Heath & Safety Director - London

arriva; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dedicated Head of Health & Safety to enhance safety performance and culture within their London operations. This pivotal role involves strategic planning, risk management, and leading initiatives aimed at fostering a zero-emission environment. The successful candidate will collaborate with various teams to implement safety measures, ensuring compliance with legal standards while driving continuous improvement. If you possess strong leadership skills and a passion for health and safety, this is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact in a dynamic organization.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Health care plans

Professional development opportunities

Company car

Pension scheme

Qualifications

• Proven experience in multi-site operations and safety performance improvement.
• Degree education with professional qualifications in Health & Safety.
• Strong background in strategic planning and execution.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement strategic plans for safety culture improvement.
• Lead safety campaigns and initiatives across the business.
• Manage health and safety personnel to provide timely support.

Skills

Health & Safety Management

Risk Assessment

Sustainability Practices

Strategic Planning

Team Leadership

Analytical Skills

Education

Degree in Health & Safety

NEBOSH Diploma

Chartered Member of IOSH

Tools

ISO 39001

ISO 45001

ISO 14001

Job description

Principal point of contact for the UK Bus London business unit in respect of all health, safety, risk,and sustainability matters, including the development andexecution of strategic plans to drive an improvement inSafety behavioural culture together with sustainedimprovement in Safety Performance of the business. This role drives change, defines strategies, and executesinitiatives that improve safety culture, reduces safetyincidents and safety risks, and enhances our safetyperformance and compliance at all levels in the businesswhilst advancing our commitment to zero emissions. Ensures UK Bus operates safely and complies with thelaw and maintains the ‘Safety Management System, ‘RoadTraffic Safety Management System’ and Safety QualityManual.

Leads the strategic rollout of safety campaigns, takingresponsibility for embedding the change and implementingtargeted improvement initiatives that address safety risksand safety performance underpinned with the introductionof a measurement card framework to monitor and trackimprovements to safety performance. Holds Senior Leadership teams accountable for managingand maintaining a strong safety culture throughout thebusiness and aligns with UK Bus compliance and auditSMEs to ensure overall safety performance is improvedincluding; Fleet Risk performance, Occupational Health &Safety, Environmental Safety and alignment to ouroperational and technical policy and standards.

Align with Operational Teams accountable for deliveringUK Bus’ Electrification Implementation programme toensure Safe systems of work are established andmaintained. Work closely with UK Bus’s CorporateSustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) programme toensure accurate and timely reporting of UK Bus’s requiredenvironmental, Social and governance reporting is established and in place for 2026.

Main Responsibilities

This job description sets out the main duties and responsibilities of the job-holder. It does not constitute anexhaustive or comprehensive description of duties and the job holder will be required to carry out any additionaltasks as and when requested to do so by their manager. Responsibilities and duties may also change in light offuture business needs and personal development.

Health and Safety & Sustainability

• Develop, agree and implement strategic plans to drive a culture of behavioural safety through the businesswith associated safety improvement initiatives and performance measurement card framework.

• Manage and allocate HSER resources to ensure that robust and consistent support is provided to thebusiness.

• Contribute to and develop required Risk & Safety policies, in line with any legal or statutory compliance, for UKbus and implement within the business.

• Develop and execute safety and risk campaigns that are with prevailing trends and target safety improvementinitiatives and addressing identified areas of enhancement.

• Act as a professional Head of Health & Safety where necessary and support investigation to safety incidentsand escalations and drive corrective actions where necessary.

• Lead the production and reporting of safety, risk, compliance and sustainability performance metrics asrequired for the London Teams and align with UK Bus central Safety SME’s to ensure UK Bus andGroup Safety Performance KPI’s are reported, monitored and tracked.

• Work with external bodies and UK Bus Executive to mitigate risks from emerging safety challenges andassociated changes in the law and safety legislation.

• Support the role out of UK Bus Zero Emission Fleet and associated footprint strategy as defined by the UKBus London MD’s and advise on environmental, safety & risk matters.

Customer

• Work closely with the business to identify risk and safety issues, provide guidance and formulate improvementplans that are driven through until completion.

• Work with the OpCos to ensure that multi-incident drivers are identified and that interventions are carried out ina timely manner to avoid reoccurrence.

