Job Description

A Health and Safety Lead acts as the functional authority within Sellafield Ltd for specific Health & Safety (H&S) discipline (e.g. Conventional Health & Safety, Radiological Protection, Occupational Hygiene, Chemical Safety / COMAH, Fire Protection, Management of Contractors, Governance and Oversight, Regulatory Integration). They ensure that all matters related to the assigned discipline are effectively managed, with appropriate consideration of business risk, cost, and schedule impact.

The job holders are responsible for shaping company-wide policy, defining standards, setting improvement objectives, and providing assurance to the SHEQ Director, SHEQ Lead Team and H&S Duty Holders on company safety performance.

Principal Accountabilities

• Act as the senior authority for Conventional Safety and source of corporate knowledge, in order to provide specialist advice, guidance and services to the business.
• Shape company H&S strategy and policy, and provide the safety ‘rules and tools’ required to support the safe execution of the Sellafield Plan.
• Ensure that all relevant legislative requirements, standards and industry good practice are interpreted and incorporated within the Sellafield Ltd Management System.
• Define company improvement objectives and targets, and establish Key Performance Indicators to measure and monitor performance against those targets.
• Act as an Intelligent Customer for H&S; owning and overseeing outsourced work, ensuring specifications are clear, outputs meet regulatory and safety standards, and Sellafield Ltd retains accountability for safety-critical decisions.
• Ensure that effective governance arrangements are implemented across the enterprise and assure the business on performance against legislative and company standards and targets.
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting of significant H&S issues and ensure that effective corrective action plans and improvement programmes are developed and implemented to address gaps in regulatory compliance. Promote a culture of organisational learning to continually improve performance.
• Identify and provide ownership and active management of enterprise level H&S risks.
• Act as a conscience of the organisation, intervening as appropriate to challenge activities which threaten H&S standards and performance.
• Own and continuously enhance the company’s Health & Safety training programmes, ensuring alignment with regulatory and operational requirements. Define company nuclear baseline and SQEP requirements for key H&S roles.
• Coordinate and lead regulator interactions at an enterprise level, constructively engaging with regulators to agree appropriate and proportionate ways to improve legislative compliance by duty holders and minimise regulatory risk to the business. Represent Sellafield Ltd in consultation exercises and influence legislative development.
• Undertake external H&S benchmarking activities with other public and private sector organisations, work with relevant professional bodies, and participate in relevant national and international working groups to identify, influence and where appropriate adopt relevant good practice.

Note: The accountabilities outlined in this job description are not exhaustive. Job holders may be required to undertake other work-related activities commensurate with their grade and skills which are necessary to fulfil the job purpose, including deputising for line management when required.

Authorities and Dimensions

Authorities:
• Process Owner (PO) / Compliance Requirement Owner (CRO) for Conventional Safety elements of the Sellafield management system.
• Information Asset Owner for Health and Safety information assets.
• Intelligent Customer for work carried out by contractors or suppliers and technical contact for commercial contracts with external suppliers of health and safety services.
• Engage with relevant site and external stakeholders (including the Office of Nuclear Regulation, and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority), and represent the Value Stream on Conventional Safety matters.
• Authorise, delegate and approve expenditure of funds in line with the extent of delegated powers of financial authority, as referenced in SLM 4.04.01 “Delegated Powers of Financial Authority” and any supporting SHEQ arrangements.

Dimensions:
• Team sizes range from no direct line management up to c.12 individuals (Safety Specialists and Advisors).
• Financial scope ranges from no direct financial management up to c.£6M (£3M external spend) based on 2025-26 Performance Plan values.

H&S Leads will normally be expected to contribute to the Site Emergency Arrangements as a member of the site emergency duty team (e.g. Safety Services Controller, Conventional Safety Advisor, etc).

Essential Skills

• Extensive H&S Leadership Experience: Demonstrated H&S leadership in high-hazard industries, combining broad H&S management expertise with a deep specialism in one or more disciplines.
• Academic and Professional Qualifications:
– Degree-qualified in a STEM discipline or equivalent experience.
– Holds advanced H&S qualifications (e.g. Level 6 H&S qualification in specialist discipline) and professional recognition (e.g. Chartered membership / Fellowship of a relevant professional body g. IOSH, SRP, Institute of Fire Safety Managers).
• Operational Credibility:
– Significant experience in front-line H&S or operational leadership positions, enabling confident engagement and challenge at all levels of the organisation and providing the credibility required act with authority at a site level.
• Strategic and Systems Thinking:
– Ability to connect discipline-specific knowledge to broader business strategy.
– Able to align H&S priorities with long-term organisational goals and enterprise risk management.
• Policy and Governance Expertise:
– Deep understanding of H&S legislation, regulatory expectations, and internal governance.
– Experience in shaping policy, setting standards, and assuring compliance across complex organisations.
• Influencing and Stakeholder Engagement:
– Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven ability to influence senior leaders (up to Director level), build coalitions, and drive cultural change.
• Regulatory and External Engagement:
– Experience leading enterprise-level interactions with regulators and external stakeholders, and representing Sellafield Ltd in national and international forums.
• Industry Collaboration and Benchmarking:
– Experience in dealing with equivalent leads across the nuclear and related high hazard industries to share learning, adopt best practice, and promote industry-wide alignment where appropriate.
• Financial and Resource Management:
– Experience managing budgets, capital projects, or external service contracts, with an understanding of cost-benefit analysis in the context of H&S investment.

Additional Information

• Open VN
• Number of Vacancies: 1
• Contact/s: Glyn Thomas

The interviews for this vacancy are expected to take place w/c 17th August 2026.

ASW’s may have the right to apply for internal Sellafield Ltd vacancies. Please note if you are an Agency Supplied Worker you are required to attach evidence of all qualifications obtained to support your application. We require a minimum of A*-C (9-4) GCSE in English Language, Maths & Science/IT or equivalent / higher qualification.

If you choose to apply for this role and your application is shortlisted by the hiring manager, you will be invited to a competency based interview. In the interview, you will be assessed against the below competencies:

Behavioural:
Commitment to standards 3.1.5
Drive for results 3.3.1
Effective communications 3.3.2

Technical:
Management of Safety 31.1.1
Management and Interpretation of regulatory requirements 315_9

Please see link to the competency framework for further information:
https://slportal.ssa-intra.net/pub/SC001/00027/Competency%20Framework/Forms/AllItems.aspx

If your technical competency is not in the above framework, please refer to the profession’s share point page for further information.

During the interview, you will also be expected to give a 10 minute presentation on:
‘Explore – using your experience – how SL’s safety performance impacts on mission delivery.’

This presentation should be sent to recruitment@sellafieldcloud.co.uk via email at least two working days before your interview. You should also take four paper copies of your presentation to your interview in case of any IT issues on the day.

Sellafield Ltd are recognised as a Disability Confident Employer (Level 3). Disability Confident employers offer an interview to disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for a vacancy. Sellafield Ltd define the minimum criteria as the ‘essential skills’ which are listed on the vacancy notice. Whilst completing your application form, you will be able to indicate if you wish to be considered under the disability confident scheme. If you would prefer to discuss this directly with us, please contact the GBS Recruitment team on recruitment@sellafieldcloud.co.uk

Please ensure that you save a copy of this advert for future reference if you make an application for this role.

The closing date for this vacancy is Monday 27th July 2026.