Director, Global Transportation & Distribution Safety

At Nouryon, our global team takes positive action every day to reach higher collectively and individually. We create innovative and sustainable solutions for our customers to answer society’s needs – today and in the future.

About the role

Nouryon operates a global specialty chemicals supply chain that moves hazardous, dangerous goods (DG), and temperature-sensitive materials across more than 100 countries. The Director, Global Transportation & Distribution Safety is accountable for leading and continuously improving the company’s end-to-end Transportation & Distribution Safety (T&DS) program — ensuring safe, legal, and secure movement of Nouryon materials worldwide, and serving as the senior technical authority on transport safety across the enterprise.

The T&DS program scope covers all transport and storage of Nouryon goods outside the manufacturing footprint, whether owned or contracted. T&DS holds a Lead role where Nouryon manages transportation, and an Assist role where the customer or supplier manages transportation. This role owns the global T&DS program strategy, drives consistency across regions and functions, provides global guidance, and serves as the T&DS focal point across business lines.

The T&DS Director partners closely with:

• VP Global Logistics — strategic sponsor and direct manager
• Global Logistics Leaders
• HSE&S — for EHS policy and incident management alignment
• PSRA / Global Product Safety — for SDS, labels, and shipping document alignment on product changes affecting transport compliance
• Logistics Procurement — for embedding T&DS qualification requirements into LSP contracts and pre-qualification processes
• Palantir Sentinel AI platform team — for digital integration of safety programs, incident analytics, and near-miss tracking
• Legal — for regulatory enforcement matters, contract audit rights, and compliance obligations
• Industry associations and regulatory agencies — COSTHA, CHEMTREC, CEFIC, ACC, and relevant port/customs authorities.

