Head of Health & Safety

Position: Head of Health & Safety
Location: Cambridgeshire

Head of Health & Safety

Job Title:

Head of Health & Safety

Salary: £60,400 - £70,000 per annum

Location:

Cambridge, UK/Hybrid

Contract:

Permanent

Hours:

35 hours per week

The health and safety of our people is our number one priority — and we're looking for a leader who believes great safety culture is built through trust, collaboration and innovation.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

We are seeking an experienced leader to become our Head of Health & Safety – an important role driving our health & safety culture and ensuring our safety management system supports our people and our mission. This is your opportunity to drive a people‑centred safety strategy, develop and then lead a high‑performing team, and partner with colleagues in complementary teams around the world.

About the role

As Head of Health & Safety, you will be responsible for shaping and embedding a culture of safety, resilience and accountability across all areas and operations. As the organisation's principal health & safety advisor and competent person, you will provide authoritative assurance to senior leaders across the organisation, ensuring compliance with international standards whilst driving best practice.

You will be a trusted partner to senior leaders and global teams, advocating balanced and pragmatic health & safety practices. You will be part of our wider resilience functions, collaborating with wellbeing, workplace experience, UK property & safety, business continuity and travel teams.

As Head of Health & Safety, you will be part of an innovative culture that is always looking for new ways to solve the challenges we face.

Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include:

* Set and assure the global health & safety strategy, owning the framework, policies and governance aligned to ISO 45001, and ensuring compliance with evolving legislation worldwide.

* Embed a proactive, people‑centred safety culture, leading risk management, audits, incident investigation and emergency response while influencing stakeholders and partnering across resilience functions.

* Lead, develop and innovate, building a high‑performing global health & safety team, leveraging data, insight and emerging technologies to drive continuous improvement and inform senior decision‑making.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About You

You are an experienced and influential global health & safety leader with a strong background in office‑based, professional environments. You bring a blend of strategic insight and hands‑on operational capability, and are comfortable navigating complexity with resilience, pragmatism and sound judgement.

You lead with integrity and influence rather than mandate, using your strong communication and relationship‑building skills to embed effective, people‑centred health & safety management systems that enhance employee experience.

You are a trusted advisor who uses data, insight and KPIs to inform strategy and decision‑making, and you are passionate about developing balanced, realistic, inclusive and supportive management systems. You thrive in global, matrixed organisations and naturally embed our Global Operations ethos of Agility, Resilience and Efficiency into how you lead and deliver.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

* Chartered professional status (or working towards) and experience leading ISO 45001 implementation in a global context.

* A strong global mindset, with a proven ability to influence geographically dispersed teams, manage outsourced partners and collaborate effectively…