WHAT WE NEED

The Director of Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) & Sustainability will lead the development and execution of a diverse strategy aimed at enhancing operational safety, managing physical security, and acting as the senior technical authority for complex environmental compliance and corporate sustainability. This position requires a hands-on, Design for Scale results-driven individual capable of managing large-scale initiatives, coordinating cross-functional teams, and ensuring the successful implementation of programs that directly impact incident rate reduction, environmental regulatory compliance, asset protection, carbon footprint reduction, and long-term business growth.

The Director of EHS & Sustainability will oversee a multi-tiered EHS department, providing strategic direction, mentorship, and capacity-building to the Health & Safety, Environmental, and Sustainability teams with matrixed reporting structures. The Director must possess deep technical competencies navigating OSHA, Cal OSHA, Federal EPA, USDOT, CalEPA, NYSDEC, NJDEP regulations, alongside emerging sustainability laws and local municipal ordinances, using this expertise to guide their team through complex compliance landscapes.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Leadership & Team Development:

• Lead, mentor, and develop an enterprise EHS organization encompassing Health & Safety, Environmental Compliance, and Sustainability, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Coach and develop site EHS leaders through training, succession planning, cross-training, and professional development initiatives.
• Promote a safety-first and environmentally responsible culture across the organization.
• Provide functional leadership, governance, and technical oversight to site EHS Managers while partnering with Plant Managers to ensure consistent execution of enterprise EHS standards.

Health & Safety Strategy & Execution:

• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of the enterprise EHS Management System, including policies, standards, training, auditing, corrective actions, and performance metrics.
• Develop and execute enterprise safety, compliance, physical security, crisis management, workplace violence prevention, and emergency response programs.
• Drive initiatives to reduce TRIR, improve behavioral safety, enhance risk reduction, and optimize operational performance across multiple sites.
• Oversee physical security programs, facility access controls, security vendors, and enterprise risk mitigation efforts.
• Partner with Operations to identify safety improvements that increase productivity, reduce downtime, and ensure regulatory compliance.

Environmental Compliance:

• Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for environmental compliance across multiple manufacturing locations.
• Oversee the Environmental Management System (EMS), ensuring standardized processes, continuous improvement, and audit readiness.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local environmental regulations, permits, inspections, reporting requirements, and regulatory agencies.
• Provide enterprise oversight for environmental programs including air permitting, wastewater, hazardous waste, SPCC, SWPPP, SARA reporting, DOT transportation compliance, and environmental auditing.
• Support environmental due diligence for acquisitions, capital projects, and facility expansions by assessing environmental risks, permit requirements, and potential liabilities.

WHAT YOU WILL DO CONT'D

Sustainability:

• Oversee the continuous advancement of the company’s sustainability program, partnering with key customers and internal stakeholders to support business objectives to reduce environmental impacts and strengthen sustainability performance by establishing the business case and securing budget approvals.  
• Ensure the sustainability function maintains audit-ready compliance with emerging sustainability-related federal, state, and local regulations, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), climate risk, greenhouse gas emissions reporting for customer demands and environmental regulatory reporting, and other evolving environmental disclosure requirements.
• Provide direction for the company’s sustainability strategy including priorities, performance metrics, and long-term objectives, while ensuring effective execution of sustainability initiatives, including greenhouse gas inventory management and reporting for Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions, energy management, emissions reduction, waste minimization, and resource conservation.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Management:

• Collaborate with plant leadership and peers, operations, QA, finance, and other departments to align EHS and sustainability initiatives with business priorities and manufacturing needs.
• Provide regular updates to senior leadership and stakeholders on the status of safety, security, environmental, and sustainability programs, including progress reports, incident rate tracking, and risk assessments.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with external regulatory agencies, law enforcement, key customer sustainability contacts, and suppliers.

Budgeting, Resource Allocation & Innovation:

• Oversee the budgeting process for EHS & Sustainability capital projects, security upgrades, environmental initiatives, and sustainability initiatives, ensuring costs are managed effectively.
• Allocate resources efficiently to meet regulatory deadlines and optimize the use of EHS & Sustainability staff.
• Drive innovation by identifying new technologies and processes that can enhance manufacturing safety, ensure environmental compliance, sustainability improvements, reduce costs, and support business growth.
• Establish and manage enterprise EHS and Sustainability performance metrics and dashboards utilizing both leading and lagging indicators to drive accountability and continuous improvement.

WHAT YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

• Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Science, Engineering, or a related scientific discipline (such as Microbiology or Chemistry).
  • Master's degree or advanced professional EHS certifications (e.g., CSP, CIH, CHMM)
• Ten (10)+ years of experience in EHS leadership roles, with a strong, verifiable emphasis on environmental engineering and multi-state compliance.
• Three (3)+ years of experience in multi-site/geography management.
• Proven experience managing managers and leading a multi-tiered team, with a demonstrated ability to coach, mentor, and develop technical talent.
• Deep technical expertise in interpreting and applying regulations from the Federal EPA, USDOT, CalEPA, NYSDEC, and NJDEP, as well as local California ordinances (e.g., Riverside County/Corona).
• Demonstrated success in driving incident rate reduction, process optimization, and cost-reduction initiatives in a manufacturing environment.
• Familiarity with industry standards, safety, food safety, regulations, sustainability topics and environmental compliance requirements.
• Food and Beverage Manufacturing experience is a Plus.
• Ability to travel up to 40% of the time to support enterprise safety needs. 

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