Responsibilities

• Global T&DS Program Design & Governance:
  • Own the global T&DS Program Policy — setting strategic objectives, governance structure, corporate alignment, and operating guardrails for the function worldwide.
  • Lead the global T&DS Management System, with periodic review cycles that keep the program current and consistent across all regions.
  • Maintain the RACI for T&DS key responsibilities — clarifying accountabilities across T&DS, Site HSE&S, Logistics Procurement, and business lines, and using it as an active stakeholder education tool.
  • Govern the centralized T&DS document control structure on SharePoint, ensuring a single global source of truth across teams.
  • Operate Management of Change (MOC) framework for logistics changes with T&DS safety implications — covering carrier changes, lane modifications, depot procedure updates, and DG classification changes.
  • Chair modal- and site-level T&DS forums that enable global learning, best-practice sharing, and issue resolution, complementing the monthly DG cadence.
• LSP Qualification, Auditing & Risk Management:
  • Own the global Logistics Standard for LSP transportation and distribution safety assessments — covering both pre-qualification and periodic operational audits — with global procedures aligned to the global standard.
  • Partner with Logistics Procurement to embed T&DS qualification requirements into LSP pre-qualification for all hazardous product categories and for inbound purchased materials where Nouryon manages transportation.
  • Champion standard LSP contract language granting Nouryon the right to periodically audit LSP operations for safety and compliance.
  • Run the route risk assessment process for highly hazardous products, in collaboration with LSPs before route confirmation.
  • Maintain a formal engagement process with the PSRA / Global Product Safety team so T&DS experts are engaged during product changes affecting SDS, labels, and shipping documents, with appropriate transition periods.
  • Own IMO cargo acceptance governance, including pre-shipment DG review processes and documentation completeness checks.
• Emergency Response & Incident Management:
  • Own the global Logistics Emergency Response Plan — maintained in partnership with Logistics teams — covering incident management, reporting, escalation, investigation, role responsibilities, and plan testing requirements.
  • Govern the Global Transportation Incident Management Standard.
  • Lead routine emergency response plan testing across all regions, coordinating drills with LSPs, manufacturing sites, and first responders.
  • Maintain the Logistics Unplanned Event Response Plan, incorporating T&DS requirements for events that affect transportation safety without triggering a full emergency response (e.g., geopolitical disruptions, sudden regulatory changes).
• Training, Education & Organizational Capability:
  • Own the global training matrix for all roles involved in transportation safety and security — covering T&DS team certifications, general DG training, product-line hazard training, LSP training, and emergency response training.
  • Lead the training platform that supports role-specific assignment, compliance tracking, and audit readiness.
  • Run T&DS role-specific onboarding programs that build consistent capability as the global team scales.
• Regulatory Interface & Industry Advocacy:
  • Serve as Nouryon’s senior technical authority on T&DS safety regulations globally.
  • Represent Nouryon in regulatory agency, port authority, and customs body interactions on T&DS compliance matters and enforcement actions.
  • Lead Nouryon’s Logistics Industry Advocacy approach, aligned with the Government Affairs process — with global guidance and execution — to positively influence industry standards and regulations.
  • Maintain representation in relevant industry bodies and leverage those relationships to anticipate regulatory change and benchmark program effectiveness.
• People Leadership:
  • Lead and develop a global team of T&DS Safety Managers, providing coaching, performance management, and career development.
  • Build team capability systematically and foster a safety-first culture across the global logistics network, embedding T&DS principles into operational routines, procurement decisions, and change management processes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required — preferred fields: Supply Chain / Logistics, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Health & Safety, or closely related discipline.
• Master’s degree or MBA preferred, particularly for candidates with an engineering or EHS undergraduate background.
• Professional certifications strongly preferred:
  • IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) certification
  • IMDG / US DOT 49 CFR HazMat proficiency
  • ADR/RID certification
  • Certified Safety Professional (CSP), or equivalent HSE&S credential
• 15+ years of progressive experience in logistics, supply chain, EHS, or transportation — with a minimum of 10 years in a T&DS, DG compliance, or chemical logistics safety-focused role.
• Demonstrated experience leading or significantly expanding a global transportation safety program in a specialty chemicals, petrochemical, or industrial manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience designing and scaling program policy infrastructure — policies, management systems, RACIs, and document control — at a global enterprise.
• Proven experience managing teams across geographies, with direct people leadership of functional managers.
• Deep expertise in dangerous goods regulations across multiple modes (road, ocean, rail, air) and jurisdictions (US, EU, Asia-Pacific minimum).
• Track record of leading T&DS incident investigations, regulatory engagements, and corrective action programs at enterprise scale.
• Demonstrated experience designing and operating LSP qualification and audit programs— with global standards — across the full hazardous product portfolio.
• Familiarity with digital logistics platforms, TMS/ERP environments (SAP preferred), and EHS analytics tools including Enablon or equivalent; comfort with AI-enabled operations a differentiator.

Skills

• Executive presence — able to communicate T&DS risk, program status, and forward priorities clearly to VP-level and above.
• Systems thinking — sees the full logistics safety landscape and designs programs that scale across diverse geographies and operating models.
• Influence without authority — effective at driving safety standards through 3PL partners, carrier networks, Logistics Procurement, and business-line teams who do not report to this role.
• Crisis leadership — steady under pressure; experienced managing multi-party emergency response situations with regulatory and reputational stakes.
• Data fluency — uses incident data, near-miss trends, carrier performance metrics, and network analytics to drive risk-informed decisions and build the business case for investment.
• Fluency in English required; additional language capability (Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin) is an advantage given the global scope.

About Nouryon

If you’re looking for your next career move, apply today and join Nouryon’s worldwide team in providing essential solutions that our customers use to manufacture everyday products such as personal care, cleaning, paints and coatings, agriculture and food, pharmaceuticals, and building products. Our employees are driven by the wish to make an impact and actively drive positive change. If that describes you, we will gladly make way for your ambitions. From day one we support you with your personal growth, through challenging positions and comprehensive learning and development opportunities, in a dynamic, international, diverse, and proactive working environment.