Safety Director (location options listed in position description)

The Director of Safety will lead the creation and implementation of all Safety best practices for all facilities, encompassing both production and office environments.
This role will spearhead the standardization of all manufacturing safety protocols and SOPs.
The ideal candidate will bring over 15 years of proven expertise in multi-site Safety leadership within the food manufacturing, agriculture, or FDA-regulated industries.
The Safety Director will collaborate with Senior Leadership and Plant Managers to develop strategic safety initiatives, conduct risk assessments, prepare incident responses, and maintain regulatory compliance to continually foster a culture of Safety Excellence throughout the organization.
Additionally, the Safety Director will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of environmental compliance.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following.
Other duties may be assigned.
• Maintain ownership of all corporate Safety programs and results: Oversee compliance with OSHA regulations and ensure adherence to local, state, and federal standards.
• Ensure regulatory permit compliance: Acquire necessary permits, maintain current and future compliance reporting, ensure site permit conditions are met, including sampling and record-keeping.
• Monitor program effectiveness: Regularly assess the efficiency of Safety initiatives to prevent serious incidents, injuries, fatalities, and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Lead incident investigation process: Conduct thorough incident investigations, including root cause analysis, and develop corrective & preventative action plans to address identified issues.
• Perform routine worksite safety evaluations: Travel to local plants throughout the US & Canada to conduct site safety assessments to maintain safe working environments for employees and contractors.
• Oversee environmental compliance with federal, state, and local regulations, with a focus on air and stormwater permit compliance.
• Provide technical EHS support: Offer professional expertise and support to the plant leadership teams and workforce on environmental, health, and safety matters.
• Conduct routine safety meetings: Lead regular safety meetings to review new policies, procedures, environmental regulations, and provide updates on corrective action statuses.
• Implement training programs: Develop and implement comprehensive training programs covering environmental, health, and safety for all employees.
• Facilitate incident management including injury intervention and return to work processes.
• Develop predictive risk analysis programs to identify hazards and provide preventative actions to mitigate potential health and safety concerns.
• Determine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track performance against target objectives.
• Deploy safety, security, industrial hygiene, and environmental compliance processes that exemplify continuous improvement towards preventing accidents, eliminating hazards, and minimizing environmental impact while promoting sustainability.
QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE • Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management, industrial hygiene or another technical field is required.
• Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) credentials are preferred.
• 15+ years of extensive experience in operations, plant management, or safety leadership, particularly within manufacturing sectors, with a preference for food manufacturing or agricultural industries • 5+ years of managerial or supervisory experience.
• Multi-site operations or safety program leadership is required.
• Lean or Six Sigma experience is a plus.
• Functional knowledge and ability to communicate safety regulations, policies, and requirements effectively to employees and site management.
• Clear track record of driving cultural change and delivering measurable improvements in EHS programs.
• Ability to challenge, explain, and defend safety programs with diplomacy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence others within a matrix organization.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 40% to plant locations as needed.
LANGUAGE SKILLS English fluency is essential.
Must have strong verbal and written communication skills, with ability to respond to either common and sensitive inquiries or complaints from internal and external customers.
Proficiency in Spanish communication is considered advantageous.
MATHEMATICAL SKILLS Ability to work with advanced mathematical concepts.
Ability to apply complex and involved concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.
REASONING ABILITY Must have seasoned judgment and business situation versatility, with ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
OTHER SKILLS & ABILITIES Demonstrates considerable knowledge of principles and practices of personnel administration, effective oral and written communication skills, and excellent interpersonal skills.
The ability to work independently and cooperatively across functions is essential.
The ability to work with highly confidential and sensitive data, materials in a professional and appropriate manner is critical.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS the physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or listen.
The employee frequently is required to sit or stand.
The specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
Interaction and physical involvement with production employees and processes is key to understanding and being successful in this position.
WORK ENVIRONMENT The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is generally exposed to a manufacturing environment and subject to noise, dust, industrial type machinery.
Exposure to allergens such as wheat and grain dust will also be frequent.
FOOD SAFETY / SECURITY REQUIREMENTS: The Company is committed to producing and delivering defect-free products.
To ensure this, all employees are required to be trained in and adhere to the Good Manufacturing Policies set forth by the Company as they pertain to personnel practices, equipment, and facilities.
It is also vital that all employees be aware of the work environment and when possible, prevent accidental or intentional adulteration of products produced at this facility.
As a result, any employee has a right to put product on hold if they have a concern.
At the plant level, only the Quality Assurance Manager and General Manager have the authority to release product on hold.