Hershey Stirs Up the Executive Mix

Chief supply chain officer Terry O'Day will assume additional duties in the leadership team that incoming chief executive officer Michele Buck has assembled at The Hershey Company.

The overhauled executive team "balances continuity in key positions through exceptional leaders from within the company and world-class talent from outside of Hershey," according to a media release announcing the reorganization. 

 

In his new position as senior vice president, chief product supply and technology officer, O’Day, will remain in charge of the supply chain organization but also head up Hershey’s productivity, information technology and enterprise connectivity initiatives.

In taking on those new responsibilities, he effectively takes over for chief knowledge and technology officer Waheed Zaman, who will retire on March 31, according to the release. Zaman joined Hershey as chief administrative officer in 2013 — at about the same time that Buck came on board as chief growth officer.

On behalf of the board of directors and management, I would like to thank Waheed … for his work over the past four years to advance our technology, data and analytics capabilities,” Buck said.

Meanwhile 23-year Unilever executive Todd Tillemans has been named President, U.S. to lead the flagship U.S. business including the core confection, sales and go-to-market teams. At Unilever, he most recently served as president, customer development U.S.  Tillemans will join Hershey on April 3

Elsewhere, Steven Schiller was elevated from president of China & Asia to president, international, adding the Americas, India and and Europe, Middle East, and Africa to his duties.

Continuing in their current roles are chief financial officer Patricia Little, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary Leslie Turner, chief human resources officer Kevin Walling and chief administrative officer Mike Wege. 

"This is a great team, with a range of experiences, expertise and backgrounds to accelerate our innovation, execute with excellence, instill a commercial mindset in all we do, and inspire our remarkable employees to achieve our goals,” Buck said in the release. 

In mid-March, Buck added the final component of the team by hiring JCPenney chief marketing officer Mary Beth West to become Hershey's chief growth officer. West, who spent 20 years at Kraft Foods/Mondelez before joining Penney in April 2015, will lead insights and analytics, strategy, marketing excellence functions, innovation, research & development, mergers & acquisitions, and The Hershey Experience.