Director Environment Health Safety

EHS Director and HR

The Director of EHS and HR is responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining a world-class safety, environmental compliance, and employee engagement culture across six manufacturing facilities in North America. This role oversees a team of direct reports supporting EHS/HR functions, partners closely with plant leadership, HR teams, environmental specialists, and cross-functional stakeholders to drive risk reduction, regulatory compliance, workforce development, and operational excellence. The Director reports to the VP of Manufacturing and plays a critical role in shaping long-term strategy, cultural development, and organizational growth.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Create and communicate a clear EHS and HR strategic vision aligned with manufacturing, operational, and organizational goals.
• Develop multi-year initiatives to improve safety performance, environmental compliance, talent engagement, and workforce retention.
• Monitor progress, adjust plans, and guide facilities through long-term, cross-functional continuous improvement.

Safety Leadership & Culture Development

• Champion a proactive, people-first safety culture across all facilities; drive engagement at every organizational level.
• Serve as a visible, hands-on leader using GEMBA-based safety management practices.
• Act as a change agent—promoting new ideas, leading cultural transformation, and inspiring shared accountability for safety performance.

Risk Management & Compliance

• Perform Hazard-Based Risk Assessments (HBRAs) across all manufacturing processes; implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA and all applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
• Lead the development, implementation, and governance of company-wide safety policies, procedures, and standards.
• Conduct regular audits and site assessments; present findings and recommendations to leadership.

Environmental Compliance & Sustainability

• Oversee environmental compliance programs across all facilities, ensuring adherence to EPA, state, and local regulations.
• Manage air permitting activities, including general and Title V permits; maintain required records and reporting.
• Ensure proper management and disposal of hazardous waste in accordance with RCRA requirements.
• Oversee SPCC plans, ensuring inspections, training, and documentation are current and compliant.
• Manage stormwater compliance programs including SWPPP development, BMP implementation, and required monitoring.
• Lead Tier II and TRI reporting activities, ensuring accuracy and timely submissions.
• Identify environmental risks and implement programs to reduce environmental impact, energy use, and waste generation.

Human Resources Leadership

• Manage and oversee payroll processing accuracy for assigned manufacturing sites, ensuring compliance with company policies and applicable regulations.
• Process compensation events such as merit increases, promotions, market adjustments, and other pay-related actions.
• Provide employee support for FMLA, ADA, and other leave-of-absence programs, ensuring proper documentation and adherence to federal and state requirements.
• Administer the annual employee engagement survey across all facilities; lead the analysis, interpretation, and communication of results.
• Prepare executive-level presentations and data summaries to support leadership decision-making.
• Analyze workforce metrics—including turnover, retention drivers, absenteeism, and engagement indicators—and develop strategies to improve workforce stability.
• Partner with HR and Operations leadership to support employee relations, performance management, and organizational development initiatives.

Training & Employee Development

• Deploy comprehensive safety and environmental training programs across multiple sites.
• Coordinate with HR and operations teams to align safety, environmental, and general workforce training needs.
• Strengthen employee awareness, engagement, and competency through continuous education programs.

Incident Prevention & Responses

• Oversee all accident, incident, and near-miss investigations; ensure thorough root-cause analyses and robust corrective actions.
• Ensure cross-site communication of lessons learned to prevent recurrence.

Continuous Improvement

• Establish annual EHS and HR goals with measurable performance targets; track progress and guide sites toward achieving results.
• Recommend improvements in machine guarding, ergonomics, facility layout, operational processes, and workforce practices.
• Lead safety committee and employee-engagement committee activities across all facilities.

General Leadership

• Collaborate with HR, Operations, and other functional leaders to support broader organizational priorities.
• Represent the company in interactions with regulatory agencies.
• Perform additional duties as assigned by VP of manufacturing.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive EHS leadership experience, preferably in an industrial or high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Human Resources experience in areas such as payroll, leave administration, or compensation processing strongly preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health & Safety, Human Resources, Environmental Science, Engineering, or related field (preferred).
• Demonstrated success driving cross-site improvements in safety culture, environmental compliance, and workforce engagement.
• Strong leadership, communication, analytical, and relationship-building skills; able to influence at all levels of the organization.

Experience working with OSHA, EPA, and state environmental agencies; OSHA experience (federal or state) strongly preferred