• Advise the London MD and Senior Leadership Team on their roles, duties and responsibilities andensure continued appropriate awareness of key health, safety and legal risks and obligations.

People

• Manage and lead the health, safety, risk personnel within the London team to ensure they areproviding timely, pragmatic & commercially focussed safety advice and support.

• Identify areas of skills enhancement required and ensure appropriate training and qualifications aremaintained for all Health, Safety and Risk personnel within your organisation.

• Work closely with the Head of Health, Safety, Risk and Sustainability to ensure alignment and coordination ofsafety initiatives, communication, safety improvement programme delivery and measurement.

• Engage and motivate site teams through effective leadership and communication forums to become highperforming teams.

• Be visible, credible, knowledgeable, and approachable, role-modelling standards of high business andpersonal performance.

• Forge strong working relationships with key stakeholders

Quality

• Lead and coordinate national projects to deliver improved processes or better business performance throughthe introduction of new technologies/new ways of working ensuring smooth and aligned implementation acrossthe business.

• Work with the central UK Bus Safety SME’s for governance, risk and compliance to coordinate audits and toensure that any adverse findings are actioned.

• Ensure all material changes to safety law or legislation are cascaded and implemented in your operationalarea and ensure appropriate internal policies are fully compliant.

• Ensure the Arriva Group minimum safety standards are disseminated and implemented within UK Bus for youroperational areas in all discussions with the central HSE&R SME team on wider health, safety, risk andsustainability matters and issues.

• Provide input into key strategic decisions impacting safety concerning the UK Bus business unit and entitieswithin, as appropriate.

Financial and Decision-Making

• Work closely with OpCos, Legal and Transcare teams to minimize the exposure to the business relating toclaims and incidents in both financial terms and in the event of litigation.

• Ensure through the Fit for Future measure card tracking that items related to improving Safety, Risk andEnvironmental performance are captured with the relevant owner to show tangible performance outcomesimpacted by an improvement in Safety Performance where appropriate.

Continual Improvement & Innovation

• Continuously review the operating terrain, identify areas, processes and systems which through innovation canbe substantially improved.

• Be a champion for creative thinking, supporting and challenging to develop robust change programmes inorder to deliver local business objectives.

• Be accountable for new ideas, accepting some will be calculated risks.

• Work closely with the area leadership team and peer group to share best practice throughout UK Bus. Liaisewith the HSER Data team to ensure that all reporting is accurate and aligned to the business need.

• Utilise the BI provided by the Data team to inform the business on Risk and Safety performance, trends andplan actions to reduce/mitigate impact.

• Provide strategic safety advice and recommendations to UK Bus Exec Leadership Team by identifyingmaterial safety risks and advise on remedial action where necessary to mitigate, or remove, such risks.

Corporate Social Responsibility

• Uphold, safeguard and promote the reputation and values of the -organisation throughout all internal andexternal business relationships and activities.

Essential Postholder Requirements

• Proven experience of multi-site operations and safety performance improvement across multi-disciplinedenvironments.

• Demonstrable experience in large, comparable organisation (structure, complexity and size) to turn aroundsafety performance, culture and sustainable safety culture.

• Degree education obtained with Safety recognised professional qualifications in the field of Health & Safety,Environmental and Sustainability with relevant proven experience in a similar environment. (NEBOSH diplomaor equivalent and ideally Chartered Member of IOSH)

• Knowledge and understanding of ISO39001 and ISO45001, ISO14001.

• A subject matter expert with strong influencing & analytical skills and with exceptional attention to detail.

• Comfortable with extensive travel.

Person Specification

• Technical education with academic degree in either Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, environmentaltechnologies or equivalent education.

• Multiannual management experience in the EH&S sector in industrial companies (manufacturing, transport orequivalent)

• Strong background in strategic planning and execution, team leadership, and a proven track record ofimplementing effective safety measures in large-scale operations and improving safety performance.

• Proven experience to define and execute strategies initiatives aimed at improving safety culture, reducingincidents, and advancing our commitment to zero emissions.

• Strong leadership skills and the ability to lead and develop a team of professionals.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to engage non-safety stakeholders inhealth, safety, risk and sustainability issues.

• Proven experience in minimising risk profile within an organisation.

• Demonstrable experience working with Trade Unions and legislative Transport bodies

• Ability to work collaboratively with other departments and external stakeholders, while also being able toresolve complex and strategic issues