Head of Safety Policy, Assurance and Compliance

The opportunity

Are you a passionate and accomplished people leader with an electricity network operational understanding? National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) is seeking a Head of Safety - Policy Assurance and Compliance to join our HSE team. In this role, you will be responsible for developing, communicating, and maintaining safety policies to ensure NGED's adherence to safety standards.

As the Head of Safety - Policy Assurance and Compliance, you will also be tasked with establishing an effective safety assurance and compliance capability within NGED. Your role will involve driving safety performance through engagement, reporting, and escalation of issues.

Reporting directly to the Director of SHE, you will collaborate closely with the Head of Safety - Strategy and Operational Advisory to ensure seamless delivery of safety outcomes and expectations across the business.

This is an exciting opportunity to transform our safety policies and to drive lasting changes for our NGED colleagues by implementing best practices in terms of assurance and compliance. 

As a hybrid working role, you will have the flexibility to work between home and the office. You can choose to be based in any of our license areas: East Midlands, West Midlands, South West, or South Wales.

If you are a motivated leader with a passion for safety, with an electricity network operational technical depth and the ability to develop and implement effective policies, we invite you to apply for this position. Join us in shaping a safer future at NGED.

What you'll be responsible for

• Develop and implement the new safety policy, assurance and compliance capability within NGED
• Recruit, develop and lead the team of safety policy and assurance specialists with a clear remit to deliver sustained improvement in safety performance. 
• Radically transforming how safety policies are implemented in NGED.
• Ensure appropriate governance and engagement processes are embedded to facilitate the development, monitoring and discharging of safety policies and standard techniques.  
• Embed and monitor effective processes to ensure that policies and regulations are up to date, and that the organization is operating in accordance with best practices
• Engagement with senior leaders in the business to drive safety performance through actions derived from insights emerging from a rigorous system of assurance and compliance reporting. 
• Oversee the Safety Management System, ensuring all appropriate actions are taken to maintain ISO 45001 accreditation.  
• Support and be a critical friend in the delivery of high-level safety investigations
• Develop and own the expertise to frequently assess, interpret and influence legislation (policy) changes and interventions by regulators and external audit findings
• Bringing industry wide safety best practice to support the implementation of safety management to NGED.
• Maintain positive engagement with key internal stakeholders across NGED, providing a collaborative approach to delivering safety initiatives. 
• Ensure that the delivery of critical safety related training is effective and in accordance with safety standards.  
• Maintain an effective interface with relevant safety industry regulators and network associations.

About you

• Experience in a Senior level Safety leadership or Operational role
• NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent NVQ in Occupational Health & Safety
• Membership of, IOSH (GRAD IOSH minimum)
• Effective leadership skills with the ability to develop a high performing team. Identifies and leverages individual strengths and potential within the team, creates cohesion across different functional areas.
• Having a relentless passion and drive for safety performance and culture. 
• Proven experience in leading organisational safety change programs 
• Detailed understanding and appreciation of operational safety risks and controls within the electricity distribution industry.  
• You will be an exceptional communicator, with the people skills to build effective relationships at all levels of business up to ExCo level and with external contacts – suppliers.
• Resilient with the confidence and courage to challenge behaviours and issues.
• Collaboration skills: have well-developed collaboration skills to ensure effective cooperation between all parties.
• Full driving licence. 

What we can offer you

A competitive salary between £78,000 - £88,000 dependent on experience.

Plus: 

• An electric company car or car cash allowance.
• Up to 20% Annual Bonus (based on personal and company performance)
• 28 days annual leave, plus eight statutory days in addition to the option to buy additional or sell holiday days every year.
• Private medical insurance.
• A generous contributory pension scheme - we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%
• Life Insurance 10 x base salary.
• Financial support to help cover the cost of professional membership subscriptions.
• Family care benefits including a back-up care service for when your usual care arrangements fall through (six paid days each year as standard with the option to purchase further days).
• Access to apps which support health, fitness, and wellbeing.
• Career development, ongoing training and support, career progression and plenty of opportunity to progress.