Coffee Cocoa Compliance Specialist

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Sustainability Compliance & Reporting Specialist, Coffee & Cocoa 

Full Time Job based in Lausanne 

Starbucks Coffee Trading based in Lausanne, an affiliate company of Starbucks Coffee Company.

This role will contribute to Starbucks’ success by ensuring our coffee and cocoa supply chains meet evolving sustainability and regulatory requirements, strengthening compliance readiness, enhancing transparency, and supporting responsible sourcing.

Key Responsibilities

1. Stay abreast of applicable and upcoming regulatory requirements for coffee and cocoa, ensuring SCTC is either compliance ready or ready to provide relevant data as input to the overall business ESG & compliance processes.  

2. Stay abreast of applicable and upcoming civil society campaigns attempting to engage private sector, particularly in ‘scorecards’ and other similar transparency mechanisms e.g. Chocolate Scorecard and soon to be released Coffee Scorecard, ensuring SCTC is ready to provide relevant data if considered appropriate.  

3. Provide advice and guidance to SCTC and key stakeholders with regards to EUDR, ECGT and other ESG compliance regulations and updates, and civil society scorecard efforts; respond to ad hoc business requests for assistance by providing compliance advice in line with regulations, and where appropriate, industry best practice.  

4. Implement and execute on any globally defined ESG Compliance processes, coordinating with global and EMEA colleagues across functions and BUs to deliver compliance in the most seamless and efficient way possible. Including, but not limited to 

• Risk Assessment and Mitigation: Own SCTC Supplier Risk Assessment (SRA) methodology identifying sustainability risks and potential compliance gaps and support Sustainability & Buying teams in supplier engagement and management, including implementation of overall risk mitigation strategies such as corrective action plans.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to build strong relationships and ensure alignment with sustainability goals. Engage with regulators, industry associations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to stay updated on evolving sustainability standards and best practices.
• Reporting and Transparency: Oversee the development and submission of sustainability reports and disclosures to relevant stakeholders, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and compliance with relevant reporting frameworks.

5. Lead on coordinating and consolidating Starbucks response to various civil society scorecard efforts e.g. Chocolate Scorecard and soon to be released Coffee Scorecard, ensuring all deadlines are met and leaders understand pros, cons and risks of engaging or declining to engage.

6. Assist and advise SCTC with regulatory audits and investigations, whether from global regulators, or Internal Audit. This includes preparation for regulatory audits and support in responding to media and civil society queries or flags.

7. In collaboration with our Data Impact Lead, support and advise partners responsible for data tracking to ensure data reliability and consistency.  

8. Strengthen the team’s capacity for regulatory compliance and disclosure through development of training, tools, and documentation. This includes leading development of dashboards and self-service tools that make content leads self-proficient. 

We'd love to hear from people with:

Basic Qualifications 
Bachelor’s degree in Sustainability, Environmental Science, Supply Chain, Business, Public Policy, or a related field. 
3–5 years of experience in sustainability compliance, ESG reporting, responsible sourcing, or regulatory affairs. 
Experience working with global regulations related to sustainability, supply chains, or responsible sourcing (e.g., EUDR, ECGT, human rights due diligence). 
Proven experience managing crossfunctional projects and coordinating multiple stakeholders. 
 
Required Skills: 
Regulatory & ESG Expertise: 
Strong understanding of sustainabilityrelated regulations, industry scorecards, and ESG compliance frameworks. 

Analytical & Risk Assessment Skills: 
Ability to conduct supplier risk assessments, identify compliance gaps, interpret regulatory requirements, and translate them into actionable steps. 

Stakeholder Engagement: 
Skilled at collaborating across global functions, business units, suppliers, NGOs, industry bodies, and regulators. 

Reporting & Transparency: 
Experience preparing sustainability disclosures, data summaries, dashboards, and reporting aligned with industry standards. 

Communication & Advisory Skills: 
Ability to provide clear guidance, trainings, and updates on regulatory changes to diverse stakeholders.

Project Management: 
Capable of coordinating complex compliance processes with deadlines, accuracy, and clear documentation. 

Data Literacy: 
Comfortable working with sustainability and supply chain datasets; ensuring data consistency and reliability (ideally in collaboration with data teams). 

Problem-Solving & Critical Thinking: 
Able to troubleshoot compliance challenges, support audits, and manage external queries from regulators, media, and civilsociety organizations.

Language 
 Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing in English. 

Join us and be part of something bigger

Apply today! 
 
We look forward to connecting with applicants whose background aligns with this role.

Please apply using the following email address: sctcrecruitment@starbucks.com 
 
 
Closing date for the application Wednesday 25 of March