Sr Director, HSSE Excellence

Sr Director, HSSE Excellence

RWE Americas, LLC
To start as soon as possible, full time, permanent

Functional area:

Health, Safety & Environment
Remuneration:
Exempt

The Sr Director, HSSE Excellence leads governance, management systems, and performance excellence across RWE Americas. This role aligns HSSE strategies, reporting, and risk frameworks with business objectives, ESG commitments, and regulatory requirements while driving continuous improvement, compliance, and operational effectiveness. The position promotes a culture of safety, accountability, and data‑driven decision‑making to achieve key HSSE goals.

• Lead a team of Directors and Managers to deliver departmental and company KPIs, strategic governance initiatives, and HSSE Management System maturity goals
• Develop and execute the strategic roadmap for HSSE Management Systems, governance practices, performance tracking, and continuous improvement across the organization
• Align HSSE reporting, risk classification frameworks, audit protocols, and performance metrics with business objectives, external requirements (e.g., ESG, regulatory), and enterprise‑wide standards
• Interface with legal, operations, finance, executive leadership, and cross‑functional stakeholders to guide HSSE performance reporting, risk management, and strategic decision‑making
• Serve as the governance lead for internal and external audits, board‑level reporting cycles, third‑party assessments, and certification readiness efforts
• Approve governance enhancements, system standardizations, audit processes, digital tool adoptions, and process improvements to ensure scalability and risk integration
• Drive enterprise‑wide HSSE training programs, leadership development, and cultural initiatives within the governance function to build capability and accountability
• Represent HSSE governance at investor meetings, in ESG disclosures, industry forums, and enterprise data architecture planning; evaluate emerging governance technologies and recommend adoption pathways

• Bachelor’s degree in Safety Management, Engineering or relevant area of study or equivalent experience;
  Master’s degree preferred
• Minimum 14 years’ executive safety management experience in a multi-national, globally-matrixed organization
• Minimum 5 years’ experience leading a team and/or business function
• Renewables industry experience a plus but not required
• Designs long‑term governance architecture and guides integration across functions and business units
• Ability to lead, inspire, manage and delegate effectively across departments, driving enterprise‑wide system maturity and accountability
• Ability to develop themselves and their people to their full potential
• Self-motivated to drive the business, increase performance and deliver results
• Ability to solve enterprise‑wide governance scalability and consistency challenges, anticipating future‑state system needs
• Able to push boundaries to achieve goals, utilizing resources in a matrix organization, serving as a strategic advisor on risk performance
• Ability to lead teams through change management
• Ability to collaborate in cross‑functional teams
• Ability to effectively communicate internally and externally within the chain of command and within their level of authority
• Open mindset:
  Self-reflective, able to learn and act on feedback
• Hands‑on mentality:
  Actively involving themselves, pragmatic and fact‑focused attitude
• Deep expertise in HSSE and asset‑intense business (Construction, Operations)
• Understanding of regulatory framework in different jurisdictions/markets
• Understanding of regulatory decision-making procedures
• Understanding of business model, regulatory and technical developments as well as potential implications
• Onshore Wind & PV Construction & Operations understanding
• Flexibility and willingness to travel domestically as needed to effectively perform the job
• This position is an office-based role with some travel and visits to other RWE America’s office and field locations
• Must be able to sit, walk, or stand for long durations of time

The annual base salary range for this position in Illinois is $190,000 - $245,000. The listed salary range…