Manager, Suppliers Audit & Performance- Americas

Manager, Suppliers Audit & Performance
- Americas

Location:

Chicago, US, 60654

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!

The Regional Supplier Performance Lead is responsible for monitoring, evaluating and improving supplier performance across the assigned region. This role ensures that the supply base in the region meets our company standards for quality, delivery, cost, and compliance while supporting continuous improvement initiatives. The position acts as the main point of contact between regional business and strategic suppliers, promoting effective communication and performance alignment.

This role will support the Global Supply Lead to roll out the Supplier Quality and Compliance strategy to ensure supplier quality excellence across the Barry Callebaut Global supply chain.

The role will give support the development and deployment of the Supplier Global Quality Standards, manage the audit plan for the region, and ensure compliance with the global protocols. The Regional Supplier Performance lead will be driving continuous improvement initiatives and collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance supplier performance.

This role ensures risks are identified in the industry and incorporated into BC programs to manage risk proactively and find solutions for continuity of business without compromising the product quality and customer expectations.

This role requires a high level of collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.

• Supplier Performance Management– Monitor and analyze supplier performance metrics (KPI’s) including quality, delivery, responsiveness, cost competitiveness, and compliance
• Collaborate with the leadership teams across the business units and regions to define and implement strategic quality initiatives aligned with the long-term business objectives
• Oversee supplier performance metrics for the assigned region and will steer in line with the global strategy
• Implement and maintain Quality Assurance Best Practices across supplier engagement process
• Report regional audit plan status, performance trends and improvements to global leadership in the business reviews
• Lead and mentor a diverse team of Regional Supplier Quality Auditors team that will drive the corrective actions, the continuous improvement programs and the development plans at supplier sites.
• Support supplier onboarding, qualification, and performance evaluations in coordination with global standards.
• Drive corrective action and continuous improvement programs at supplier sites.
• Collaborate with procurement, CI&TS, Regional quality, local quality, and operations to align supplier capabilities with business needs.

• Food Science / Food technologist / Food Engineering / Microbiology Major or related field or Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, or related field (Master’s preferred)
• Large Regional experience in Food Safety and Quality within the food industry.
• 5–8 years of experience in supplier quality, performance management, or procurement
• Strong understanding of supply chain processes, quality systems, and supplier management best practices
• Experience with data analytics and supplier score carding tools
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills
• Travel requirements:
  Must be flexible to travel up to 30-40%…