Technical Sales Advisor Centro Italia

Barry Callebaut Manufacturing Iberica SA.; Town of Italy (NY); Hybrid; EUR 50,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Barry Callebaut Italy is seeking a field-based specialist to develop and support B2B gourmet artisan customers across pastry, bakery, and chocolate applications in the Toscana-Lazio-Umbria-Marche region. You will deliver technical training, support scale-up from lab to production, and collaborate with R&D, Marketing, and Sales to drive product development and customer value.

Fluency in English and willingness to travel are important.

Qualifications

• Professional background in pastry, bakery, or chocolate production with strong technical expertise.
• Italian native speaking.
• Additional languages are a plus, especially for international interaction.
• Strong knowledge of pastry, bakery, and chocolate/cocoa applications.
• Understanding of industrial and semi-industrial production processes.
• Experience with ingredient functionality, recipe formulation, and process optimization.
• Ability to support scale-up from lab to production.
• Hands-on, problem-solving approach.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Sales, R&D, and Marketing.
• Strong organizational skills and autonomy.
• Willingness to travel.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage B2B customers within the gourmet artisan channel (end users, artisan labs, bakery chains, food manufacturers), leveraging the existing network.
• Provide technical and application support on cocoa, chocolate, pastry and bakery ingredients, including troubleshooting, recipe optimization and process improvement.
• Act as a bridge between Chocolate Academy, Commercial, R&D and Marketing, supporting product development, industrial trials and solution customization.
• Support sales activities through customer visits, technical presentations, demos and hands-on application trials, including semi-industrial and industrial scale-up processes.
• Deliver technical training, workshops and product presentations, and represent the company at trade fairs and events.

Skills

pastry/chocolate production

industrial production processes

cross-functional collaboration

travel willingness

English proficiency

Job description

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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!

Barry Callebaut is a global organization poised for growth; a company which has embraced the vision to delight its customers, while out-performing its competitors, a business which is committed to sustainability, has innovation in its DNA, is a leader in complex manufacturing and supply chain solutions and is focused on being a best-in-class employer. Barry Callebaut seeks diverse and passionate people who thrive in a dynamic environment, focused on continuous learning, living BC’s Values and of course loving chocolate.

The position will operate within the gourmet artisan channel, with responsibility for developing and commercially supporting B2B customers through a highly technical and consultative approach. The position acts as a key interface between the Commercial, R&D, and end customer functions, providing application support on raw materials, semi-finished products, and solutions for pastry, bakery, and semi-industrial/industrial production environments. It is responsible for managing and developing, through the existing B2B network, customers such as end users, artisanal laboratories, bakery chains, and food manufacturers, supporting the sales team during visits, demonstrations, and application trials.

The ideal candidate has strong expertise in pastry, chocolate, and bakery processes, combined with a solid understanding of semi-industrial production lines, including mixing, dosing, tempering, baking, cooling, and packaging processes. The role supports recipe optimization and production performance improvement, participates in industrial trials, and contributes to the development of new applications in collaboration with R&D and Marketing. The position also delivers technical training sessions, workshops, and product presentations, while participating in trade fairs and industry events.

The region under scope are: Toscana-Lazio-Umbria-Marche

The profile is completed by a strong commercial mindset, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, a problem-solving attitude, a hands-on approach, willingness to travel, and fluency in English.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE

• Develop and manage B2B customers within the gourmet artisan channel (end users, artisan labs, bakery chains, food manufacturers), leveraging the existing network.
• Provide technical and application support on cocoa, chocolate, pastry and bakery ingredients, including troubleshooting, recipe optimization and process improvement.
• Act as a bridge between Chocolate Academy, Commercial, R&D and Marketing, supporting product development, industrial trials and solution customization.
• Support sales activities through customer visits, technical presentations, demos and hands-on application trials, including semi-industrial and industrial scale-up processes.
• Deliver technical training, workshops and product presentations, and represent the company at trade fairs and events.

Scope:

The position is a filed-based role and reports directly to Sales Director D&A

EDUCATION, LANGUAGE, SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

• Professional background in pastry, bakery, or chocolate production with strong technical expertise
• Italian native speaking
• Additional languages are a plus, especially for international interaction
• Strong knowledge of pastry, bakery, and chocolate/cocoa applications
• Understanding of industrial and semi-industrial production processes
• Experience with ingredient functionality, recipe formulation, and process optimization
• Ability to support scale-up from lab to production
• Hands-on, problem-solving approach
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Sales, R&D, and Marketing
• Strong organizational skills and autonomy
• Willingness to travel

Section 2 - CANDIDATE PROFILE

The candidate must be based in one region in scope.

The ideal candidate for this role must have:

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE & KNOWLEDGE / TECHNICAL OR FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Proven experience in pastry, bakery, chocolate or cocoa-based ingredient applications within B2B food industry
• Solid understanding of industrial and semi-industrial production processes (mixing, dosing, tempering, baking, cooling, packaging)
• Experience in technical customer support, application development or technical sales in food ingredients sector
• Strong ability in recipe formulation, product adaptation and process optimization
• Knowledge of ingredient functionality (fats, cocoa systems, emulsifiers, stabilizers, bakery systems)
• Experience in managing customer trials, scale-up processes and troubleshooting in production environments
• Ability to translate technical features into commercial value for different customer segments

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES & PERSONAL STYLE

• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Customer-centric and solution-oriented mindset
• Proactive, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach
• Ability to work autonomously while aligning with cross-functional teams
• Strong communication and presentation skills across technical and commercial audiences
• Resilient, adaptable and comfortable in dynamic, international environments
• Team player with a collaborative mindset across Sales, R&D and Marketing

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS / CONTEXT OF THE ROLE

• Key field-based role within a growing gourmet artisan and semi-industrial hybrid channel
• Strong focus on technical consultancy combined with commercial development
• Role is central to innovation, application development and customer-driven product improvement
• High exposure to both artisanal craftsmanship and food manufacturing environments

KEY STAKEHOLDERS - JOB PROFILE DEFINITION & CANDIDATE SELECTION

• R&D / Product Development Teams
• Marketing
• Customers: artisanal labs, bakery chains, semi-industrial food manufacturers, distributors, end-users
• Production and Quality teams at customer side during trials and scale-up phases
• Technical Service and Application Centers within the organization
• External partners and distributors within assigned markets

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.