Employee Profile

Esther R.

Name: Esther R.
Title: FSQR Lead Spain, Germany, Egypt
Career Area: Engineering & Operations
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Education: Chemist

“Cargill's Guiding Principles are real and you can feel it in your daily work. These ethics and values are also my personal values, so I feel really comfortable when I’m conducting business.”


Cargill Guiding Principles are real and you can feel it in your daily work. This ethics and values are also my personal values, so I feel really comfortable when I’m conducting business. People in Cargill are really first-class professionals and many are first-class people. Our leadership model is really based on personal and professional growth for both individuals and teams. Cargill takes care of its employees; if you are a good professional and you are working hard, you can do whatever you want in Cargill. Cargill has plenty of opportunities to grow professionally and personally.

Describe your work responsibilities and the importance of your role.

I’m the FSQR Lead for Spain, Germany and Egypt. My role is to coordinate and align the locations within my geography with Cargill and regulatory standards in terms of Food Safety and Quality. Our goal is to serve safe food and feed - every time and everywhere. Also my responsibilities include training and growth opportunities for my team and identifying talented people in order to give them proper tools for growth within the Cargill organization.

Describe your day-to-day activities and the skills needed to perform well.
  • Being in contact with my team for solving problems, questions, etc. and for standardizing / harmonizing among my 9 locations
  • Define a training plan for my team
  • Identify talented people
  • Hire new people for Cargill
  • Contact though conference calls, meeting, mail with my peers in other countries and with the Central Team in Europe to solve common topics
  • Defining best practices
  • Traveling 
Describe your career path. Where did you start and how did you get to where you are today?

I started in March 1997 in Reus Plant as Refinery Supervisor and also for implementing ISO 9001 certification (related to quality). After 1 year I moved to Barcelona Plant as EHS Coordinator taking care of personal and industrial safety and also for implementing the ISO 14001 and EMAS certification (related to environment). After another year I took care of EHS and FSQR (food safety, quality and regulatory) for Barcelona Plant. In 2000 I added to my responsibilities the coordination of EHS at the Spanish Level. In 2006 Cargill split FSQR and EHS functions and I choose FSQR, so I took the lead for FSQR in Spain and Portugal together with the FSQR responsibility of Barcelona Plant. In 2013 I left the responsibility of FSQR for Barcelona Plant and was promoted as FSQR Lead for Spain, Germany and Egypt (with responsibility for nine plants).

What do you find most rewarding about your work?
  • The work environment (the people are great and in fact, good friends)
  • The opportunities to grow and to take more responsibility
  • All the challenges
  • Flexibility for taking care of your family (in my case I have 3 kids and it has not been a barrier to develop myself in technical management roles)
  • Training
Why did you choose to join Cargill and what keeps you here? In other words, how has a career at Cargill helped you to thrive?

The people, Cargill's ethics and values, and the challenges and opportunities.

What advice would you give someone interested in a career at Cargill like yours?

If you are a good professional and a hard worker you can really see the world with Cargill. If you also have leadership skills, you can really rise to the top of the organization.

Share an interesting tidbit about yourself such as hobbies, volunteerism, favorite foods or activities, accomplishments inside or outside of work.

I love my family, NGO activities and volunteerism, and sports (alone or together with my 3 kids and husband).