Forest Risk & Monitoring Manager

Barry Callebaut seeks a Senior Forest Risk & Monitoring Manager in Zürich to lead deforestation monitoring, geospatial risk intelligence, and EUDR compliance efforts.

This position is responsible for establishing and maintaining best-in-class capabilities in deforestation monitoring and geospatial risk intelligence. The role supports compliant, deforestation-free sourcing and proactive risk management by overseeing the governance, performance, and continuous improvement of monitoring tools and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Optimize the operating model for farm-level due diligence, including managing deforestation alerts, conducting desk and field verifications, and assessing legality against Protected Areas.
• Manage relationships with external service providers for risk assessment, legality verification, and ongoing monitoring.
• Maintain global governance frameworks and local SOPs, defining clear roles for deforestation monitoring and legality assessments.
• Collaborate with Digital, Traceability, and MEL teams to ensure seamless data integration between monitoring platforms and data collection tools.
• Develop and refine methodologies to identify high-risk deforestation areas, providing proactive recommendations and mitigation actions to sourcing teams.
• Track market developments in geospatial analytics, satellite monitoring, and deforestation risk modeling.
• Evaluate new tools, methodologies, and data sources to enhance current solutions.
• Identify and support innovations that improve efficiency, accuracy, and business value.
• Grow an external network including providers, NGOs, platforms, and start-ups.
• Provide technical guidance and ensure accurate data sharing to strengthen internal capabilities.
• Co-design a geospatial evaluation agenda with MEL to support the Thriving nature team in identifying 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 needs to support proactive risk management.
• Serve 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.
• Drive training, adoption, and standardized implementation of methodologies and tools across teams and geographies.
• Monitor performance and ensure alignment with strategic roadmaps, leading continuous improvement initiatives to meet business priorities such as EUDR compliance.

Requirements

• 7-10+ years of experience in a similar role.
• PhD or MSc degree in a relevant discipline.
• Strong knowledge of GIS, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis tools.
• Excellent English language skills.
• 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 integrity.
• Ability 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.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with data management (Databricks, SQL) is a plus.
• French and/or Spanish language skills are a plus.

About the company

Barry Callebaut is committed to sustainability through its “Forever Chocolate” strategy, which includes strong commitments towards climate change and forest protection. The company aims to be forest positive by 2025, decarbonize its footprint in line with global efforts to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030, and become a net-zero company by 2050.

• Strong commitments towards climate change and forest protection.
• Aim to be forest positive by 2025.
• Goal to decarbonize footprint in line with global efforts to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.
• Target to be a net-zero company by 2050.