Head of Health & Safety - 6863

Job Title: Head of Health & Safety

Salary: £60,400 - £70,000 per annum

Location: Cambridge, UK/Hybrid

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week

The health and safety of our people is our number one priority - and we're looking for a leader who believes great safety culture is built through trust, collaboration and innovation.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

We are seeking an experienced leader to become our Head of Health & Safety - an important role driving our health & safety culture and ensuring our safety management system supports our people and our mission. This is your opportunity to drive a people centred safety strategy, develop and then lead a high performing team, and partner with colleagues in complementary teams around the world.

About the role

As Head of Health & Safety, you will be responsible for shaping and embedding a culture of safety, resilience and accountability across all areas and operations. As the organisation's principal health & safety advisor and competent person, you will provide authoritative assurance to senior leaders across the organisation, ensuring compliance with international standards whilst driving best practice.

You will be a trusted partner to senior leaders and global teams, advocating balanced and pragmatic health & safety practices. You will be part of our wider resilience functions, collaborating with wellbeing, workplace experience, UK property & safety, business continuity and travel teams.

As Head of Health & Safety, you will be part of an innovative culture that is always looking for new ways to solve the challenges we face.

Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include

• Set and assure the global health & safety strategy, owning the framework, policies and governance aligned to ISO 4501, and ensuring compliance with evolving legislation worldwide.
• Embed a proactive, people centred safety culture, leading risk management, audits, incident investigation and emergency response while influencing stakeholders and partnering across resilience functions.
• Lead, develop and innovate, building a high performing global health & safety team, leveraging data, insight and emerging technologies to drive continuous improvement and inform senior decision making.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face to face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long term health condition.

About You

You are an experienced and influential global health & safety leader with a strong background in office based, professional environments. You bring a blend of strategic insight and hands on operational capability, and are comfortable navigating complexity with resilience, pragmatism and sound judgement.

You lead with integrity and influence rather than mandate, using your strong communication and relationship building skills to embed effective, people centred health & safety management systems that enhance employee experience.

You are a trusted advisor who uses data, insight and KPIs to inform strategy and decision making, and you are passionate about developing balanced, realistic, inclusive and supportive management systems. You thrive in global, matrixed organisations and naturally embed our Global Operations ethos of Agility, Resilience and Efficiency into how you lead and deliver.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Chartered professional status (or working towards) and experience leading ISO 4501 implementation in a global context.
• A strong global mindset, with a proven ability to influence geographically dispersed teams, manage outsourced partners and collaborate effectively across cultures.

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long term health condition, and best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long term health condition.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards and benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world class, flexible rewards package, featuring family friendly and planet friendly benefits including:

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Group personal pension scheme
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
• Green travel schemes

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 26th February 2026. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place from week commencing 9th March 2026.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:

• First stage in person interview at our office in Cambridge
• Second stage interview which will include a task to prepare prior to the interview.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe - for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.