Head of Health, Safety & Environment

A large, asset intensive industrial organisation with a long operating history and significant national importance is seeking an experienced Head of Health, Safety & Environment to lead its Health, Safety, Environment, Occupational Health and quality functions.
  
This is a highly visible executive leadership role reporting directly to the CEO and leading a sizeable team across safety, environment, occupational health, workers compensation, systems and governance, emergency response, security and laboratory operations. The organisation is entering an exciting new phase of its evolution, underpinned by long term strategic planning, operational transformation, investment in future technologies and a strong commitment to safety and sustainability.
  
The business has made substantial progress through a significant safety transformation program in recent years and is now seeking a leader who can maintain momentum, strengthen capability and continue embedding a high performing, values led safety culture.
  
The Role
Reporting directly to the CEO, you will provide strategic leadership across all aspects of health, safety and environmental performance while supporting operational leaders to manage risk, build capability and drive accountability throughout the organisation.
This is a role that requires both strategic thinking and visible leadership. You will inherit a technically capable team and be tasked with creating clarity, stability and engagement during a period of ongoing organisational change.
  
Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the ongoing safety transformation journey and embedding sustainable cultural change
• Providing trusted strategic advice to the CEO and executive leadership team on HSE performance, emerging risks and future priorities
• Leading health, safety, environment, occupational health, workers compensation, governance and laboratory functions
• Driving continuous improvement across integrated HSE management systems, risk frameworks and assurance processes
• Strengthening leadership ownership of risk management, process safety and critical controls
• Overseeing a large self insured workers compensation portfolio, rehabilitation programs and psychosocial risk initiatives
• Leading crisis management, emergency response, contractor management, site security and organisational resilience programs
• Maintaining strong relationships with regulators, insurers, external stakeholders and industry networks
• Developing leadership capability across the HSE function and supporting succession planning within an ageing workforce
• Ensuring environmental compliance, operational sustainability and effective governance of laboratory operations

Success in this role will be measured through continued improvement in safety culture, reduction of serious risk exposure, strengthening of leadership capability, effective workers compensation outcomes, and the ongoing maturity of the organisation's HSE systems and practices.
 
About You

• You are an experienced HSE executive who has operated successfully within complex, high risk and operationally intensive environments such as manufacturing, heavy industry, metals, mining, energy, chemical processing, industrial infrastructure or related sectors.
• Most importantly, you are an exceptional people leader.
• The organisation already possesses strong technical capability. What is required now is a leader who can bring people together, build trust, create clarity, develop talent and guide teams through ongoing change with empathy and credibility.

You will bring:

• Senior HSE leadership experience within heavy industrial or high hazard environments
• Demonstrated success leading safety transformation, cultural change and organisational improvement programs
• Strong experience across operational risk, process safety and critical risk management
• Exposure to self insurance, workers compensation, rehabilitation and psychosocial health programs
• Experience leading large multidisciplinary teams through periods of change and uncertainty
• The ability to influence executives, operational leaders, regulators and external stakeholders
• A visible, authentic and engaging leadership style
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to balance operational performance with risk management outcomes
• Relevant tertiary qualifications in health and safety, engineering, risk management or a related discipline

Why This Role?

• This is a rare opportunity to join an organisation at a genuinely pivotal point in its journey.
• Significant progress has already been made, but there is still meaningful work ahead. You will have the opportunity to shape the future direction of safety, environmental performance and workforce wellbeing across a large and complex operation while contributing to major long term transformation initiatives.
• For the right leader, this role offers executive level influence, a broad remit, a strong leadership platform and the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy on both culture and performance.

For a confidential discussion, please contact Stephen Coldicutt at The Safe Step on scoldicutt@thesafestep.com.au