Principal Consultant, Health & Safety

Shape the future of laboratory biosafety and enterprise health & safety performance in complex, high-risk environments.

Why This Role Matters?

As scientific innovation accelerates, organizations face increasing complexity in managing biological risk. Strong, well-governed biosafety programs are critical—not just for compliance, but for enabling safe, scalable innovation.

What Your Impact Is:

• Lead and mature safety programs for multiple industries; and biosafety programs for BSL‑1 and BSL‑2 laboratories/manufacturers, with strong preference for experience in BSL‑3 program oversight, commissioning, or operational readiness
• Develop, deploy, and manage safety and biosafety management systems, including policies, standards, procedures, risk assessments, agent‑specific risk reviews, exposure control plans, and biological spill response protocols
• Support and participate in Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs) (e.g., member, administrator/secretary, or chair support), including protocol review, NIH Guidelines compliance, and governance cadence
• Build and deliver role‑based training
• Health and safety and biosafety audits, gap analyses, and maturity assessments; develop corrective actions and verify effectiveness
• Oversee program interfaces such as equipment certification coordination, laboratory design and operational readiness reviews, waste management, occupational health linkages (vaccines and medical surveillance), and contractor controls
• Design and implement broader Health & Safety and Technical Risk programs, including compliance auditing, ISO 45001‑aligned management systems, risk management, contractor management, and Serious Injury & Fatality (SIF) prevention
• Lead incident investigations, root cause analyses, corrective action development, and control verification while driving organizational learning
• Support safety culture and leadership initiatives, including coaching, field engagement, and capability building
• Manage complex consulting projects and programs, ensuring scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations are met while exceeding client expectations
• Serve as a visible subject matter leader in biosafety and general Health & Safety; contribute to ERM best practices and knowledge sharing
• Partner with account teams and senior leaders to develop opportunities, support proposal development, and expand long‑term client relationships. Support the development of go‑to‑market strategies for biosafety and other health and safety service offerings.
• Mentor and lead consultants, supporting recruiting, onboarding, performance coaching, and team development

What You'll Bring:

Required

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Biosafety, Microbiology, Biology, Public Health, Industrial Hygiene, Safety Engineering, or a related discipline or equivalent experience
• 6‑8+ years of relevant EHS experience, including substantive biosafety leadership in BSL‑1, BSL‑2, and BSL‑3 R&D and Manufacturing environments, including operations oversight, commissioning/operational readiness, or governance
• Proven experience developing, deploying, and managing biosafety and Health & Safety programs (not just participating), including standards, procedures, training, metrics, assurance, and risk management strategy
• Experience supporting or serving on Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs) with familiarity in protocol review processes and committee governance
• 5+ years of consulting experience preferred, or an internal client‑facing role with equivalent scope, including proposal support and relationship management
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to translate complex technical risk into clear, actionable plans for stakeholders at all levels
• Willingness to travel up to 50% based on client needs

Preferred

• Professional credentials such as RBP/CBSP (ABSA), CIH, CSP, or PE
• Experience working in biotech, pharmaceutical, high‑tech, chemical, academic research, or government environments
• Demonstrated success building multi‑year roadmaps, KPIs and metrics, governance dashboards, and management review mechanisms
• Experience interfacing with allied programs, including waste management, industrial hygiene monitoring, facilities/engineering, select agent awareness, and contractor controls in laboratory environments

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic biosafety leadership across complex laboratory environments
• Design and operationalize integrated biosafety and Health & Safety systems aligned to business goals
• Partner with senior stakeholders to strengthen governance, compliance, and risk management
• Lead program implementation, audits, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Build organizational capability through training, coaching, and culture development
• Drive project delivery excellence while expanding client relationships and contributing to ERM’s growth

ERM is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.