Regulatory Team Leader (High Hazard)

The Environment Agency; Warrington; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading environmental regulatory body in the UK seeks a Regulatory Team Leader to lead a specialist team in ensuring compliance across COMAH sites. The role includes developing a delivery plan, assessing risks, and coaching team members to achieve regulatory objectives. Competitive salary up to £64,576 per annum plus benefits, with flexible working options available. Ideal candidates will have a strong track record in leadership and COMAH regulations.

Benefits

Generous pension scheme of 19%

27 days holiday plus bank holidays

Additional £4,750 for specialist expertise

Training and professional development

Qualifications

• Experience leading teams to achieve regulatory compliance.
• Ability to make local regulatory and enforcement decisions.
• Strong collaboration skills across various levels of an organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead a specialist team for regulatory compliance at COMAH sites.
• Make decisions on enforcement and interact with stakeholders.
• Ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of team members.

Skills

Leadership skills

Understanding of COMAH Regulations

Health, Safety & Wellbeing knowledge

Coaching and mentoring others

Stakeholder management

Prioritization skills

Flexible decision-making

Education

Degree in a Scientific or Engineering subject

Job description

Regulatory Team Leader (High Hazard)

£54,940 - £64,576 per annum (plus additional £4,750 for specialist COMAH expertise, subject to eligibility)

Warrington, Newcastle, Darlington, Leeds, York, Lincoln, Nottingham, Sutton Coldfield, Tewkesbury, Bridgwater, Romsey, Welwyn Garden City, Farnham, Ipswich

Full time/ Permanent / Flexible working available

Staff Grade: 6

Are you ready to make a real difference?Join our High Hazard specialist team as a Team Leader

We are committed to enhancing our regulatory practices and building an effective regulatory framework. To achieve this, we are looking for Team Leaders to lead dedicated, values driven regulatory teams that will focus on enhancing regulation of COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015) sites in England

As an experienced leader with an understanding of major industry, you will be applying your broad regulatory and regime knowledge to manage your specialist regulatory team to deliver compliance work funded through charge income.

You will be committed to developing yourself and those in your team, providing a positive role model who’s versatile in creating an open, inclusive and trusting culture where people can achieve their best and be safe and well.

As part of this role the Regulatory Team Leader will develop a delivery plan with your team and have autonomy to this and make changes to the plan according to changing priorities. You will look to share good practice and ways of working, identify opportunities for the business and ways to realise them. You will have a strong understanding and awareness of your team’s work so that you can assess risks and provide assurance to the COMAH Regulatory Manager.

You will be leading a new team, so you will need to demonstrate your ability to lead and coach them through cultural and business change.

Your role will include maintaining the health, safety, and wellbeing of your team, supporting them to develop themselves and managing ways of working to ensure we can meet the needs of the future. You will need to balance the work within your team to ensure that they are focused on the areas that will deliver the greatest environmental benefit.

This position requires the ability to work effectively across the organisation, in an agile way to deliver outcomes.

What is in it for you?

You’ll benefit from a culture that embraces difference and is inclusive where you’ll feel supported and trusted to do the right thing. We’ll invest in you and allow you to grow and shape your career. What’s more, you’ll have access to our great benefits package including:

• A salary up to £54,940 - £64,576 per annum.
• This role attracts an additional allowance of £4,750 for specialist expertise in COMAH regulation. It is payable after appointment, provided you meet eligibility criteria. To qualify, you’ll need significant COMAH or high-hazard industry experience and a relevant degree or equivalent technical expertise.
• A generous pension scheme of 19%.
• Overtime opportunities through standby and incident pay.
• 27 days holiday (increasing at 3, 6, and 10 years of service up to a maximum of 30) + 8 bank holidays for full-time employees.
• Two additional days for paid environmental outcomes giving you the opportunity to take part in community activities.
• Training and professional development time.
• Maternity, paternity, and adoption leave scheme.

We have a flexible working policy for all employees, to support a healthy work-life balance within your working day. We will also consider flexibility in working patterns across the working week on a case-by-case basis.

What will you do?

In this role you will lead a specialist team who will be responsible for the regulatory compliance across a range of COMAH sites. You will lead experienced officers as well as those new to the business. You will:

• Assure the delivery reputationally, politically and/or technically of complex activities, including permits for critical infrastructure at COMAH sites to achieve the best environmental outcomes.
• Support team members overseeing higher risk sites or issues that require strategic engagement and complex risk management.
• Make local regulatory and enforcement decisions, referring to others for sign‑off. Deliver the COMAH Investigations Manager role.
• Work across boundaries, with other COMAH team leaders across the business to develop and deliver the COMAH Operational Delivery Plan to ensure proportional regulation, consistency of decisions and to share resources and best practice.
• Influence internally to deliver organisational improvements and externally to bring about behaviour change that results in environmental benefits.
• Plan, monitor, control and prioritise resources and budgets to maximise the efficient use of people to ensure that all activities are completed to time and to respond to unplanned events.
• Influence internal & external partners including operators, Members of Parliament (MPs) & communities.
• Respond and address regulatory challenge, whether that be from MPs, Community Groups or any other stakeholders.

Responding to incidents is a central part of what we do. You will be required to have an incident role and make yourself available to respond to incidents or provide business continuity support during an incident. This may attract an additional payment and full training, and alternative working arrangements will be available to support you with your incident role.

The Team

You’ll lead a newly formed team reporting to the COMAH Regulatory Manager.

The team will work directly with site operators, while collaborating with national and local colleagues to improve COMAH delivery and assurance. Your team will be responsible for delivering their regulatory plan by delivering robust inspections, audits and investigating incidents.

You’ll have an EA Office base location. Your team will be dispersed, so regular travel will be required. We welcome flexible working.

What do I need?

With a track‑record of collaborative working at all levels of an organisation, you’ll bring skills in leading, managing and developing others. You will need:

Essential criteria

• Understanding of the COMAH Regulations or previous regulatory or industry experience in this sector.
• Strong leadership skills demonstrated by successfully leading teams to work in collaboration to achieve objectives.
• Proven working knowledge of Health, Safety & Wellbeing.
• Enthusiasm to achieve results and an ability to coach and mentor others to enhance their abilities and fostering their growth.
• The ability to work with a range of customers and stakeholders, whether internal or external to support our goals.
• The skills to both prioritise effectively for your team and with the wider business.
• A flexible approach to work and a capacity to make decisions using available information and evidence.
• Full UK driving licence.

Desirable criteria

• Degree in a Scientific or Engineering subject.
• Membership or working towards membership of a relevant professional body.

Additional information

Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the UK's biggest environmental organisation. Join us, and together, let's tackle the challenges of a changing climate and build a more sustainable future. Apply now and embark on a rewarding and fulfilling career journey with the Environment Agency.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal and counter terrorist record check.

Please note:

Candidates selected for interview will be notified by email at least five days in advance. Please check both your inbox and junk mail folders to ensure you don’t miss our message. A reserve list will be held, and you may be offered other roles, including temporary roles, in other locations that may be similarly aligned to this role.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance on our careers site for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Closing date for applications:

10th November 2025

Interview Dates:

Week commencing 1st December and week commencing 8th December 2025. The interviews will include both competency-based questions and a technical assessment.