Senior VP, Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory

Location : Zurich, CH, 8005

At Barry Callebaut, we are on a journey to transform the cocoa and chocolate industry. As the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, our actions truly shape the future of our industry. We are a business-to-business company, serving the entire food sector, from the cocoa bean to the finest chocolate product. We are a company with a purpose, we believe in doing well by doing good and reinvesting in the communities we operate. We have a long-standing commitment to sustainability and our goal is to shape a sustainable cocoa and chocolate future. We are headquartered in Zurich, and have more than 12,000 passionate Employees working in more than 40 countries worldwide. We are very proud of who we are and what we do. And of course, we are always looking for talented people to help us have a positive impact on our industry and beyond!

About the Role

We are currently hiring for our next SVP Global Quality, directly responsible for the Quality, FS and Regulatory performance of the BC business globally, sitting on the Customer Supply & Development (CSD) leadership team. We are looking for a dynamic change agent and visible leader to drive a high culture of quality who is well versed in Food Safety and Quality System and Regulatory Affairs. Based in Zurich, the role is responsible for ensuring that our products, facilities, processes and systems meet the required company, customer and legislative quality standards across our manufacturing sites, multiple warehouses and distribution centers and co-manufacturers globally. This is a key role which will provide short and long-term strategies, aligned with the global quality initiatives to prepare Barry Callebaut for customer needs and regulatory changes ensuring Barry Callebaut remains the leader in global chocolate and cocoa. Working with the leadership team the successful applicant will ensure a robust pipeline of talent to develop and place in assignments across the region as well as being tasked with building and maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders and customers globally.

Key Responsibilities include :

Act as change agent to drive a strong culture of quality at the corporate and plant level through partnerships with key stakeholder groups including supply chain, sales, R&D and marketing

Create an environment to continuously develop the people across the organization by upgrading competencies and skills

Develop and implement a Global Corporate QA strategy and action plan in order to meet short and medium term business objectives for Barry Callebaut

Directly manage the regional Quality team who own direct QA oversight of the Barry Callebaut sites, Global Food Safety, Regulatory, Global Customer Accounts and Center of Excellence including Supplier Approval

Continually improve performance against key quality metrics such as customer complaints, quality related costs, audit outcomes by proactively leading initiatives

Development and implementation of appropriate quality management systems considering customer and market requirements and other relevant regulatory framework

Lead the alignment of crucial quality initiatives with internal and external Barry Callebaut stakeholders

Lead the global Incident / Crisis management team

Drive top-down support for Barry Callebaut facilities to ensure implementation, development, and consistency of best practices for food safety systems to include HACCP and allergen program effectiveness

About You

Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, or Food Science

At least 25 years of professional experience in a global QA environment within the food sector both in an operational environment as well as on a senior and strategic level

An in-depth understanding of food safety, quality engineering / management and regulatory requirements for the food industry

Certification as an FDA Preventive Control Qualified Individual (PCQI)

Extensive knowledge of HACCP, GMP, Environmental Monitoring and Facility / Equipment Design

Competent decision making that incorporates quality / regulatory requirements with other business needs and objectives

The ability of communicating complex quality issues and concepts in a clear and concise manner with all levels of management

The ability to develop a QA vision, communicate the vision and persuade BC to support and help realize this vision

Managing people and projects which lead to positive, tangible business results is required

Passionate and lively promoter of quality in general and have the ability to influence and cooperation from others within the organization

Exemplary and inclusive leadership skills, with the ability to influence and inspire at all levels

Exceptional interpersonal skills

Capable of working under pressure with numerous short term deadlines in a complex environment