Director Quality Assurance, Cluster Europe

Location: Banbury, GB, OX16 3UU; Barcelona, ES; 8007 Lebbeke-Wieze, BE; 9280

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 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, committed to sustainability and reinvesting in the communities we operate in. We are headquartered in Zurich and have more than 12,000 employees in more than 40 countries. We are always looking for talented people to help us have a positive impact on our industry and beyond.

About the Role

Reporting to the VP, Europe Quality, Food Safety and Regulatory, this role leads the implementation of Quality Management Systems across multiple European production sites. The role is a visible change agent to drive a culture of quality and ensure products, facilities, processes and systems meet company and regulatory quality standards. It includes developing and delivering the Quality and Food Safety roadmap for the respective sites to comply with BC Quality expectations, regional regulatory requirements and customer expectations. The role also involves building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders and customers regionally and globally, and ensuring a robust talent pipeline for the region.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive a strong culture of quality at corporate and plant levels through partnerships with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales, R&D and Marketing; develop and maintain relationships with Barry Callebaut Europe senior leadership.
• Create an environment to continuously develop people by upgrading competencies and skills; coach Quality and cross-functional teams.
• Advance the quality strategy in conjunction with the VP, Europe Quality; provide functional oversight of internal Barry Callebaut manufacturing facilities located in the Europe cluster.
• Provide support and guidance to ensure the implementation, development and consistency of best practices; ensure facilities comply with company, customer and regulatory standards and are prepared for audits; manage corrective actions and verify effectiveness.
• Lead product quality and food safety risk assessment activities to identify improvements across the supply chain and proactively develop mitigation plans.
• Continuously improve performance against key quality metrics (e.g., FTQ, customer complaints, quality-related costs, audit outcomes) by leading initiatives.
• Lead and coordinate food safety or quality incidents with internal stakeholders and customers.
• Disseminate knowledge through training programs covering standards, procedures and policies to ensure employees meet required standards.
• Act as key contact and coordinator for quality and food safety incidents management in the cluster sites; lead follow-up of major incidents; communicate to Regional Quality VP; ensure lessons learned and preventive/corrective actions are implemented.
• Manage the QA budget for the cluster; ensure food safety Capex plans are executed timely.

About You

• Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, or Food Science.
• Knowledge of quality systems and policies, HACCP, Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards.
• Experience leading and working with cross-functional teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to drive projects to completion.
• At least 15 years of experience in Quality and Food Safety.
• At least 5 years of demonstrable leadership experience.
• Practical experience in Food and/or Beverage, preferably cocoa or chocolate.
• Fluent in English; other languages are an asset.

Barry Callebaut is committed to Diversity & Inclusion and to nurturing an inclusive environment where people can grow and belong.