Work Setup: Hybrid
Location: Zug, Switzerland
Summary:
The Sustainable Sourcing Cocoa & Palm Manager – Environment & Climate is responsible for leading the implementation of Hershey’s Cocoa environmental, climate, and land use strategy within cocoa sourcing and the implementation of Hershey’s responsible palm sourcing strategy including human rights and environmental due diligence. As cocoa represents Hershey’s largest agricultural footprint, this role is mission critical to delivering the company’s environmental and climate ambitions. This role holds accountability for environmental and climate related sourcing risks, including deforestation and conversion free, land use change, and Scope 3 emissions exposure for Cocoa and Palm oil.
As a senior member of the Cocoa Sustainable Sourcing leadership team, this role provides environmental authority, technical credibility, and strategic direction, ensuring that sourcing models, supplier engagement, and origin strategies are aligned with long term climate, land, and nature outcomes while considering social impacts.
Major Duties/Responsibilities:
Environmental & Climate Strategy Leadership (60%)
o Own and lead the cocoa environmental and climate strategy, including climate‑smart cocoa pathways across all origins and farm sizes.
o Own and lead the responsible palm sourcing strategy, including forest, nature and human rights related assessments, monitoring and verification efforts, on the ground projects and industry engagement.
o Define long‑term approaches to addressing GHG emissions (insetting/offsetting) and land use, and advancing agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, water stewardship, biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation.
o Ensure strategies are scalable, evidence‑based, and aligned with enterprise climate and sustainability commitments.
o Translate environmental strategy into clear requirements and decision frameworks for cocoa and palm sourcing and supplier engagement.
Environmental Integration & Governance (30%)
o Act as the environmental subject‑matter authority within cocoa and palm sourcing, providing guidance, challenge, and environmental assurance on key sourcing, supplier, and investment decisions. Ensure social impacts connected to environmental interventions are understood and mitigated.
o Shape environmental requirements for suppliers, landscapes, and origin programs, ensuring alignment with deforestation and conversion free, climate, and nature objectives.
o Partner with Global Sustainability, Legal, Responsible Sourcing, and R&D teams to ensure environmental methodologies, metrics, and claims are credible, auditable, and fit for external disclosure.
o Leverage environmental data and analytics to inform cost benefit decisions and long‑term sourcing resilience.
o Prepare and contribute environmental recommendations and risk assessments to cocoa and palm governance forums and senior leadership decision making.
10%
o Represent Hershey as a recognized environmental and climate leader in cocoa and palm across industry forums, coalitions, public events, and multistakeholder initiatives.
o Contribute to the environmental narrative for cocoa and palm, ensuring external communications are grounded in delivery reality and technical credibility.
o Engage with peers, NGOs, governments, and research partners to shape sector‑wide solutions on cocoa, palm, climate, and land use.
Minimum Education and Experience Requirements:
Education: Master’s degree in agronomy, International relations, Business or project management preferred
Experience:
- Must have at least 10 years of experience in environmental sustainability, climate strategy, land‑use, or nature‑based solutions within agriculture or complex supply chains.
- Demonstrated experience leading climate or environmental strategies at scale, ideally in food, agriculture, or commodities.
- Strong understanding of carbon accounting principles, agroforestry systems, regenerative agriculture, and landscape‑level interventions.
- Understanding of environmental impacts on farmer livelihoods and communities
- Proven ability to operate as a senior individual contributor with influence across functions and with external stakeholders.
- Someone who handled complex projects from a Matrix organization.
- Someone with budget management experience.
- Experience working in agriculture strongly desired.
- Must be fluent in English and a second language in French or Spanish highly preferred.
