Senior Vice President of Food Safety, Quality and Regulation
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 shape the future of our industry. We serve the entire food sector, from the cocoa bean to the finest chocolate product. Our commitment to sustainability is long-standing. We aim to create a sustainable cocoa and chocolate future.
About the Role
The Senior Vice President of Global Quality will be responsible for the quality, food safety, and regulatory performance of Barry Callebaut globally. This person will sit on the Customer Supply & Development (CSD) leadership team. We seek a dynamic leader who can drive a high culture of quality and is well-versed in food safety and quality systems, as well as regulatory affairs. Based in Zurich, this role ensures that our products, facilities, processes, and systems meet company, customer, and legislative quality standards across manufacturing sites, warehouses, distribution centers, and co-manufacturers worldwide.
Key Responsibilities:
1. 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.
2. Create an environment to continuously develop people across the organization by upgrading competencies and skills.
3. Develop and implement a global corporate QA strategy and action plan to meet short and medium-term business objectives for Barry Callebaut.
4. Directly manage the regional Quality team who own direct QA oversight of Barry Callebaut sites, Global Food Safety, Regulatory, Global Customer Accounts, and Center of Excellence, including Supplier Approval.
5. Improve performance against key quality metrics, such as customer complaints, quality-related costs, and audit outcomes, by proactively leading initiatives.
6. Development and implementation of appropriate quality management systems considering customer and market requirements and other relevant regulatory frameworks.
7. Align crucial quality initiatives with internal and external Barry Callebaut stakeholders.
8. Lead the global Incident/Crisis Management Team.
9. Drive top-down support for Barry Callebaut facilities to ensure implementation, development, and consistency of best practices for food safety systems, including HACCP and allergen program effectiveness.
About You
1. Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, or Food Science.
2. At least 25 years of professional experience in a global QA environment within the food sector, both in an operational environment and on a senior and strategic level.
3. In-depth understanding of food safety, quality engineering/management, and regulatory requirements for the food industry.
4. Certification as an FDA Preventive Control Qualified Individual (PCQI).
5. Extensive knowledge of HACCP, GMP, Environmental Monitoring, and Facility/Equipment Design.
6. Competent decision-making incorporating quality/regulatory requirements with other business needs and objectives.
7. Ability to communicate complex quality issues and concepts clearly and concisely with all levels of management.
8. Ability to develop a QA vision, communicate the vision, and persuade BC to support and help realize this vision.
9. Managing people and projects leading to positive, tangible business results is required.
10. Passionate and lively promoter of quality with the ability to influence and cooperate from others within the organization.
11. Exemplary and inclusive leadership skills with the ability to influence and inspire at all levels.
12. Exceptional interpersonal skills.
13. Capable of working under pressure with numerous short-term deadlines in a complex environment.
This is a key role providing 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.