Environment, Health and Safety Manager

YER HR Solutions; Coachella (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

YER Staffing partners with a major Aerospace & Defense manufacturer in Coachella, CA to hire an Environmental Health & Safety Manager. You will own the EH&S program, lead a cross-functional team, and drive proactive safety and environmental improvements on the manufacturing floor.

The role reports to the Site Leader, focusing on process safety, hazardous materials management, and incident prevention, with relocation assistance and a strong emphasis on hands-on leadership across all shifts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Safety, Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Industrial Hygiene, or related field.
• 7+ years of progressive EH&S experience in industrial manufacturing with leadership.
• Experience managing people with direct reports.
• Hands-on ownership of safety and environmental programs.
• Background in hazardous materials and energetic materials.
• Strong knowledge of process safety, PHA, MOC, incident investigation and root‑cause analysis.
• Proven track record of measurable improvement.
• Energetics experience/DoD explosives-safety familiarity preferred; CSP/CIH/CHMM certifications preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the site EH&S management system and annual safety strategy toward zero unintended energetic-material ignition.
• Within months, review 3–5 years of incident history and present a proactive prevention plan.
• Lead and develop a team of five to seven safety and environmental professionals.
• Maintain a strong presence on the manufacturing floor and verify critical controls.
• Own corrective actions from identification through verified effectiveness.
• Lead process safety and energetic-material safety systems (PHA, MOC, pre-startup safety reviews, ignition-source controls).
• Own high-risk work controls (lockout/tagout, confined-space, hot work, electrical safety).
• Lead root-cause investigations for injuries, near misses, and environmental events.
• Oversee environmental compliance (hazardous waste, air, wastewater, stormwater, permitting, reporting).
• Develop waste-reduction and cost-improvement projects while maintaining compliance.
• Oversee industrial hygiene and emergency preparedness programs with local responders.
• Ensure EH&S requirements are integrated before new products or changes are implemented.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, local, DoD, OSHA/Cal-OSHA, EPA, DOT, NFPA requirements; act as primary site contact for inspections.
• Drive safety-culture change and stop-work ownership across functional teams.
• Track leading/lagging indicators, risks, and corrective-action status to Site Leader.

Skills

People management

Safety leadership

Process safety

Regulatory compliance

Root cause analysis

Hazard analysis

Energetics experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in Safety or related field

Advanced education / experience

Job description

YER Staffing is partnering with a leading manufacturer in the Aerospace and Defense sector to hire an Environmental Health & Safety Manager for its Coachella, California facility. The site produces energetic, nitrocellulose-based components for military ammunition and training products that support U.S. and allied warfighters. Preventing unintended ignition of energetic material is a fundamental operating priority, and the site is working toward a goal of zero energetic-material ignitions.

Reporting directly to the Site Leader, you will be the site's EH&S owner and the Site Leader's eyes and ears for safety and environmental performance. You will lead a Safety and Environmental team of about five to seven people. You will find the plant's highest-consequence risks before they become incidents, build a proactive prevention plan, and personally see corrective actions through until they are implemented, verified, and holding.

This is not a role for someone who waits for an incident, writes the report, and submits a work order. Our client is looking for a hands-on leader who spends real time on the manufacturing floor, owns both the safety and environmental sides of the function, and can show measurable before-and-after results.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the site EH&S management system and annual safety strategy, with sustained progress toward zero unintended energetic-material ignitions as a primary objective.
• Within your first months, review three to five years of site incident and risk history, identify the largest safety and environmental exposures, and present a proactive prevention plan built on leading indicators.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of about five to seven, including a Safety Supervisor, Safety Technicians, an Environmental Engineer, and an Environmental Technician. Set clear expectations and hold the function accountable for timely, high-quality execution.
• Maintain a strong, visible presence on the manufacturing floor. Observe high-risk work, engage supervisors and operators, verify that critical controls work, and make sure gaps are corrected promptly.
• Own corrective actions from identification through verified effectiveness. Drive closure across Production, Engineering, Maintenance, and Quality rather than stopping at an email, a delegated task, or a work order.
• Lead process safety and energetic-material safety systems, including Process Hazard Analyses (PHA), Management of Change (MOC), pre-startup safety reviews, Quantity-Distance controls, safe storage and handling, and ignition-source and static controls.
• Own high-risk work controls, including lockout/tagout, confined-space entry, hot work, machine safety, and electrical safety.
• Lead root-cause investigations for injuries, near misses, fires, ignitions, environmental events, and significant unsafe conditions. Make sure corrective actions address systemic causes.
• Own environmental compliance and performance, including hazardous waste, air, wastewater and stormwater, spill prevention, permitting, inspections, reporting, and recordkeeping. Provide technical oversight and development for the environmental team.
• Identify and develop waste-reduction and waste-handling improvement projects that improve performance and cost while protecting compliance.
• Own industrial hygiene, occupational health, and emergency preparedness programs, including drills and coordination with local emergency-response organizations.
• Make sure EH&S requirements are built in before new products, materials, equipment, automation, capital projects, process changes, and production restarts are implemented.
• Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, local, DoD, ATF, OSHA/Cal-OSHA, EPA, DOT, and NFPA requirements. Serve as the primary site contact for regulatory inspections and agency interactions.
• Lead safety-culture and change-management efforts with an experienced workforce, many with decades of tenure. Use their knowledge while raising standards for hazard awareness, stop-work ownership, reporting, and follow-through.
• Track and communicate leading and lagging safety and environmental indicators, significant risks, corrective-action status, and resource needs to the Site Leader, with clear recommendations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Safety, Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Industrial Hygiene, or a related technical discipline. Equivalent advanced education and directly relevant experience may be considered.
• 7+ years of progressive EH&S experience in industrial manufacturing, including leadership responsibility. Exceptional candidates with 5+ years who show clear progression and measurable results will be considered.
• Required: experience managing people (direct reports you coached, developed, and held accountable). Candidates with only individual-contributor or project-lead experience will not be considered.
• Required: meaningful, hands‑on ownership of both safety and environmental programs. Safety-only backgrounds are not a fit for this role.
• EH&S leadership in a manufacturing environment where employees routinely work with hazardous materials. Chemical, energetics, explosives, propellants, ammunition, pyrotechnics, and other high-hazard manufacturing backgrounds are strongly preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of process safety, PHA, MOC, incident investigation and root‑cause analysis, industrial safety, environmental compliance, and risk management.
• A track record of measurable improvement: before‑and‑after results you personally led, not a list of programs you managed.
• Demonstrated success leading safety‑culture change and influencing Production, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, and senior leadership.
• Highly desired: energetics experience and familiarity with DoD explosives‑safety requirements, including DoD 4145.26.
• Preferred, not required: CSP, CIH, CHMM, or equivalent certification. Certifications and advanced degrees do not replace demonstrated results.
• Comfortable spending significant time on the manufacturing floor and supporting all shifts, high‑risk work, regulatory activity, and emergency response as needed.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. To conform to U.S. export‑control regulations, applicants must be eligible for any required authorization from the U.S. Government.
• Base salary of $150,000–$170,000, commensurate with experience.
• Relocation assistance available.
• No travel. This is a site‑based leadership role.
• Direct report to the Site Leader, with a real mandate to shape the site's EH&S strategy and environmental program.
• Stable, mission‑critical work supporting U.S. and allied warfighters, backed by a large, established aerospace and defense parent company.
• Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status.