Health & Safety Lead in Oxford

Inspect it. Secure it. Trust it with lives! Advance your career in a role where industrial safety expertise meets real-world, life-saving impact. As a Health & Safety Lead within our Seat Test Department at Chalgrove, you will join a highly specialised, bespoke team of 24 engineering and quality experts. This is a hands-on departmental position where you are physically involved with live testing and site activities. From the engineering lab to the active test ranges, your risk assessment precision directly validates cutting-edge aerospace technology built to perform in the most extreme, safety-critical environments.

Direct Impact, Global Scale. Life-Saving Mission. At Martin-Baker, the work we do matters. We design, manufacture and support life-saving equipment used by aircrew around the world. Our products operate in demanding environments, where quality, reliability and attention to detail are critical. We’re proud of our long history in aerospace and defence, also focused on the future. Joining Martin-Baker means becoming part of a business with a clear purpose, strong engineering capability and a long-term commitment to its people, products and customers. Whether you work in engineering, operations, commercial, finance, supply chain or support functions, your contribution helps deliver equipment that protects lives. It is challenging work, but it is also meaningful, and with over 7,700 lives saved, it gives our people the opportunity to be part of something with real impact.

The Opportunity: Reporting directly to the Seat Test Manager, you will act as a vital line of defence to ensure absolute compliance across a fascinating array of technical activities. This is a dedicated, hands-on department role rather than a desk-based corporate function. You will collaborate closely with degree-qualified test engineers, instrumentation specialists, mechanical technicians, and technical photographers to understand complex processes and evaluate risk safely. While the role focuses heavily on departmental execution, you will maintain a dotted reporting line to Martin-Baker's central Health & Safety Manager, allowing you to directly influence the wider company safety strategy.

What You’ll Do:

• Dynamic Risk Assessment: Review and prepare comprehensive risk assessments for approximately one complex engineering test each week, alongside managing the broader department database (covering machining, manual handling, crane lifting, and test mannequin preparation).
• Regulatory Compliance: Maintain and update departmental Health & Safety documentation, safe systems of work (SSOW), and legislative compliance registers in line with ISO 45001 standards.
• Equipment Verification: Oversee work equipment compliance registers, ensuring all statutory examinations and maintenance (PUWER, LOLER, COSHH, and PSSR) are meticulously tracked and executed.
• Occupational Health Integration: Manage occupational health activities resulting from risk assessments, including coordinating health surveillance, managing staff testing, and executing action plans.
• Incident Investigation: Formally record, investigate, and audit all department accidents, incidents, and near-misses using robust Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to deliver corrective actions.
• Training & Mentorship: Deliver toolbox talks, manage the departmental training competency matrix, and host monthly health and safety meetings to drive safety awareness.

What We’re Looking For:

• Sector Baseline: Practical health and safety experience gained within a manufacturing, research and development (R&D), or technical engineering environment.
• Risk Assessment Competence: Proven ability to write clear, technically accurate risk assessments and SSOW framed to meet stringent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expectations.
• Technical Frameworks: Familiarity or practical exposure to safety-critical environments involving working at height, confined spaces, lifting plans, test ranges, COSHH, or PUWER frameworks.
• Qualifications: A NEBOSH General Certificate is highly preferred. Professional membership such as Graduate Member of IOSH (Grad IOSH) is highly beneficial, as are dedicated risk assessment qualifications.
• The Mindset: A proactive, curious self-starter with a strong mechanical interest or understanding (e.g., an interest in aviation or automotive systems) who is eager to learn complicated systems independently.

Share and demonstrate the Martin-Baker values. Our Values: At Martin-Baker, we value professionalism, understanding, teamwork, humility, accountability and integrity. We look for people who take pride in their work, collaborate openly and act with care because the work we do matters.

What We Offer:

• Excellent pension package with strong employer support Martin-Baker contributes 9% of your salary (non-contributory to the employee), with further employer contributions that grow as you increase your own.
• Life Assurance
• Lunchtime finish on a Friday
• Personalised training and development plan
• Healthcare plan
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Opportunity to purchase additional annual leave
• Martin-Baker + (retail discounts platform)
• Occupational Health team
• Workplace Nursery Benefit scheme
• Cycle to work scheme

How to Apply / Your Interview Journey: Please submit your CV and should you wish, a brief covering letter outlining your suitability, including any relevant experience, skills and expertise you can bring to the role. Hit 'Apply Now.' After submitting your application, your details will be reviewed, and the recruitment team will be in touch.

Stage 1 (Formal Interview): A structured, formal on-site interview at our facility with the Seat Test Manager and Martin-Baker's central Health & Safety Manager to review your technical experience.

Stage 2 (Team Meeting): A less formal follow-up meeting with key members of the cross-functional Seat Test team to evaluate cultural fit, departmental synergy, and communication approach.

We believe in equal opportunity, committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone is respected. We want you to be able to do your best work. Martin-Baker is a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant, showing our support and commitment to our Armed Forces and their families, proudly supporting those who serve. This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government's Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). The role also involves access to information governed by U.S. Export Control Laws (including ITAR); therefore, all applicants must satisfy ITAR eligibility requirements.