Director, Safety

About the role

The Director, Safety will own and elevate our safety, compliance, and quality programs across fleet operations, transportation, food safety, and corporate functions—ensuring the safety and well-being of 500 drivers, 300 field technicians, field sales team, and back-office personnel (1,200 total) and our interactions in the communities where we operate. In this senior leadership role, you will partner with all departments to drive DOT compliance, fleet and transportation safety, process safety, food safety program development and management, quality oversight, and EHS excellence. The ideal candidate brings proven experience managing large-scale teams, a results-oriented mindset, and a passion for building a zero-incident, quality-driven culture.

Responsibilities

• Lead DOT compliance initiatives, ensuring alignment with 49 CFR regulations, timely reporting, and audit readiness
• Develop and manage a comprehensive fleet safety program for 640 vehicles and 850 drivers/technicians, including driver qualification, training curricula, telematics oversight, and performance metrics
• Oversee transportation safety strategy, encompassing risk assessments, incident investigation, and corrective action tracking
• Drive process safety management (PSM) efforts: hazard analyses (HAZOP, LOPA), incident investigations, management of change reviews, and standard operating procedure documentation
• Design, implement, and audit the food safety program—aligning with FSMA, GMP, HACCP, and customer requirements
• Champion quality management systems, ensuring ISO 9001 (or equivalent) and customer-specific standards are met
• Build and maintain EHS programs covering injury and illness prevention, environmental compliance, workplace health, hazard communication, and emergency response planning
• Partner with depot supervisors and managers to conduct safety and quality audits, site inspections, risk assessments, and follow up on corrective actions
• Serve as primary liaison with regulatory agencies (DOT, OSHA, EPA, FDA), leading inspections, addressing findings, and implementing sustainable remediation plans
• Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for safety, quality, and compliance; deliver regular reports and insights to executive leadership
• Cultivate a safety-and-quality first culture through leadership coaching, toolbox talks, and cross-functional training sessions

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in safety engineering, environmental health & safety, industrial engineering, management, business administration, or related field
• Minimum of 3 years’ leadership experience
• Demonstrated responsibility for safety and quality oversight of large, diverse teams (for example technicians, drivers, and back-office staff)
• Proven track record deploying data-driven safety and quality programs, reducing incident rates, and continuous improvement
• Strong analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence at all levels