Head of Health and Safety

Help Build Europe's Hypersonic Capability

At Hypersonica
, we’re redefining what’s possible in European defence technology. We exist to deliver speed, resilience, and technological independence at a pace that sets a new standard. We are a small, elite team working on problems that matter, and solving them fast.

By joining Hypersonica
, you’re not stepping into a predefined role. You’re joining a talent dense environment where every individual shapes the direction of the company. Our philosophy is to hire a small number of exceptional people with broad, deep technical capability, strong judgement, and the ability to operate autonomously.

We hire for talent, not rigid boxes. This role represents a business need, but the way it evolves will be shaped by the individual. If you’ve achieved what others said was impossible, or you bring a unique combination of skills that doesn’t fit a traditional mould, we want to hear from you. The work you do here directly contributes to Europe’s technological independence.

• Build and lead Hypersonica’sUK health, safety, and environmental function across multiple R&D, manufacturing, assembly, test, and production sites.

• Define and implement the company-wide HSE management system from zero,establishing clear standards, ownership, governance, and operating procedures without importing unnecessary bureaucracy.

• Translate UK health and safety legislation into practical controls that engineers, technicians, contractors, and operators can follow in real working environments.

• Embed HSE requirements into facility design, equipment selection, commissioning, manufacturing processes, and operational planning before risks become expensive or irreversible.

• Lead workplace and process risk assessments across machinery, lifting operations, pressure systems, electrical work, hazardous substances, working at height, manual handling, laboratories, workshops, and production activity.

• Establish safe systems of work, permit-to-work controls, contractor management, emergency arrangements, incident reporting, and corrective-action processes across all UK locations.

• Build a consistent approach to machinery and equipment safety, including guarding, isolation, lockout/tagout, commissioning evidence, statutory inspection, and maintenance controls.

• Own incident and near-miss investigations,identifying root causes and driving corrective actions that permanently improve how the business operates.

• Define HSE requirements for new sites and facility changes, supporting design reviews, readiness gates, operational handover, and safe mobilisation.

• Set the minimum credible HSE controls for prototype and R&D work, balancing experimentation speed with disciplined risk management.

• Build andmaintainclear HSE metrics covering incidents, near misses, corrective actions, audits, training, contractor performance, and leading risk indicators.

• Develop training and competency programmes that are concise, relevant, and respected by technical teams rather than treated as compliance theatre.

• Lead engagement with regulators, insurers, auditors, landlords, contractors, and external specialists where required.

• Partner closely with engineering, manufacturing, facilities, quality, security, and operations leadership to surface constraints early and keep programmes moving.

• Work alongside the specialist responsible for energetic materials, ensuring explosives-related controls integrate cleanly into the wider UK HSE system without duplicating accountability.

• Build the future HSE team, defining which capabilities must sit internally and where specialist external support is justified.

• A senior HSE leader with significant experience building and running health and safety systems across complex manufacturing,…