Director of QHSE

GEA Germany GmbH; Romeoville (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision

Paid holidays

136 hours PTO

401(k) match

Tuition reimbursement

Wellness incentives

Employee Assistance Program

Health Savings Account

Job summary

GEA Group is seeking a Director of Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental to join our leadership team in the United States. This role will oversee HSE strategy, quality management, and regulatory compliance across multiple sites including Romeoville, IL.

You will lead a cross-functional team, drive continuous improvement, manage audits, incident investigations, and supplier quality, while mentoring staff and advancing company standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Health, Safety and Environment (Masters preferred).
• Minimum 5 years of experience in quality, health, safety and environment.
• Experience managing a safety team of 5+ people.
• Experience in matrix and centralized organizations.
• Proven Quality, Health, Safety, & Environmental experience.
• Broad experience in different Quality Management System disciplines.
• Broad experience in working with cross-functional teams.
• Preferred Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt.
• Experience leading change in operational processes.
• Strong analytical skills and data reporting.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement HSE strategy for country operations.
• Responsible for 5 sites.
• Consult with senior managers and local HSE personnel.
• Lead audits and ensure timely closure of corrective actions.
• Establish links to regulatory agencies and environmental authorities.
• Perform risk assessments and allocate resources to minimize risk.
• Deliver and develop training programs on HSE topics.
• Integrate HSE with Quality and Sustainability initiatives.
• Support supplier quality and regulatory compliance activities.
• Drive continual improvement and benchmarking across sites.

Skills

Leadership

Analytical

Communication

Change management

Education

Bachelor's in HSE

Masters preferred

Tools

ISO standards

Six Sigma Belt

Job description

GEA Group, founded in Germany in 1881, is a global leader in engineering solutions, serving industries such as food and beverage, pharma, dairy, and more. With over 18,000 employees worldwide and a strong U.S. presence since 1929, GEA combines the heritage of a well-established company with the innovation of a forward-thinking industry leader. At GEA, we’re not just building equipment, we’re building lasting careers with an average employee tenure range from 5 to over 11+ years, reflecting the strong culture, growth opportunities, and support we provide.

Working at GEA Group has significant benefits:

• Start strong – Medical, dental, and vision coverage begins on your first day
• Recharge and refresh – Enjoy 12 paid holidays, including a flexible floating holiday, and 136 hours of PTO to relax or explore
• Invest in your future – A 7% 401(k) employer match helps grow your retirement savings faster
• Keep learning – Take advantage of tuition reimbursement to further your education or skillset
• Live well – Our wellness incentive program rewards healthy habits
• Get support when you need it – Access to a confidential Employee Assistance Program for personal or professional guidance
• Save smart – Flexible Health Savings and Spending Accounts to manage out-of-pocket expenses

GEA Group, located in Romeoville, IL, is searching for a Director of Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental to join our Leadership team!

Responsibilities / Tasks

This position can work out of our Romeoville, IL or Galesville, WI locations!

Health, Safety, and Environment

• Develop and implement a strategy to ensure HSE compliance in the country operations in line with our GEA Group global objectives and standards/measures.
• Responsible for 5 sites.
• Builds effective relationships with clients, subcontractors and partners to support the Company's core safety values.
• Provide ‘consultancy’ support to Senior Managers and local HSE personnel of the GEA operations.
• Work with the Management Teams to ensure timely closure of corrective actions arising from audits.
• Appoint and manage external advisors as well as establish links to regulatory agencies and environmental authorities.
• Undertake and manage ‘risk assessments’ – ensuring that adequate resources are secured where necessary to ensure risk minimization.
• Provide a mix of policy development and implementation across all aspects of HSE.
• Ensure the effective implementation of GEA Group HSE Policies and Standards within the GEA country operations.
• Support the development of plant specific HSE Training Needs Analysis.
• Facilitate the development and roll-out of a range of HSE training & development programs.
• Personally, deliver elements of training programs.
• Communications – establish opportunities for HSE staff throughout the GEA country Operations to link together and support each other via conferences, learning opportunities, joint projects, specialist forums, intranet information pages etc.
• Implement an Integrated Management System for Health, Safety, Environment and Quality in the country.
• Take ownership for sustainability, emissions projects and initiatives along with site leaders.
• Organize and support audits & inspection; manage and support activities during the preparation and ongoing phase of an audit/inspection.
• In cooperation with the local team and/or headquarters, perform root-cause-analysis for audit observations/inspection findings, manage and track the corrective and preventive actions as well as coordinate and facilitate the responses to audit/inspection reports.
• Internal investigation of serious and major accidents and incidents onboard units as required.
• Keep up to date with developments in the HSE field, including legislation, regulations, guidelines, and best practices

Quality

• Support the development of a quality management system (valid for all countries) and implement it at site level.
• Be the local expert for quality related processes & regulations.
• Support purchasing activities at country level, including vendor qualification, and solving of quality issues.
• Ensure compliance to ISO and other relevant regulatory, divisional and customer specific requirements.
• Manage warranty program, provide support, maintain KPI and related documentation.
• Utilize continual improvement tools to drive process excellence throughout the Organization.

Your Profile / Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree – Health, Safety and Environment (Masters Preferred)
• Minimum 5 years of general experience within the quality, health, safety and environment field
• Broad management experience across key Health, Safety, & Environmental areas, including management of Safety team of 5+.
• Work experience both in complex matrix and centralized organizations
• Proven Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental experience
• Broad experience in different Quality Management System disciplines.
• Work experience both in complex matrix and centralized organizations
• Proven Quality, Health, & Environmental experience
• Broad experience in different Quality Management System disciplines.
• Broad experience in working with cross-functional teams
• Preferred Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt Certified
• Experience in leading change management to operational processes
• An experienced people manager with the ability to lead, coach and mentor teams.
• Must have analytical experience, be accurate with statistics and written reports, well organized and exercise sound judgment in decision making.
• Has in-depth understanding of international standards and procedures and makes appropriate decisions based on this knowledge.
• Has experience in accident and incident investigation

The typical base pay range for this position at the start of employment is expected to be between $110,000 - $130,000 per year. GEA Group has different base pay ranges for different work locations within the United States. The pay range is not a guarantee of compensation or salary. The estimated range is the budgeted amount for the position. Final offers are based on various factors, including skill set, experience, location, qualifications, and other job-related reasons. You may be eligible for additional rewards, such as discretionary bonus (based on eligibility) and/or equity awards. Please note: This position is based in the United States and does not offer visa or work sponsorship. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without current or future sponsorship.

GEA is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will therefore receive consideration for employment without regard to age, sex, race, color, religion, world view, national origin, genetics, disability, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other protected characteristic required by applicable law. Applicants with disabilities are welcome and will be given special consideration if they are equally qualified.

GEA is one of the largest suppliers of process technology for the food industry and a wide range of other industries. The international technology group focuses on process technology and components for sophisticated production processes in various end-user markets.