Group Director Health & Safety

The organisation

Our client is headquartered in Schiphol and is an European distributor for building materials active in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. They connect a large supplier base to more than 275.000 customers, mainly small to medium sized (SME) contractors and installers active in the residential and renovation end markets. They strive to become the leading driver of sustainability in the building sector. They employ over 13.000 employees across more than 920 locations in Europe. For them we are searching for a Group Director Health & Safety Europe.

The position

The purpose of the role of Group Director Health and Safety is to oversee and manage all aspects of health and safety within the whole organization to ensure the well-being and protection of employees, customers and visitors. You will report into the Group SVP Human Resources. You will be a strong business partner to the Group CEO and drive the Health & Safety program to the next level, in close cooperation with the HR function at Group and Operating Company level. Each of the Operating Companies have a H&S team consisting of an H&S manager and H&S specialist(s) with a functional line to the Group Director H&S.
In this role you will be responsible for managing the Health and Safety function across all the operating companies through their safety program H&S Compass, focusing on people behaviors, systems, audits, and training.

Tasks & responsibilities

• Establishes policies and procedures across the group to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and standards, as well as to promote a culture of safety within the whole organization.
• Conducts regular inspections and risk assessments of the workplace to identify potential hazards and risks to health and safety. Develops a safety audit program, using teams of external and internal auditors.
• Responsible in preparation and delivery of appropriate senior management H&S training.
• Responsible for providing training and educational programs to employees to raise awareness about health and safety issues and ensure that everyone understands their responsibilities.
• Investigates accidents, incidents, and near misses to determine their causes and implement measures to prevent recurrence. Ensures that all incidents are properly reported and documented as required by law. Assesses key trends in accident and incident data and advises the organization as appropriate, make sure that these trends are imbedded in the policies and guidelines.
• Stays up-to-date with relevant health and safety legislation and regulations and ensures that the organization complies with all legal requirements.
• Acts as the main point of contact between the organization and regulatory agencies, responding to inquiries, conducting audits, and ensuring that any regulatory requirements are met.
• Develops and implements emergency response plans to deal with situations such as fires, natural disasters, or chemical spills, and ensure that employees are trained and prepared to respond effectively.
• Monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of health and safety programs and initiatives and implement improvements as necessary to continually enhance safety performance. Promotes knowledge sharing and building professional capability of the H&S teams.
• Liaises with the ESG Specialist on Environment and HR management on Health initiatives. Including office environment, absenteeism, work-life balance, diversity and inclusion.
• Further develops and rolls-out the Global Safety program.
• Ensure continuous improvement, knowledge sharing and building professional capability of the H&S teams.

Candidate profile

• At least Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Occupational Health and Safety (HVK, MoSHE)
• Business professional with 8 - 10 years’ experience working with multiple stakeholders in a complex matrix environment, preferably with background in Health and Safety.
• Proven track record as a successful leader and senior safety manager.
• Able to drive change through a companywide campaign, excellent stakeholder management, stay abreast and bring people along: persistence, high achiever and down to earth.
• Can demonstrate strong strategic thinking, well developed decision making abilities, and the ability to take responsibility and take effective decisions.
• Experience with working in an international and matrix environment.
• Fluent in English and in German, ideally Dutch or French as well;
• Willingness to travel up to 20%.

The offer

• Excellent salary, based on knowledge and experience
• Variable bonus up to 20%
• A hybrid position, based in Schiphol with travelling up to 20%
• A dynamic and international environment

Interested?

You can apply for this position by using the link below. For more information please contact Alice van den Berge via 06-40526368.