Head of Sustainable Sourcing Cocoa - Environment & Climate
About the position The Sustainable Sourcing Cocoa Manager – Environment & Climate is responsible for leading the implementation of Hershey’s Cocoa environmental, climate, and land use strategy within cocoa sourcing. 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. 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.
Responsibilities
- Own and lead the cocoa environmental and climate strategy, including climate‑smart cocoa pathways across all origins and farm sizes.
- Define long‑term approaches addressing GHG emissions (insetting/offsetting), land use, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, water stewardship, and climate adaptation.
- Ensure strategies are scalable, evidence‑based, and aligned with enterprise climate and ESG commitments.
- Translate environmental strategy into clear requirements and decision frameworks for cocoa sourcing and supplier engagement.
- Act as the environmental subject‑matter authority within cocoa sourcing, providing guidance, challenge, and environmental assurance on key sourcing, supplier, and investment decisions.
- Shape environmental requirements for suppliers, landscapes, and origin programs, ensuring alignment with deforestation and conversion free, climate, and nature objectives.
- Partner with Global Sustainability, Legal, and R&D teams to ensure environmental methodologies, metrics, and claims are credible, auditable, and fit for external disclosure.
- Leverage environmental data and analytics to inform cost benefit decisions and long‑term sourcing resilience.
- Prepare and contribute environmental recommendations and risk assessments to cocoa governance forums and senior leadership decision making.
- Represent Hershey as a recognized environmental and climate leader in cocoa across industry forums, coalitions, public events, and multistakeholder initiatives.
- Contribute to the environmental narrative for cocoa, ensuring external communications are grounded in delivery reality and technical credibility.
- Engage with peers, NGOs, governments, and research partners to shape sector‑wide solutions on cocoa, climate, and land use.
Requirements
- 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.
- Proven ability to operate as a senior individual contributor with influence across functions and with external stakeholders.
Nice-to-haves
- Experience working in agriculture strongly desired
- Fluency in English and French desired