing skills, identifying training needs, supporting bid recommendations, and updating training materials and troubleshooting guides.
Coordinate parts inventory and maintenance planning with the ATS Site Manager, Planner/Scheduler, Engineering, Maintenance, and Parts Specialist.
Support small technical and continuous improvement initiatives, including equipment changes, CapEx implementation, R&D trials, sample requests, and validation of results.
Communicate technical findings, trends, and recommendations to plant leaders and cross-functional partners to support corrective actions and production effectiveness.
Support plant SQF and KPI goals, including foreign material investigations, metal detector deviations, customer complaint investigations, and continuous improvement activities.