Health and Safety Senior Manager

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That's why we're looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you. Finance, Governance and Assurance directorate is at the heart of engaging and inspiring Cancer Research UK's people, ensuring we actively manage and assure our risks and are effective and efficient in all we do. Our Health & Safety team is crucial to this mission by creating a safe and healthy environment for our staff and volunteers. With a presence spanning retail stores, distribution hubs, scientific research institutes (laboratories), a head office and multiple events involving the public and volunteers across the UK, the team provides wide-ranging and expert safety, health and welfare support. This involves giving practical advice and guidance to colleagues across the organisation to ensure compliance with regulations and good practices and working in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders to help identify, manage and assure risks. We're searching for a Senior Health & Safety Manager to lead Cancer Research UK's Health, Safety & Welfare Strategy, ensuring a safe, compliant, and supportive environment that protects our people and all those impacted by our work from health and safety risks. In this leadership role, you'll be the driving force behind our health and safety culture, acting as our designated 'competent person' responsible for ensuring our safety, health, and welfare framework is appropriate and effective for Cancer Research UK's diverse range of environments. From shaping and overseeing risk management and continuous improvements to leading a high-performing team and partnering with and influencing stakeholders and senior leaders to ensure legal compliance and operational excellence, you'll play a critical role in embedding safety into everything we do. If you're a NEBOSH Diploma-qualified Health & Safety Manager with experience leading safe and compliant operations in line with UK legislation and best practices within large, complex, and hybrid organisations (both onsite and remote-based), we would love for you to join our mission. What will I be doing?

• Leading, owning, managing, and governing Cancer Research UK's organisation-wide Health, Safety & Welfare Strategy & Framework, reviewing as appropriate to ensure they are fit for now and the future.
• Building and maintaining a shared understanding and ownership of safety practices across all activities and directorates, ensuring a compliant safety culture is embedded and understood at every level, from shops and offices to events and laboratories.
• Acting as Cancer Research UK's designated 'competent person' under the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999, providing expert guidance, leadership, and support to ensure legal compliance and a safe working environment.
• Developing, maintaining, and monitoring the health & safety management system to ensure it remains effective and fit for purpose for the team, function, and wider organisation.
• This includes overseeing safe systems of work, risk assessments, policies, training, communications, monitoring, assurance, and reporting; ensuring compliance with all relevant, current, and emerging health & safety legislation, regulations, and best practices.
• Leading, developing, and motivating the Health & Safety team of 3-4 direct reports, helping them to:
• Maintain collaborative stakeholder relationships across the charity.
• Deliver continuous improvements in health and safety practices, and
• drive a culture where health, safety, and welfare are considered in all activities.
• Developing and delivering an annual operating plan, including:
• Ongoing hazard and risk identification.
• Supplier due diligence and management.
• End-to-end accident and incident management and monitoring.
• Budget management.
• Providing management information, reporting, and analysis.
• Running health and safety forums and committees.
• Providing professional advice, guidance, and support, partnering with key internal stakeholders and teams (including Risk, Property, Inclusion & Wellbeing, and Safeguarding), and external third parties (such as enforcement agencies).
• Exercising sound judgment in health, safety, and welfare matters-making timely decisions, escalating issues when necessary, and providing strategic recommendations to senior leadership to support operational excellence and regulatory compliance.
• Providing relevant management information, including data analysis, trends, and actions to address risks and issues through verbal and written reports to the Head of Assurance and other stakeholders (e.g., Executive Board and Trustees as required).
• Undertaking other tasks as necessary to contribute to the wider success of the Health & Safety team, the wider Assurance department, and Cancer Research UK's strategy.
  
  NEBOSH Diploma level+ qualified Health & Safety Manager who has led on health and safety management in large, complex, and hybrid organisations (both onsite and remote-based).
• Expert knowledge of UK Health & Safety legislation, requirements, and best practices with experience applying this knowledge across a diverse range of environments.
• Has successfully built credible and collaborative cross-functional stakeholder and senior leadership relationships with demonstrable interpersonal, influencing, and negotiating skills with a proven ability to communicate effectively with a wide-ranging audience.
• Demonstrates strong prioritisation and organisation skills, with a track record of working independently with minimal supervision, managing multiple priorities and projects from initiation to completion, and consistently meeting deadlines while delivering high-quality outcomes.
• A proactive approach to problem-solving with a continuous improvement mindset for identifying and implementing continuous improvements and interventions, encouraging innovation, promoting best practices, and challenging conventional organisational approaches and thinking.
• Some experience in either direct line or matrix management, or supporting more junior members of a team, with the ability to lead, empower, motivate, and coach others and drive high performance.
• Ability to work as part of a team and senior leadership team, using wider thinking and contributing towards the team's collective success.
• Demonstrable leadership skills with experience influencing and supporting stakeholders and teams in driving change and health and safety compliance.
• Able to occasionally travel across the UK on an ad-hoc basis as necessary., We're looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.