Assistant Director Environmental Health and Safety

About the role

The Assistant Director supports safe and compliant research activities across multiple campuses, including Fairfax, Manassas, and Arlington. Responsibilities include leading shop and field research safety programs, coordinating inspection efforts, laboratory ventilation projects, developing and deploying training, supporting safety reviews for facility design and renovation projects, and assisting the Director of Environmental Health and Safety in short and long-term organizational planning and management.

Responsibilities

• Develops, implements, and manages research safety programs and services for university personnel across multiple campus locations for research work activities, including onsite presence as needed at all campus locations;
• Establishes policies and procedures to maintain compliance with regard to research safety;
• Reviews and updates written safety documents, including forms, training materials, manuals, SOPs, and guides;
• Drafts new procedures, guides, and manuals as needed to meet regulatory standards and/or best practices;
• Affords assistance to other safety officers with compliance activities as appropriate;
• Assigns and/or conducts document review for research safety documents and training programs in accordance with RSR’s document management process;
• Maintains oversight on Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) safety training portfolio, including managing training development and review process with stakeholders and subject matter experts;
• Provides both on-site and written safety assessments to ensure compliance with safety standards;
• Conducts safety reviews of proposed new construction and renovations in teaching and research shop spaces;
• Serves as a programmatic liaison between research and instructional shops and other EHS team members as needed;
• Maintains general knowledge and understanding of EHS requirements outside of direct responsibilities, and consults with EHS colleagues and subject matter experts when necessary;
• Collaborates with Risk Management and other EHS team members to coordinate efforts among overlapping program areas, such as fire safety, industrial hygiene, radiation and chemical safety, and travel-related risk management;
• Creates and implements goals, performance metrics, and project plans to support program management, in alignment with regulatory and external agency requirements;
• Serves as the primary point of contact for faculty, staff, and students regarding research and shop program inquiries, and acts as the main liaison with regulatory agencies on research shop safety matters;
• Serves on various university committees as assigned;
• Reviews EFROA submissions, incident reports, and accident and incident data, implementing corrective actions when necessary;
• Responsible for compiling and submitting data and narratives for the Annual Report;
• Collaborates with and/or supports other RSR functional units to complete projects and advance RSR programs;
• Ensures timely notification to appropriate parties regarding emergencies, urgent issues, high-risk and high-profile threat assessments, regulatory agency notifications, inspections (both announced and unannounced), and significant safety concerns.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in public health, science, safety, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience (a degree from an unrelated field may be accepted with an equivalent level of training and experience in a safety discipline);
• Certification in CPR and First Aid or ability to obtain within 60 days;
• Significant relevant work experience with both technical and program management responsibilities, including research-specific safety experience;
• Demonstrated supervisory experience creating professional development plans, performance plans, and conducting personnel evaluations;
• Experience developing and editing written safety compliance plans and associated documents;
• Experience developing and presenting safety training programs;
• Knowledge of applicable safety regulations and guidelines including proper personal protective equipment and training requirements;
• Proficiency in the use of related office equipment, computers and software, including Microsoft Office Suite;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (oral and writing);
• Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to prioritize work, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet inflexible deadlines on own initiative;
• Ability to implement and maintain applicable safety programs;
• Ability to coordinate and deliver applicable safety training to a diverse audience;
• Ability to conduct thorough safety inspections;
• Ability to lift 40 lbs., bend, crawl, and kneel with or without reasonable accommodations;
• Ability to work independently, under pressure, with strong problem-solving skills;
• Ability to interpret data, scientific research, training or experience to facilitate resolution of assigned cases and develop appropriate mitigation action;
• Ability to independently recognize programmatic growth opportunities and problem solve/implement strategic solutions, strong vision and self-starter with ability to both expand existing programs and build programs from the ground-up;
• Ability to be a team player and collaborator, and to develop and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues and customers;
• Ability to influence through persuasion, "get to yes" mindset;
• Ability to think creatively and strategically to utilize limited resources to solve new problems;
• Must live within 25 miles of the Fairfax or Science and Technology campus;
• Due to the unique role that RSR plays in emergency situations, each employee is designated to respond as requested during emergencies. Expectations for availability require that home and cell phone numbers be provided. In emergency situations, these numbers may be called and it is expected that the employee will respond when they are able.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in public health, science, safety, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience (a degree from an unrelated field may be accepted with an equivalent level of training and experience in a safety discipline);
• Certification in CPR and First Aid or ability to obtain within 60 days;
• Significant relevant work experience with both technical and program management responsibilities, including research-specific safety experience;
• Demonstrated supervisory experience creating professional development plans, performance plans, and conducting personnel evaluations;
• Experience developing and editing written safety compliance plans and associated documents;
• Experience developing and presenting safety training programs;
• Knowledge of applicable safety regulations and guidelines including proper personal protective equipment and training requirements;
• Proficiency in the use of related office equipment, computers and software, including Microsoft Office Suite;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (oral and writing);
• Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to prioritize work, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet inflexible deadlines on own initiative;
• Ability to implement and maintain applicable safety programs;
• Ability to coordinate and deliver applicable safety training to a diverse audience;
• Ability to conduct thorough safety inspections;
• Ability to lift 40 lbs., bend, crawl, and kneel with or without reasonable accommodations;
• Ability to work independently, under pressure, with strong problem-solving skills;
• Ability to interpret data, scientific research, training or experience to facilitate resolution of assigned cases and develop appropriate mitigation action;
• Ability to independently recognize programmatic growth opportunities and problem solve/implement strategic solutions, strong vision and self-starter with ability to both expand existing programs and build programs from the ground-up;
• Ability to be a team player and collaborator, and to develop and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues and customers;
• Ability to influence through persuasion, "get to yes" mindset;
• Ability to think creatively and strategically to utilize limited resources to solve new problems;
• Must live within 25 miles of the Fairfax or Science and Technology campus;
• Due to the unique role that RSR plays in emergency situations, each employee is designated to respond as requested during emergencies. Expectations for availability require that home and cell phone numbers be provided. In emergency situations, these numbers may be called and it is expected that the employee will respond when they are able.