Supplier Assurance Officer & Fruit Technologist

Ardo, with its headquarters in Ardooie (BE), is a major global player in the production of fresh frozen vegetables, herbs and fruit for retail, foodservice and the food industry. The strong growth in recent years resulted in a turnover of 1,1 billion euros with 4.000 employees. The group has a global sales network, with 21 production sites in 9 countries. The Ardo brand name stands for quality, service, flexibility and innovation.

To contribute to strategical decisions on procurement and supplier assurance in Europe, currently Ardo is looking for a Supplier Assurance Officer & Fruit Technologist. As a Supplier Assurance Officer you will be Ardo’s quality representative on externally purchased products, and as a Fruit Technologist you will be responsible to help build the internal and external image of Ardo as a frozen fruit specialist. The combination of both roles will enable You to link and leverage the knowledge from the supply side with the commercial side of the function.

Manage product quality of externally purchased products by Ardo Group across Europe.

• Visit local suppliers of frozen fruits, vegetables, herbs and ingredients (across Europe) and assess quality, food safety, social & ethical, sustainability and regulatory compliance in order to identify potential strategic partners (in close collaboration with the Lead Buyers of Ardo).
• Promote and contribute to the development of supplier partnership through knowledge transfer, guidance and support.
• Act as a bridge between Ardo’s suppliers, group and local quality departments, procurement and commercial teams.
• Get an understanding of the different fruit products, how fruit is sourced and sold around the world.
• Bring knowhow and provide technical assistance to the Ardo teams (mainly sales but also customer service, procurement, supply chain) regarding sourcing and processing of frozen fruit, vegetables and herbs across Europe.
• Be a fruit promoter at Ardo and build the general internal understanding regarding fruit.
• Develop quality tiering and value engineering for fruit. Have a good understanding of different customer requirements to adapt the quality of the products to their needs.
• Respond to technical inquiries regarding fruit from customers (fruit specifications, impact of origin on fruit quality, etc.).
• Handle and manage customer and supplier complaints on purchased fruit, vegetables and herbs.
• You work across international borders and Ardo group functional departments, contributing towards the overall development and growth of the supply base.

A supportive and quality driven fruit specialist with commercial understanding.

Requirements

• Bachelor or Master, related to Food Processing or quality, or Agriculture.
• Insight in the fruit market, strong knowledge of fresh or frozen fruit sector.
• Fluent in English, any additional language is an asset.
• Ready for regular and extensive travel. Valid driving license.
• Understanding of HACCP, GFSI schemes and EU regulations.
• At least 3-5 years of experience in food quality / food safety department.
• Strong computer skills, including MS Office (word, PowerPoint and Excel spreadsheet software).

Competences

• Ability to work in a self-directed manner, and together with / supportive towards your team and suppliers.
• Understanding of overall commercial and business processes.
• Excellent communication skills, problem solver with capacity to find agreement.
• Strong organisational, planning and analytical skills. Able to keep the helicopter view.
• Result driven, constructive and with an open mind-set.

A challenging, responsible job, where you have an opportunity to further expand and broaden your knowledge on the various Quality and Food Safety aspects. You will work for an international, reputed and financially strong company, which is in full growth and offers interesting future opportunities. The company is characterized by an open corporate culture and short lines of communication. A remuneration package matching the importance and level of the position is provided.
Ardo offers a dynamic people oriented working environment in which you can show your personal entrepreneurship.

Interested

Ardo Group has outsourced the recruitment and selection for above mentioned position exclusively to CeresRecruitment.
Comprehensive information regarding the company can be found at www.ardo.com, and https://ardo.com/en/ardo-corporate.
A personality questionnaire can be part of the recruitment process.