Cocoa CI&TS Lead CEE

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 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 always looking for talented people to help us have a positive impact on our industry and beyond!About the role:
The Cocoa CI&TS Lead bridges the gap between global strategy and dynamic, customer-oriented support for cocoa products in the CEE region.
This role combines leadership with hands-on expertise to ensure both customer satisfaction and business growth.The Cocoa CI&TS Lead oversees and drives customer-facing activities related to cocoa, working closely with Sales to identify priorities, define KPIs, and deliver results.
A key aspect of the role involves building and nurturing relationships with customers, ensuring their needs are met through expert technical and strategic support.
The position also involves coordinating cocoa-specific activities across various internal teams, including chocolate CI&TS roles, and managing the cocoa CI&TS support role for EE, CIS, and SEE clusters.The role's scope is broad, requiring interaction with numerous internal stakeholders (e.g., Sales, QA, Supply Chain, and R&D teams) to align and collaborate effectively on customer solutions.
It also emphasizes creating a collaborative and inclusive work environment that promotes innovation and excellence.Travel is an integral part of this position, primarily within the CEE region but extending to other locations as needed.
Exceptional stakeholder management, a customer-first mindset, and the ability to thrive in a dynamic environment are critical for success in this role.This is an exciting opportunity to take on a key role at the intersection of strategy, leadership, and customer engagement.Key responsibilities:
Manage the Cocoa CI&TS Customer Support Team (15%)Translate the customer strategy into clear, measurable goals for the team.Monitor team performance to ensure objectives are achieved.Define development plans to enhance team capabilities.Guide the team in creating sub-regional CI&TS plans.Define the Regional Customer Strategy (25%)Develop the CI&TS customer-facing strategy for the region in collaboration with Sales and Marketing, ensuring alignment with business targets.Allocate team resources effectively based on customer priorities and business opportunities.Implement tools and processes to report project pipelines and progress across the region.Identify regional customers to partner with in driving BC innovations.Manage the Sub-Regional Customer Base (60%)Execute the Cocoa CI&TS customer strategy for assigned country clusters.Act as the primary point of contact between customers and BC Cocoa CI&TS.Serve as the bridge between customers, Cocoa CI&TS, Chocolate CI&TS, and the Sales community for all customer-related issues and projects.Identify customer needs for cocoa products and provide tailored solutions.Share expertise in BC cocoa products, offering technical support and resolving issues.Provide customer training as requested.Manage a balanced, results-driven customer project portfolio.Maintain accurate records of projects using tools like Salesforce.Regularly report on the progress of customer projects to internal stakeholders.This role demands a proactive and strategic approach to managing customer relationships, ensuring their needs are met while driving business success.About you:
The ideal candidate will possess a unique blend of technical expertise, leadership ability, and cultural understanding to drive success in this challenging and dynamic environment and also has:
Master's degree in Science or Engineering, preferably in Food Science, or equivalent experience.At least 5 years of experience in a relevant role, ideally in a Chocolate or Cocoa environment.Fluent in English and Turkish; proficiency in Polish is a plus.Deep knowledge of R&D, project management, and cocoa applications.Strong leadership capabilities, with the ability to lead, coach, and inspire teams.Customer-focused, with proven experience in managing customer relationships and delivering tailored solutions.Strategic thinker with the ability to execute and drive results.Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.Problem-solving mindset, ambitious, and results-driven.Proactive and entrepreneurial, with a strong sense of commercial impact.Committed to equality, inclusion, and valuing diversity in the workplace.Willingness to travel at least 40% of the time, primarily within the Tiga and Central country clusters.Open to managing and collaborating with teams across EE, CIS, and CEE regions.We offer:
Employment on a regular basis in the sweetest company in the world.Annual bonus based on your work results.Lunch card to be used for groceries and restaurants.Private medical care in Lux Med (basic package fully financed by BC).Fit Profit sports card co-financed by BC.PPE:
we care about your future, and we save money for your retirement.Cafeteria Program as a part of Social Fund.Group life insurance.Hybrid working model:
min.
8 days in the office a month.As part of our work-life balance culture, we can start work between 7 am and 10 am.Free consultation with a lawyer once a quarter.Chocolate! Yes, surprising but we have chocolate in the office, for Christmas, BC's Birthday, and many other occasions during the year.Daily delivery of fresh fruits and veggies to the office.You can purchase our sweet products with a special discount.Relax zone in the office with options such as PlayStation 5, football table, pool table, Ping-Pong, library, table games, and massage chairs.Sport @work with treadmills and indoor exercise bikes with a laptop station.Integration budgets for team events.Forever Chocolate and Event Team:
you can join them and have a real influence on social life in BC and CSR activities.At Barry Callebaut, we are committed to Diversity & Inclusion.
United by our strong values, we thrive on the diversity of who we are, where we come from, what we've experienced and how we think.
We are committed to nurturing an inclusive environment where people can truly be themselves, grow to their full potential and feel they belong.
• oneBC - Diverse People, Sustainable Growth.If you want to learn more about Barry Callebaut, please find further information.
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