Factory Engineering Manager
The Hershey Company · Whitestown, IN
- Level
- Manager
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Base pay
- $128k–$160k
- Travel
- 20%
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 5+ years
- Industry
- Food & beverage
- Posted
- Today
The role in 30 seconds
A management manufacturing role at The Hershey Company (food & beverage) in Whitestown, IN.
- They ask for
- 5+ years · degree required
- Tools it names
- Root cause, Automation, SAP
- Base pay
- $128k–$160k
- Day to day
- some off-shift / weekend coverage · about 20% travel
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026
Manufacturing Engineer roles in Indiana: typical posted base $98k–$135k. This one lists $128k–$160k.
Median of the low and high ends of 12 live postings that list pay, out of 63 manufacturing engineer openings in Indiana, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Indiana plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 62 other live manufacturing postings in Indiana.
- Base pay
- About 24% above similar roles
- Experience asked
- Typical (5+ years)
Typical $97k–$135k, from 10 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- Lean 51%
- Tooling 41%
- New product launch 40%
- Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 38%
- Team leadership 35%
- ✓ Root cause 30%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for SAP, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at The Hershey Company
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How does off-shift and weekend coverage work?
- The posting says about 20% travel. Between which sites?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: The Hershey Company in Whitestown
1 other open role at this site.
- Production Supervisor · Production · Supervisor
Full description from The Hershey CompanyAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Experience
- ✓5+ years of relevant engineering, project/program management, including team leadership and capital project delivery. Experience with stage-gate processes, SAP, budget responsibility, and industrial controls is required.
- ✓Preferred: PMP certification, EIT or PE licensure, and subject-matter expertise in process, packaging, electrical and automation, maintenance and reliability, functional safety, wastewater, dust hazard management, hygienic air handling, or fire protection.
Education
- ✓Bachelor’s degree in Engineering required.
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.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Why Hershey
At The Hershey Company, our culture is rooted in purpose and inspired by Milton Hershey’s enduring vision that business should create opportunity for others. Through our commitment to corporate philanthropy, we create positive impact by supporting communities, helping children thrive, and operating as a business for good. This includes our deep and long standing partnership with Milton Hershey School, where we invest in education, workforce readiness, and hands on engagement to help students succeed beyond the classroom. Supported by strategic grantmaking, product donations, cross brand collaboration, and strong employee volunteerism, Hershey offers a place to work where making a difference—locally and globally—is part of how we do business every day.
Job Location: Whitestown, Indiana | Onsite, 5 days per week
Travel: Up to 20%
About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) 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.
How will you fit in the big picture?
Based in Whitestown, you will lead technical assurance and engineering support for the Whitestown, Indiana and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania popcorn manufacturing sites. You will steward factory assets for safety, reliability, productivity, quality, and cost effectiveness while partnering with Operations, Maintenance, Safety, Quality, R&D, Corporate Engineering, vendors, and the broader Hershey manufacturing network. This role offers the opportunity to strengthen engineering capabilities and support growth across Hershey’s Salty Snacks business.
What will you do?
- •Lead the safe, compliant, reliable, and cost-effective performance of process equipment, facilities, and other manufacturing assets.
- •Guide the engineering team’s safety culture through Safety by Design, safe work practices, and injury-free capital project execution.
- •Develop staffing and capability plans and help shape the factory’s five-year capital plan with the Senior Technical Assurance Manager.
- •Lead the full lifecycle of small and minor capital projects, including scope, schedules, budgets, cash-flow forecasts, risk management, and stage-gate governance.
- •Serve as the factory’s technical representative for major capital investments and coordinate technical requirements, interfaces, dependencies, testing, and issue resolution.
- •Partner with Operations and Maintenance on continuous improvement, root cause analysis, equipment rebuild or replacement decisions, and complex technical problems.
- •Evaluate new manufacturing technologies with R&D and build productive relationships with agencies, service providers, and engineering partners across the network.
- •Coach team members and share engineering and project management best practices across adjacent teams.