Chief Accountant COE, Switzerland

Zurich, ZH, 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 the role

The Chief Accountant, Center of Experise (COE) Switzerland manages the accounting and reporting for two key Swiss-based reporting units (one legal entity) of the Barry Callebaut Group and is supported by a direct manager (deputy head of COE) and the Shared Service Centre (SSC) in Lodz, Poland (responsible for transactional activities). The legal entity in charge of is an international key manufacturing & sourcing facility for the Barry Callbeaut Group and covers various complex accounting topics (e.g. inventory & derivatives accounting).

Key responsibilities include

• Steering the majority of the financial day-to-day business with different stakeholders (mainly SSC & business)


• Preparation of monthly, quarterly and yearly reporting (IFRS and Swiss GAAP) for the two reporting units (one legal entity)

• Ensure accurate, robust and timely financial reporting in compliance with IFRS (including hedge accounting under IFRS 9), group guidelines, and local statutory requirements


• Business partnering with internal stakeholders across the finance and non-finance functions of Barry Callebaut and support of planning and budget activities


• Close collaboration with Shared Service Center to drive a continuous improvement mindset through simplification, harmonization and automation of processes


• Driving application and monitoring of internal control framework relating to Swiss financial reporting


• Support ad-hoc projects including Swiss-based acquisitions, divestments and complex transactions

About you

• Accounting Degree (CA, ACCA, but preferably recently qualified as Swiss CPA)


• Education in statutory Swiss accounting legislation


• Minimum 3 - 5 years in accounting in a multinational environment


• Accounting in a production and/or commodities industry which covered both, inventory accounting and financial instruments (IFRS 9)


• SAP ERP accounting knowledge


• Experience in Swiss statutory accounting


• Experience in Swiss direct and indirect taxes is considered a plus


• Big4 experience is a nice to have


• Fresh mindset, thinking “out of the box”


• Striving for continuous improvement


• Team player participating in knowledge sharing both in giving and receiving


• Proactively taking on responsibility


• Self-starter, autonomous working attitude


• Fluent English and German, other languages considered a plus

If you want to learn more about Barry Callebaut, please find further information here.

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