Head of EH&S

Kelly® Science & Clinical is seeking a Head of Environmental Health and Safety opportunity with one of our clients, a technology start-up in the San Francisco Bay Area market that builds AI scientists and autonomous physical laboratories . If you are driven by the prospect of translating cutting-edge scientific discoveries into tangible advancements and are poised to advance your career, join us as we pioneer progress in the biotechnology industry.

Onsite in the San Francisco Bay Area

Head of EH&S

,000/year

Our client is a rapidly growing, venture-backed company working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the physical sciences. Its team is developing AI-driven approaches to accelerate scientific discovery, with a focus on turning computational insight into experimentally verified results across materials, energy, and related fields.

The company is building an ambitious research and laboratory operation where advanced models, automated systems, and hands‑on experimentation work together. It’s a chance to help shape how scientific research is conducted-and how it can be done safely—as the organization scales.

We’re seeking an experienced EHS leader to make safety a foundational part of advanced, increasingly automated scientific research.

The company operates a high-throughput materials science laboratory involving hazardous chemistries, high-pressure and high-temperature processes, air-sensitive synthesis, toxic-gas risks, and a growing range of thin-film deposition technologies, including PVD and PLD. Experiments increasingly run overnight and with greater automation, and the laboratory’s capabilities-and risk profile-are evolving quickly.

You’ll build and lead the EHS and process-safety systems that enable this work. That includes shaping permitting strategy, strengthening life-safety and machine-safety systems, assessing new processes, and establishing operational readiness for complex and autonomous experiments. You’ll also work with AI and engineering teams to help bring safety considerations into experimental planning and execution.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can move comfortably between regulatory strategy, detailed hazard analysis, facility design, and day-to-day partnership with scientists and engineers.

• Lead the site EHS function, providing practical operational support while building a strong safety and environmental culture.
• Develop and continuously improve EHS programs that meet applicable regulatory requirements and support the company’s evolving research and operational goals.
• Build a unified digital EHS platform for inspections, training records, incident reporting, compliance tracking, KPIs, corrective actions, and audit workflows.
• Own environmental, hazardous-materials, and fire-safety permitting with local, state, and federal agencies. This includes coordinating with fire departments and CUPAs, managing CERS submissions, air permitting, and hazardous-waste vendors.
• Maintain chemical inventories, SDS records, and hazard-labeling systems, including controls for permitted maximum allowable quantities as new processes and materials are introduced.
• Lead Haz Com and SDS training for laboratory staff, including teams supporting night-shift and autonomous overnight operations.
• Coordinate EHS inspections and maintain required documentation and postings across existing and new laboratory spaces.
• Design and review life-safety and process-safety systems, including fire suppression, emergency-stop networks, toxic-gas detection, interlocks, alarm interfaces, and emissions and waste-abatement systems.
• Lead and document HAZOPs, PHAs, FMEAs, and other risk assessments for new…