Customer R&D Specialist

Barry Callebaut AG; Banbury; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Barry Callebaut AG seeks a technically skilled professional to drive product development and provide expert guidance on chocolate applications. You will support customers, lead trials, and ensure smooth scale-up while maintaining strong partnerships across the organization.

The role requires a degree in Food Science, 5+ years in the food industry, and proven experience with project management, sales interactions, and presentations. Travel within the UK is anticipated.

Qualifications

• Degree in Food Science or related field is required.
• Proven project management experience and strong presentation skills.
• Experience in sales or client-facing roles is essential.
• Proficiency with MS Office, Salesforce and SAP is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Define recipe requirements from customer specs and collaborate with internal teams.
• Communicate project content and status to customers and stakeholders.
• Travel to customer sites for new product implementations and support.
• Build and maintain customer relationships and provide technical guidance.
• Lead trials, document results, and advise on scale-up and compliance.
• Organize project teams and meetings; drive continuous improvement.
• Provide on-site technical training and transfer knowledge to customers.
• Balance time/resources with benefits and assess risks; inform next steps.
• Capture customer feedback and drive product creation with QA input.
• Promote new products through customer interactions and innovation days.

Skills

Project Management

Presentation skills

Sales / client interaction

MS Office

Salesforce

SAP

Fluent Business English

Travel within the UK

Education

Bachelor's / Master's in Food Science or related field

Tools

MS Office

Salesforce

SAP

Job description

As a key member of the R&D team, you will lead technical product development, driving best-in-class product solutions and sharing deep product expertise across the organization. Acting as a trusted partner to customers, you will provide technical guidance on product selection, applications, and chocolate handling optimization to improve manufacturing efficiency. You will deliver technical support, troubleshoot issues at customer sites, and conduct training sessions on our products and applications. This role is integral to building strong customer partnerships and ensuring exceptional product performance and continuous improvement.,

• Define Recipe Requirements Based on Customer Specs, Reference Material and in Collaboration with Internal Colleagues (Product Expert & Process Engineer).
• Communicate and Align with Customer and Stakeholders on Project Content and Status
• Be present on Customer's site to work through any new product implementation as well as advising how to develop customers business.
• Maintain and develop customer relations to maintain communication and insights
• Main good overview of customers capabilities, product portfolio, future pipelines and launches.
• Perform Application Tests with the Application Lab with or without Customer, e.g. Trials on New Chocolate, Compounds and Fillings
• Provide on site Technical Advice to Customer on Application during Industrial Trials and to ensure a Smooth Transition to Industrial Scale up (Troubleshooting)
• Identify, Inform and Organise Project Members and Stakeholders, e.g. Establish a Team for Innovation or Large projects, Organize Project Team Meetings
• Ensure Compliance for New Products Through Regulations Knowledge
• Give Application Training to the Customer workforce and internal colleagues when required
• Assess Existing Technology & Equipment and Maintain Knowledge of State of the Art Technological Possibilities for All Kinds of Customer applications
• Log Trials and Results in System (SFDC or other)
• Promote new products to customers, through innovation days and customer visits
• Receive and translate customer briefs for a New or Existing Solution
• Balance Time and Resource Effort vs. Benefits of the Request, e.g. Discuss Feasibility, Assess risks, Ensure Compliance with Business Standards
• Collect Customer Feedback on Sample and Testing's and Define Next Steps in Product Creation
• Along with QA make a GO/NO GO Decision to Production in Case of OOS and Report the OOS Specificities to Customer
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives re processes, technologies, and organisation
• Ownership and autonomy within the account
• Bachelor's / Master's Degree in Food Science or similar field
• Minimum 5 years' experience in the food industry
• Experience in Project Management
• Outstanding presentation skills
• Proven track record in continuous improvement management
• Experience in a product development, strong application knowledge
• Experience in Sales or client interaction
• Good knowledge of working tools (MS Office, Salesforce, SAP...)
• Fluent Business English
• Willingness to travel within the UK

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!