Plant Manager ECC

About the role

The Plant Manager at Barry Callebaut holds a pivotal position in managing the manufacturing facility's daily operations and planning long-term developments. Responsibilities encompass optimizing production processes, ensuring quality standards, managing budgets, and promoting operational excellence. By aligning efforts with Barry Callebaut's strategic objectives, they strategically address plant-specific challenges, implement sustainable practices, cultivate supplier and support customer relationships, and lead initiatives for continuous improvement to enhance overall plant performance and maximize company success.

Key responsibilites include

• Leadership:  Translate business strategy into digestible messaging and lead the team proactively to motivate to deliver exceptional results.
• Vision: Collaborate with the Production Department to define strategies for best-in-class manufacturing practices. Drive initiatives to enhance efficiency, quality, and safety standards in line with company goals.
• Budget: Define and manage the plant's budget objectives, ensuring alignment with company guidelines. Take accountability for budget adherence and performance, optimizing resource usage, and controlling costs effectively (P&L ownership, Financials and Performance Indicators)
• Production: Ensure adherence to production plans, optimizing factors to minimize costs and meet targets. Manage third-party manufacturing relationships to align with production plans effectively.
• Human Resources/Team Management: Develop and empower the plant's workforce, fostering a culture of motivation and competence development. Recruit, manage, and develop team members, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Maintenance: Oversee maintenance activities to ensure optimal performance of plant assets. Collaborate with Engineering to drive technical improvements, aligning with operational objectives.
• Quality: Uphold defined quality standards, ensuring compliance with regulations and certifications. Take accountability for product quality and safety within production operations.
• Technological Process: Execute production processes according to technical standards, optimizing efficiency and quality. Drive alignment with new technologies to enhance competitiveness within the plant.
• Continuous Improvement: Facilitate improvement proposals and project development to enhance production cycle organization. Drive the development of the plant's industrial system through continuous improvement initiatives.
• Safety and Environment: Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and food regulations, implementing necessary measures to uphold standards. Prioritize safety initiatives and mitigate environmental risks effectively to ensure human health and safety within the plant.

Shared accountabilities:

• Budget Management: Collaborate on budget planning and monitor performance for financial optimization.
• Stakeholder Engagement and External Relations: Foster relationships internally and externally to enhance collaboration and reputation. Represent Barry Callebaut in external engagements, fostering positive relationships and promoting the company's image. Collaborate with external stakeholders to address industry challenges and regulatory requirements.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive innovation and support the implementation of improvement initiatives for enhanced efficiency.
• Talent Development: Partner with HR to develop talent strategies and provide support for employee growth.
• Local HR: Partner with local HR to ensure adherence to Labor Law and employee conditions. Collaborate with works councils and unions
• Health, Safety, and Environmental Compliance: Ensure compliance with regulations and promote a culture of safety and environmental stewardship.

About you

• Dutch and strong proficiency in English
• A bachelor's degree in engineering, business, or related field is mandatory, while a postgraduate degree is advantageous.
• Over a decade of experience in manufacturing operations, with a preference for prior roles as a Plant Manager. Preferably having experience at least in 2 different facilities/plants
• Proven track record of thriving in multinational organizations with matrix structures.
• Preferably experience in different functions such as Planning, Operations, HR, etc. 
• Preferably having experience in at least 2 different businesses (Cocoa, Chocolate, or external experience)
• Adaptability to diverse business contexts and a history of driving results in dynamic environments.