Vice President - Safety

Payne & Dolan; Waukesha (WI); On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Employer Paid Medical Plan with HRA

Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance

Flex Spending Account

Employee Assistance Program

Disability coverage

Paid parental leave

Generous PTO and holidays

Profit sharing

Training and professional development

Career growth opportunities

Job summary

Walbec is seeking a Vice President of Safety to lead safety strategy across construction, materials production, transportation, and field operations. You will work with executives to embed safety into planning and execution, ensuring accountability and strong field support.

The role emphasizes data-informed decisions, risk prevention, and a coaching-oriented safety organization, with travel to operating locations as needed.

Qualifications

• Progressive safety leadership in multi-site, high-hazard operations.
• Ability to influence executives and build accountable teams.
• Strong knowledge of occupational safety and regulatory requirements.
• Experience using data and change management to deliver improvements.
• Credibility with field employees and sound judgment in safety decisions.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent; willingness to travel regularly.
• CSP or comparable credential is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Set safety vision and embed risk prevention in planning and budgeting.
• Partner with leaders to own safe execution and close planning gaps.
• Guide high-consequence safety programs and regulatory obligations.
• Build an effective Safety organization with clear accountability.
• Improve safety data, leading indicators, and performance reporting.
• Foster reporting culture and stop-work authority for safety.
• Collaborate with Operations, HR, and other functions on safety leadership.

Skills

Safety leadership

Strategic influence

Data-driven decisions

Field credibility

Travel flexible

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

CSP credential (preferred)

Job description

Make safety central to how work gets done.

At Walbec, safety is not a separate initiative or a checklist completed after decisions are made. It must be considered from the earliest stages of planning through every day of execution. We are seeking a Vice President of Safety who will help make the protection of our people a defining part of how we lead, plan, invest, and operate.

This executive will lead safety strategy across our construction, materials production, transportation, and field operations. Working closely with operational leaders, the VP will strengthen accountability, build trusted relationships in the field, and ensure that employees have the support, information, and authority to work safely. Our expectation is simple and important: every team member should return home with the same health and physical abilities they brought to work.

What You Will Lead

• Enterprise strategy: Set a compelling safety vision and integrate risk prevention into business planning, capital decisions, estimating, scheduling, staffing, and operational priorities.
• Operational partnership: Help executives, managers, supervisors, and crews own safe execution; identify and resolve production pressures and planning gaps before they expose people to risk.
• High-consequence risk prevention: Guide technical safety programs, critical-risk controls, incident learning, regulatory safety obligations, and appropriate escalation of serious hazards.
• Safety team leadership: Develop an effective Safety organization with clear accountability, strong field presence, consistent technical standards, and a coaching-oriented service model.
• Data-informed decisions: Improve the reliability and use of safety information, leading indicators, incident insights, and performance reporting to focus effort where it matters most.
• Culture and continuous improvement: Build employee trust, encourage reporting and stop-work decisions, turn feedback into improvements, and sustain change across business units.
• Cross-functional integration: Partner with Operations, Human Resources, and other enterprise functions, maintaining technical occupational safety leadership while designated administrative compliance activities are managed through HR.

What You Bring

• Progressive safety leadership experience in construction, materials, transportation, or similarly complex, high-hazard, multi-site operations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead strategically, influence senior executives, develop teams, and build accountability across decentralized operations.
• Strong knowledge of occupational safety, serious injury prevention, operational risk controls, and regulatory requirements.
• Experience using data, management systems, and organizational change to deliver measurable, lasting improvements.
• Credibility with field employees and the judgment to address difficult safety and production decisions constructively.
• A bachelor's degree in a related discipline or equivalent relevant experience; willingness to travel regularly to operating locations.
• Experience in heavy civil construction, asphalt, aggregate, paving, traffic control, or vertically integrated operations-and a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or comparable credential-is especially valuable.

The Opportunity

This is an enterprise leadership opportunity for someone who can connect long-term strategy with real work in the field. Success will be measured not only by safety results, but by stronger planning, better decisions, more capable leaders, trustworthy information, and employees who know their concerns are heard and addressed.

The Benefits

• Competitive compensation aligned with industry standards
• Employer Paid Medical Plan with HRA contribution (eligibility requirements)
• Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
• Flex Spending Account (FSA)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Company-paid short and long-term disability coverage
• Paid parental leave
• Generous PTO and paid holidays
• Profit sharing
• Robust Walbec training and professional development program
• Ongoing career growth opportunities

Equal Opportunity and Accessibility

Walbec is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants without unlawful discrimination on the basis of any status protected by applicable federal, Wisconsin, or local law. Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants and employees in accordance with applicable law. Applicants may contact Human Resources to request an accommodation during the hiring process.