Director of health and safety

Job Description

Director of Health and Safety – Sanctuary

Location: Flexible, with travel to Worcester and operational sites across Sanctuary’s national portfolio as required

Sanctuary is seeking to appoint a Director of Health and Safety to lead the development, implementation and delivery of health and safety objectives across the Group.

This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for providing expert advice, assurance and oversight across a large and complex organisation. The successful candidate will act as Sanctuary’s senior professional adviser on health and safety risk, ensuring the organisation remains aligned with current legislation, regulatory requirements and recognised good practice.

The role will lead the Group Health and Safety team, working closely with operational colleagues across housing, care, maintenance, compliance, development and building safety. It will be central to ensuring health and safety risks are understood, effectively managed and supported by clear assurance, strong governance and a learning-led safety culture.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading the development and delivery of Sanctuary’s health and safety objectives, policies, procedures and risk management strategies.
• Providing independent assurance that health and safety risks are effectively controlled across the Group.
• Overseeing audit activity, incident management, root cause analysis and the embedding of organisational learning to drive a strong organisational safety culture
• Supporting operational teams across housing, care, maintenance and compliance, providing expert challenge, advice and support in a collaborative and constructive way.
• Keeping the organisation informed of current and developing health and safety legislation, guidance and good practice.
• Ensuring effective health and safety practices are in place across Sanctuary’s portfolio of development and in-house construction sites.
• Leading the internal Construction Design and Management function, ensuring risks linked to internally delivered projects are appropriately managed.
• Building strong relationships with senior stakeholders, operational leaders and specialist teams to support effective delivery and accountability.

We are looking for an experienced health and safety leader with strong technical knowledge, sound judgement and the ability to operate confidently at a strategic level. You will bring a comprehensive understanding of health and safety legislation and good practice, alongside experience of providing assurance, managing risk and influencing senior stakeholders.

Experience within housing, care, property, development, building safety or a similarly complex operating environment would be particularly valuable. You will need to be comfortable working across a national organisation, engaging with regional teams and travelling where required.

The successful candidate will be collaborative, credible and pragmatic, with the ability to translate technical detail into clear, actionable advice. They will be able to build trust with operational colleagues while providing appropriate challenge and maintaining clear accountability.

For more information please reach out to Luke Joy at Neemar Search lukejoy@neemarsearch.com.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Sanctuary is committed to building a diverse, inclusive and values-led organisation. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Our recruitment process is fair and accessible, ensuring equal opportunities for all candidates. As a Disability Confident employer, we’re happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the process, please let us know if there’s anything we can do to support you