Job Description

About the role:

Barry Callebaut is a global organization poised for growth; a company which has embraced the vision to delight its customers, while out-performing its competitors, a business which is committed to sustainability, has innovation in its DNA, is a leader in complex manufacturing and supply chain solutions and is focused on being a best-in-class employer. Barry Callebaut seeks diverse and passionate people who thrive in a dynamic environment, focused on continuous learning, living BC’s Values and of course loving chocolate.

The Site Quality Manager is responsible to plan, implement and manage the Quality Assurance Program to ensure compliance to BC quality management system (QMS), Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standard requirements and all customer and local regulatory requirements. This role contributes to and nurtures a culture of “Safety, Food safety first and Quality Always” mindset across all teams and leaders in the site, in line with the Barry Callebaut ‘GoForZero’ objective (0 accidents, 0 defects, 0 delays, 0 environmental impact and a 0-loss mindset). She/he/they have the responsibility to act and speak up when deviations cannot be solved locally (example: supplier quality)

The Quality Manager has the drive to constantly seek improvements through lean principles and people capabilities development, towards achieving best in class performance. Going beyond their role to also challenge the business to support bringing the plant to highest performance (e.g. SKU complexity, raw material supplier performance etc.).

Key responsibilities include:

The Quality manager is accountable to ensure compliance, alignment and adequacy of the policies and procedures for Quality, Food Safety and Sanitation within the plant. Additionally, they will ensure requirements are met and exceeded for Regulatory standards, Barry Callebaut Policies, GFSI and customer requirements.

• Develop their team and build capability within the plant to ensure high performance across all Quality, Food Safety and Hygiene metrics.
• Manage audits, visits and inspections from Customers, Certification bodies, Regulatory agencies or corporate oversite at the plant.
• Oversee the corrective and preventative (CAPA) actions coming from internal or external audits, and the plant daily management system
• Provide support to resolve customer complaints, complete RCA cycles and ensure CAPA efficiency
• Lead food safety, ensure the food safety plan is properly implemented and complied with
• Work closely with the operations team, R&D and sales to support effective and efficient new product or site to site product transfers
• Establish and document standards for sanitation procedures while ensuring compliance
• Oversee local laboratory equipment and quality control material supply inventories
• Ensure appropriate, timely decisions on destination response for possible non-conformities or Quality/Food Safety issues
• Drive corrective actions for out of spec materials, performing RCA to identify the source and ensure no recurrence
• Establish a balanced scorecard with leading and lagging indicators to provide visibility of plant quality performance at all org levels
• Lead the issue management team (integrate, train and coordinate) according to Global guidelines
• Ensure the plant Document Management System (DMS) is used effectively and maintained with up-to-date control documents
• Ensure product labels are regularly reviewed and approved for quality and compliance
• Ensure product batches are released to customers only once operations, QC and compliance reviews are completed
• Continuously develop a quality improvement plan as part of site masterplan to bring the plant to highest performance
• Identify food safety investments and CAPEX requirements to comply with standards and improve food safety performance
• Lead food defense and vulnerability assessments and develop plans for the site
• Manage QA team planning: budget and capex (short, medium and long term)

About you:

• Master’s degree in Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, Food Science, or related field; alternatively, an Engineering degree with 7+ years of experience in Food Quality Assurance.
• Minimum 5 years of food safety experience, including formal HACCP training, pathogen environmental monitoring, and testing.
• Formal training in FSSC 22000 and/or BRC, with certification in a Quality Management System (e.g., ASQ) preferred.
• Practical knowledge of TPM systems and food processing technologies, with a solid understanding of plant manufacturing functions.
• Experience in laboratory operations, testing procedures, and quality management within a manufacturing environment.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite, SAP, and manufacturing applications such as scheduling, CMMS, and MES systems.
• Experience in project management and the use of associated tools and systems.
• Proven people management skills; fluent in the local language and English (minimum B2 level).

What you can expect from Barry Callebaut:

• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package
• Environment that welcomes workplace flexibility
• An atmosphere where diversity is embraced, and inclusivity is second nature. We call it #OneBC! Just ask our champions with the Americas Women’s Forum and the Racial Equality Forum!Ability to grow personally and professionally within an organization that values development and internal career growth
• Be part of our mission in making sustainability the norm through Forever Chocolate with priorities centered around prospering farmers, zero child labor, carbon and forest positive, and creating 100% sustainable ingredients in all of our products.