Supervisor, Production

About the role

Barry Callebaut is a global leader in chocolate and cocoa products, driven by a passion for innovation, sustainability, and excellence. We combine deep manufacturing expertise with world-class supply chain solutions to create value across the food industry. Our people are at the heart of our success, and we are looking for talented, passionate individuals who thrive in a dynamic and agile environment, embrace continuous learning, live our values every day, and are excited to be part of a team united by one common passion: chocolate.

The Production Supervisor leads, coordinates, and optimizes daily manufacturing operations across all cocoa processing areas, including bean receiving and cleaning, roasting, grinding, pressing, deodorizing, cocoa powder production, melting operations, and bulk load-out activities. The role ensures safe, efficient, and compliant production while driving operational excellence, employee engagement, product quality, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Safety Leadership
  • Promote and maintain a safety-first culture across all processing areas.
  • Ensure compliance with all site safety procedures, risk assessments, permit systems, and incident reporting requirements.
  • Lead incident investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective actions.
  • Conduct pre-shift safety meetings and address safety concerns proactively.
  • Ensure food safety, HACCP, GMP, sanitation, and quality requirements are consistently followed.
• Quality & Food Safety
  • Ensure all products meet customer specifications and regulatory requirements.
  • Verify completion of HACCP checks, quality sampling, and process monitoring.
  • Support investigations related to quality deviations and customer complaints.
  • Drive compliance with food safety systems, certifications, and audit requirements.
  • Ensure proper material identification, traceability, and inventory accuracy.
• Production Management
  • Manage daily operations for all cocoa processing areas as needed.
  • Ensure production plans are executed safely and efficiently.
  • Monitor throughput, yields, downtime, waste, and quality performance.
  • Adjust labor and resources according to operational priorities.
  • Maintain attendance and performance tracking of the shift.
  • Coordinate shift activities to achieve production targets and customer requirements.
  • Validate production reporting accuracy in SAP (monitor inventory transactions, material consumptions), OEE systems (production reporting), and production databases.
  • Complete shift reports, handovers, investigations, and documentation.
  • Execute and follow up on disciplinary actions when necessary.
• Maintenance & Reliability
  • Coordinate with Maintenance to address breakdowns and equipment issues.
  • Escalate critical equipment failures and support root cause investigations.
  • Support preventive maintenance, autonomous maintenance, and sanitation activities.
  • Support reliability initiatives to improve equipment uptime and operational performance.
• Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
  • Champion the use of Lean Manufacturing, BCOS, and continuous improvement methodologies to eliminate losses.
  • Review OEE, downtime, waste, and efficiency data to identify opportunities.
  • Lead problem-solving and corrective action activities.
  • Drive standardization, process optimization, and cost reduction initiatives.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED with 3 to 5 years of manufacturing experience within a food, ingredient, or process manufacturing environment.
• Strong verbal and written English communication skills.
• Ability to effectively communicate with hourly employees, technical teams, managers, contractors, and corporate stakeholders.
• Ability to conduct shift meetings, incident investigations, performance discussions, and training sessions.
• Ability to lift up to 60 lbs unassisted, stand and remain on feet for 12-hour shifts.
• Comfortable working in a non-climate-controlled environment (temperatures can rise to 130°F in certain areas).
• Comfortable working in environments with exposure to cocoa dust, debris, grease, and slippery surfaces.
• Punctual and reliable; shift starts at 5:45 AM/PM and finishes at 6:00 PM/AM depending on shift.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.
• 12 paid holidays, generous PTO, plus your birthday off.
• Environment that welcomes workplace flexibility.
• An atmosphere where diversity is embraced, and inclusivity is second nature (#OneBC).
• Opportunities for personal and professional growth within an organization that values development and internal career mobility.
• Be part of a mission to make sustainability the norm through Forever Chocolate, with priorities centered around prospering farmers, zero child labor, carbon and forest positive, and creating 100% sustainable ingredients in all products.

Barry Callebaut is 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.