Sr. WHS Regulatory Response Manager, Governance and External Affairs

Amazon’s Worldwide Workplace Health and Safety Governance team is seeking a Senior Risk Manager to own the end-to-end management of regulatory interactions across North America.

About the role

This leader will assess and prioritize regulatory exposure, litigation risk, and financial impact across a high-volume case portfolio while driving cross-functional alignment with Legal, Operations, WHS field teams, and Standards & Procedures to ensure responses satisfy both regulatory obligations and operational feasibility. The role demands deep multi-jurisdictional fluency in federal and state-plan enforcement, citation interpretation, penalty-assessment strategy, abatement compliance, and agency correspondence—including inspections, subpoenas, and complaint investigations. The successful candidate will leverage serious-injury data and regulatory-interaction trends to inform proactive risk-mitigation strategies, brief VP+ leaders on emerging risks, translate complex enforcement actions into actionable guidance for site-level teams, and coach risk managers in building regulatory-response capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Exhibit excellent judgment in regulatory-response decisions and cross-functional alignment.
• Hire, develop, and manage a team of risk managers with 5+ direct reports.
• Maintain relentlessly high standards for documentation rigor and long-term regulatory defensibility.
• Serve as the primary liaison between WW WHS Governance and business units (CF WHS, GSF WHS, ATS WHS) to ensure continual alignment.
• Ensure quality and timely responses to regulatory agencies (OSHA, state-plan agencies, etc.).
• Support building WHS competencies and awareness across business units regarding regulatory requirements.
• Use data and case-management tools to identify trends in regulatory interactions and drive proactive interventions.
• Monitor performance of business units against applicable regulatory compliance and internal Amazon standards.
• Brief senior leadership on emerging regulatory risks and translate complex enforcement actions into clear operational guidance.
• Coach risk managers on interpreting cases, compiling documentation, and drafting responses to regulatory inquiries.

A day in the life

A typical day begins with reviewing overnight regulatory case-management notifications—serious injury reports requiring 8-hour or 24-hour agency notification, new inspection activity, and incoming correspondence from OSHA area offices or state-plan agencies. By mid-morning, the Sr. Risk Manager triages the team’s active case portfolio, prioritizing time-sensitive matters such as response deadlines, abatement-verification due dates, or preparing site teams for informal conferences with OSHA area directors. A portion of the day is spent coaching risk managers through complex cases, advising on regulatory interpretation, documentation, and draft responses.

Cross-functional collaboration fills the afternoon: partnering with Legal on strategy for escalated events, aligning with WHS Operations leadership on corrective actions that satisfy both abatement requirements and operational feasibility, or working with the WHS Standards & Procedures team to ensure site execution reflects current regulatory obligations. Between meetings, the manager analyzes regulatory-interaction trends across the portfolio, identifying regions with increased inspection activity, recurring citation categories, and opportunities for proactive intervention to reduce future exposure. The day often closes with a final scan of incoming agency correspondence to ensure no time-sensitive matters are missed and updating case-tracking systems for full team visibility.

About the team

The Sr. WHS Regulatory Response and Activity Manager will lead a case-management team responsible for timely, accurate responses to environmental, safety, and health regulatory interactions. The ideal candidate will drive operational excellence by executing the compliance lifecycle and ensuring high-quality inputs. Success requires comfort managing teams handling repetitive case-management tasks that demand strong judgment, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with Sr. Directors and VP stakeholders both verbally and in writing. The role involves identifying and documenting process-improvement opportunities, working in a fast-paced, constantly changing environment, and balancing independent work with team collaboration.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in risk management, audit, legal, compliance, or related field, including engagement with external stakeholders.
• 7+ years of team management experience with 5 or more direct reports.
• Experience implementing lean principles and process improvement in an operational environment.
• Experience working within a global company with multi-country responsibilities.
• Experience using data and metrics to drive improvements.
• Experience working with, presenting to, and influencing senior executives up to VP level.
• Experience defining and executing program requirements and using data to determine improvements.
• 5+ years of program or project management experience.
• Experience working cross-functionally across technical and non-technical teams.
• Bachelor’s degree.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA, MPH, or graduate degree in safety, compliance, engineering, or related field.
• NEBOSH, CSP, or relevant safety/compliance certifications.
• J.D. degree or legal background with focus on regulatory compliance.
• Demonstrated leadership working across senior levels of organizations with multiple businesses.
• Proven ability to influence decisions of senior business leaders through logical reasoning, data, and alternative solutions.
• Experience with complex problem-solving and analysis using statistical methods and data modeling.
• Excellent analytical, writing, and presentation skills.
• Ability to quickly earn and maintain trust.
• Strong project management skills with ability to transition between strategic thinking and tactical execution.
• Experience building effective coalitions and extensive external networks (regulators, trade associations, legal counsel).

Pay

• USA, TN, Nashville: $142,700 – $193,100 USD annually
• USA, VA, Arlington: $158,600 – $214,500 USD annually
• USA, WA, Bellevue: $158,600 – $214,500 USD annually

Benefits

• Comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D, with options for supplemental life plans).
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and mental health support.
• Medical advice line.
• Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Adoption and surrogacy reimbursement coverage.
• 401(k) matching.
• Paid time off and parental leave.
• Sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs).