Director of Health and Safety

Director of Health and Safety
Higher Education Southwest England
Circa 80,000 Plus Excellent Benefits

Irwin and Colton have partnered with one of the UK's leading educational institutes to recruit their new Director of Health and Safety, reporting to the Chief People Officer (and working closely with the Vice Chancellor) whilst managing a team of safety professionals. With over 35,000 students and 10,000 members of staff, the institute has an extremely diverse estate ranging from engineering and research & development facilities, through to student accommodation, and agricultural environments. As a result, this role will focus on engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to establish and maintain a programme of continual improvement in the management of Health, Safety and Wellbeing across the estates and its people.

This exciting opportunity will ensure a safe and compliant environment for all staff, students, and visitors. It is essential candidates are committed to the institute's values of being a visionary, creative, inclusive, and more, as well as sharing the desire to support an educational community that values diversity and fosters cultural humility.

Responsibilities for the Director of Health and Safety will include:

• Creating and delivering risk management and assurance programs to ensure an accurate understanding of the risk profile
• Leading and developing the current Health and Safety function to ensure that effective and efficient procedures are in place to identify, measure and report on health and safety related risks
• Leadership of the function, reporting to internal Boards and Committees to ensure the communication of risk and assurance in addition to engaging external stakeholders
• Elevating the health and safety management culture across the institute, so that it becomes a key component of the overall institutional culture

The successful Director of Health and Safety will have:

• Experience in leading a health and safety function and team for a large and complex organisation. Exposure to a research or R&D environment would be beneficial.
• A degree or equivalent and ideally Chartered membership of a relevant industry body (i.e. CMIOSH)
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with experience influencing and engaging with a wide range of senior stakeholders
• A strong understanding of the Health and Safety regulatory framework

The institute recognises the importance of achieving a positive work-life balance and offer a blended approach for working at home and on-site. The nature of this role will require a minimum of three days on-site to provide visible leadership and management of the Health and Safety service for the institute's community.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity, please contact Matthew Cathcart on (phone number removed) or

Irwin and Colton are a specialist Health and Safety recruitment company, based in the South East of England we recruit across the UK. We recruit all roles in the health and safety industry from Health and Safety Manager, Health and safety Director through to Health and Safety Advisor positions.

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