Assistant Director Environmental Health and Safety

Department:
Risk, Safety, and Resilience (RSR)

Classification:
Administrative Faculty

Job Category:
Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule:

Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location:

Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type:
On Site Required

Sponsorship Eligibility:
Not eligible for visa sponsorship

Salary:
Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check:
Yes

Motor Vehicle Records Check:
Yes

About the Department:

Risk, Safety, & Resilience (RSR) provides overall strategic oversight of the University's risk profile and management efforts, as well as provides leadership to sustain a safe and healthful environment for our community to learn, work, live, and thrive. RSR serves the university by managing enterprise and operational risk, health, safety, environmental, and emergency management programs in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders.

About the Position:

The Assistant Director supports safe and compliant research activities across multiple campuses, including Fairfax, Manassas, and Arlington. Responsibilities include leading shop and field research safety programs, coordinating inspection efforts, laboratory ventilation projects, developing and deploying training, supporting safety reviews for facility design and renovation projects, and assisting the Director of Environmental Health and Safety in short and long-term organizational planning and management.

This role requires strong collaboration with faculty, researchers, students, and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) colleagues to identify emerging risks and apply creative but practical safety solutions in diverse research environments, including, but not limited to, high containment laboratories, shop and fabrication spaces, and robotics research environments. The Assistant Director works closely with other safety program areas, including fire safety, occupational safety, biosafety, and risk management, to ensure consistent standards and a strong, proactive safety culture.

Responsibilities:

* Develops, implements, and manages research safety programs and services for university personnel across multiple campus locations for research work activities, including onsite presence as needed at all campus locations;

* Establishes policies and procedures to maintain compliance with regard to research safety;

* Reviews and updates written safety documents, including forms, training materials, manuals, SOPs, and guides;

* Drafts new procedures, guides, and manuals as needed to meet regulatory standards and/or best practices;

* Assists other safety officers with compliance activities as appropriate;

* Assigns and/or conducts document review for research safety documents and training programs in accordance with RSR's document management process;

* Maintains oversight on Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) safety training portfolio, including managing training development and review process with stakeholders and subject matter experts;

* Provides both on-site and written safety assessments to ensure compliance with safety standards;

* Oversees inspection of research and teaching spaces and reviews inspection reports, provides corrective actions, and follows up with stakeholders to ensure corrective actions are completed;

* Conducts safety reviews of proposed new construction and renovations in teaching and research shop spaces;

* Serves as a programmatic liaison between research and instructional shops and other EHS team members as needed;

* Maintains general knowledge and understanding of EHS requirements outside of direct responsibilities, and consults with EHS colleagues and subject matter experts when necessary;

* Collaborates with Risk Management and other EHS team members to coordinate efforts among overlapping program areas, such as fire safety, industrial hygiene, radiation and chemical safety, and travel-related risk management;

* Creates and implements goals, performance metrics, and project plans to support program management, in alignment with regulatory and external agency requirements;

* Serves as the primary point of contact for faculty, staff, and students regarding research and shop program inquiries, and acts as the main liaison with regulatory agencies on research shop safety matters;

* Serves on various university committees as assigned;

* Reviews EFROA submissions, incident reports, and accident and incident data, implementing corrective actions when necessary;

* Responsible for compiling and submitting data and narratives for the Annual Report;

* Collaborates with and/or supports other RSR functional units to complete projects and advance RSR programs;

* Ensures timely notification to appropriate parties regarding emergencies, urgent issues, high-risk and high-profile threat assessments, regulatory agency notifications, inspections (both announced and unannounced), and significant safety concerns. This includes situations involving principal investigators, contractors, students, employees, visitors, or emerging…