Forest Risk & Monitoring Manager

Location: 

Zurich, CH, 8005

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!

About you

 

Barry Callebaut’s “Forever Chocolate” strategy includes strong commitments towards climate change and forest protection. Corresponding objectives have specifically been formalized to reflect Barry Callebaut’s ambition to prevent deforestation in the Group’s raw materials’ supply chains and reduce carbon emissions:

  • By 2025, to be forest positive
  • By 2030, we will have decarbonized our footprint in line with global efforts to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius
  • By 2050, we will be a net-zero company

Barry Callebaut’s strategy to reach the aforementioned “Forest Positive” targets and comply with upcoming European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) encompasses a set of tools to carry out BC’s due diligence obligations, as well as Forest Protection objectives. These tools and programs will enable the Group to claim volumes imported in Europe from 2025 onwards are “deforestation-free” and EUDR compliant. This role ensures that Barry Callebaut has best-in-class deforestation monitoring and geospatial risk intelligence capabilities to support compliant, deforestation-free and legal sourcing as well as proactive risk management. Within this framework, the Forest Risk & Monitoring Manager will oversee the governance, performance and continuous improvement of deforestation monitoring tools and procedures.

 

Key Responsibilities include

 

  • Farm Deforestation and Legality Due Diligence:
    • Own and continuously optimize the operating model and processes for farm-level due diligence, including deforestation monitoring and alert system management, both deskbased and field verifications as well as legality assessments against Protected Areas (PAs)
    • Manage relationships with selected service provider(s) for deforestation risk assessment, legality verification and ongoing monitoring
    • Oversee and maintain global governance and local SOPs including clear roles and responsibilities for deforestation monitoring and legality assessments
    • Liaise with Digital, traceability and MEL teams to ensure seamless integration and data flows between BC’s deforestation and legality monitoring platform and relevant data collection tools
    • Own and continuously improve methodologies and systems to identify high-risk deforestation areas, deliver proactive recommendations to sourcing teams, and implement necessary mitigation actions
  • Innovation and Continuous Improvement:
    • Monitor market developments in geospatial analytics, satellite monitoring, and deforestation risk modelling
    • Evaluate new tools, methodologies, and data sources to enhance current solutions
    • Proactively identify and support the creation and development of innovations, including techniques, tools, and processes to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and overall business value
    • Maintain and grow an external network (e.g. providers, NGOs, platforms, start-ups)
  • Data Analysis and Business Insights: 
    • Provide technical guidance and ensure accurate data sharing among teams, strengthening internal knowledge, capabilities and action implementations.
    • Co-design and implement with MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) a geospatial evaluation agenda that fits the needs of the Thriving nature team, including deforestation and land-use data to identify trends, risks, and actionable insights
    • Translate geospatial data into clear, actionable recommendations for sourcing and sustainability teams
    • Liaise with Digital, MEL and Traceability teams on data gathering and management needs to support proactive risk management by identifying high-risk areas, patterns, and emerging threats
  • Strategy Implementation & Stakeholder Enablement:
    • Act as the go-to expert on deforestation monitoring, providing guidance across teams and functions
    • Support the development of dashboards, reporting frameworks, and decision-support tools to enable data-driven insights
    • Drive training, adoption, and standardized implementation of methodologies, tools, and processes across teams and geographies
    • Monitor performance and ensure alignment with strategic roadmaps, leading continuous improvement initiatives across global and local teams to meet business priorities (e.g., EUDR compliance, risk detection, sourcing decisions)

 

About you

 

  • 7-10+ years of experience on a similar role
  • PhD or MSc degree in respective discipline
  • Strong knowledge of GIS, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis tools
  • Familiarity with data management (Databricks, SQL) is a plus
  • Excellent English language skills. French and/or Spanish language skills are a plus
  • Strong analytical mindset with experience in geospatial data processing and interpretation
  • Proven ability to translate complex technical outputs into actionable business insights
  • Experience managing external vendors, service providers, or geospatial technology partners
  • Strong stakeholder management experience across technical and non-technical teams
  • Proven track record in developing analytical tools, monitoring systems, or intelligence capabilities
  • In-depth understanding of land-use change, deforestation dynamics, and associated risks
  • Good understanding of EUDR and related regulatory frameworks
  • Ability to influence stakeholders and gain buy-in across functions and seniority levels
  • Ability to operate effectively in international and multicultural environments
  • Ability to drive operations and strategies in large, complex, and remote teams without direct hierarchical authority
  • Self-starter with a hands-on and proactive working style
  • Thrives under pressure while maintaining high personal and professional integrityAbility to organize and prioritize work in a dynamic environment
  • Positive “can-do” attitude and solution-oriented as well as practical mindset
  • Creative, out-of-the-box thinker with strong problem-solving capabilities
  • Flexible and adaptable in a fast-evolving and regulatory-driven environment
  • Comfortable operating in ambiguity and navigating evolving compliance requirements

 

Application deadline: 24/07/2026

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 here.

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