Chief Safety Officer

Salary

$ - $

Directs the functions and activities within the Safety Department, which includes Transit System Safety, Occupational & Environmental Safety, Safety Programs & Culture, Construction Safety & Engineering and Safety Analytics & Regulatory Oversight. Leads Authority safety programs and objectives while promoting a culture of system safety among personnel providing the highest degree of workplace safety and safe transportation for the Authority and general riding public.

• Provides direction for all departmental services and activities related to transit system safety.
• Plans, organizes, directs, and coordinates the Authority's Bus and Rail System Safety and Investigations divisions.
• Administers management policies to ensure that employees within the department possess a comprehensive understanding of duties and responsibilities.
• Manages accident investigations and ensures proper accident investigation procedures are followed.
• Reviews and approves accident reports as submitted internally and externally to regulatory agencies.
• Oversees the Authority's safety program with outside contractors and agencies on all Capital Projects and construction activities.
• Manages safety policies and procedures and evaluates effectiveness of safety programs. Develops methods of optimizing transit safety within the Authority as well as directs the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan mandated by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Regional Transportation Authority (RTA)/Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA). Promotes a culture of the Authority's Safety Management System (SMS) to ensure CTA staff and the general riding public are provided safe transportation service.
  
  Responsible for initiating and implementing new safety initiatives and training programs throughout the Authority.
• Plans, directs, and coordinates, through subordinate level staff, strategic and tactical initiatives and department work plans. Assigns projects and programmatic areas of responsibility. Reviews and evaluates work methods and procedures. Meets with key staff to identify and resolve problems. Leads the formal, top-down, Authority-wide, data-driven approach to managing safety risk and assuring the effectiveness of safety risk mitigations.
• Oversees activities to verify adherence to safety measures that are established by regulation and by the Authority's programs, procedures and requirements. Identifies opportunities to improve the Authority safety programs, procedures, and requirements and collaborates with Authority management to lead safety improvement and injury prevention. Researches and makes recommendations on current trends and equipment related to transit safety to maintain and provide safety to the Authority's customers and employees.
  
  Participates and stays apprised of peer activities and benchmarks.
• Serves as subject matter expert for safety planning and reporting matters including acting as liaison for other internal departments as it relates to safety. Acts as subject matter expert regarding system safety topics as they relate to various Authority projects and issues.
• Manages division personnel.
  • Hires, trains, develops, monitors, and evaluates staff. Reviews and recommends personnel actions for approval. Facilitates manager hiring and related personnel changes, such as promotions, transfers, discharges, salary adjustments, etc.
  • Ensures ongoing professional development for all direct reports, including identifying pertinent training opportunities and encouraging active participation in safety professional societies.
  • Evaluates and monitors performance for compliance with policies and procedures.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

Reporting to this position are the following jobs:

• Vice President, Safety

• Ensuring safety on all CTA‑provided transportation in a large, fast‑paced metropolitan city.
• Dealing with people who have suffered severe injury/death during accident investigations.
• Dealing with stress due to “24‑hour on call” nature of the job.
• Keeping abreast of all CTA operations in connection with safety aspects.