Environmental Health & Safety Manager

Environmental Health & Safety Manager

Our client located in Louisville, KY has an immediate need for an Environmental Health & Safety Manager. This is a direct hire opportunity.

Our client is a well-established manufacturing organization with a large, complex Louisville operation combining heavy industrial processing with packaging and finishing operations. This is a highly visible leadership opportunity within one of the organization's most complex manufacturing facilities, supporting approximately 650 employees in a heavily unionized environment.

The organization is making a significant investment in advancing its safety culture and is seeking an EHS leader who can help move the operation beyond reactive safety management toward a more proactive, prevention-focused approach.

Environmental Health & Safety Manager Role

The Environmental Health & Safety Manager will serve as a key member of the plant leadership team and provide strategic leadership and technical direction for environmental, health and safety programs across the Louisville operation.

This is not solely a compliance-focused EHS position. The successful candidate will be expected to lead people, influence behavior and drive cultural change throughout a large and complex manufacturing environment.

The EHS Manager will lead a team of technical EHS professionals and security personnel while partnering closely with the Plant Manager, EHS Director, operations, maintenance, engineering and union employees.

The ideal candidate must be equally comfortable coaching a direct report, challenging an experienced operational leader, working alongside employees on the manufacturing floor and presenting safety performance and initiatives to the entire plant population.

A major focus of the position will be continuing the organization's evolution from a historically reactive approach to safety toward a proactive culture centered around risk identification, prevention, employee engagement and accountability.

Leadership & Safety Culture

• Lead the development and execution of a proactive EHS strategy for a large, complex manufacturing operation
• Champion the continued transition from reactive incident management toward proactive risk identification and prevention
• Build credibility and influence across operations, maintenance, engineering, plant leadership and the hourly workforce
• Lead, coach and develop EHS professionals and other direct reports
• Champion cross-functional safety initiatives and personally lead projects involving managers, engineers, supervisors and hourly employees
• Develop employees through coaching, accountability and performance management
• Present safety performance, priorities and initiatives during plant-wide employee town halls
• Establish a visible presence throughout the manufacturing operation and actively engage employees on the plant floor
• Partner with plant leadership to integrate safety considerations into operational and business decisions
• Drive Behavioral Based Safety, employee engagement and continuous improvement initiatives

Union & Employee Relations

• Build productive working relationships within a highly unionized manufacturing environment
• Communicate effectively with union employees regarding safety expectations, initiatives and operational changes
• Partner with operational leaders and employees to gain support for safety programs and improvements
• Navigate differing viewpoints while maintaining credibility, consistency and appropriate safety standards
• Influence employee behavior and safety performance through communication, education, visibility and relationship building

EHS Technical Leadership

• Provide leadership and oversight for environmental, occupational health and safety programs
• Partner with technical EHS resources to maintain compliance with applicable OSHA, EPA, state and local requirements
• Oversee environmental compliance activities including permitting, reporting, hazardous waste, air emissions, wastewater and related programs
• Lead and support incident investigations, root cause analysis and corrective action initiatives
• Evaluate EHS risks and develop strategies to reduce employee exposure and operational risk
• Monitor EHS performance, identify trends and establish improvement priorities
• Support regulatory inspections and ensure appropriate corrective actions and responses
• Maintain emergency preparedness and response programs
• Provide oversight and leadership for case management activities
• Partner with engineering and operations on capital projects and EHS improvements

Background Profile

• Bachelor's degree in Occupational Safety & Health, Environmental Engineering, Engineering, a technical discipline or related field
• Progressive environmental, health and safety experience within manufacturing or industrial operations
• Heavy industrial manufacturing experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience directly leading, coaching and developing employees
• Proven ability to personally lead major EHS projects or initiatives involving cross-functional teams
• Demonstrated success influencing operations, maintenance, engineering and hourly employees
• Experience working within a unionized manufacturing environment strongly preferred
• Experience supporting a large hourly employee population preferred
• Demonstrated ability to move safety programs beyond compliance and reactive incident management toward proactive risk prevention
• Strong understanding of occupational safety and environmental compliance requirements
• Behavioral Based Safety experience
• Strong incident investigation, root cause analysis and case management experience
• Excellent presentation, communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to establish credibility with employees ranging from plant floor personnel to senior leadership
• Strong strategic thinking, project management and problem-solving capabilities
• CSP, CIH, CHP or advanced degree is a plus

Benefits & Features

• Healthcare benefits and various wellness programs
• PTO and paid holidays
• 401(k) with company match
• Highly visible leadership opportunity within a large manufacturing operation
• Significant opportunity for professional development and advancement
• Exposure to complex heavy industrial and manufacturing operations
• Opportunity to lead meaningful safety and capital improvement initiatives
• Strong organizational investment in environmental, health and safety programs
• Career opportunities across multiple facilities and business units

If you are an experienced EHS leader looking for an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on safety culture within a complex manufacturing environment, we encourage you to apply today.