Senior Head of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality- ML146

Job summary

The Senior Head of SHEQ is a senior leadership role responsible for developing, implementing and continuously improving Metroline London’s Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) strategy, governance framework, management systems and performance.

Reporting directly to the CEO, the role provides strategic advice and assurance to the Executive Team and Board, providing clear, evidence-based challenge and assurance on SHEQ risks, controls, culture and performance and ensuring SHEQ performance supports operational excellence, legal compliance, risk management and sustainable business growth.

The role operates across a large, complex, unionised, safety critical bus operation of approximately 5,000 colleagues, with accountability for enabling safe, reliable and legally compliant services for employees, customers, contractors and the wider public.

A key focus of the role is advancing London Metroline’s SHEQ approach by embedding modern safety science principles, organisational learning, Restorative Just Culture and continuous improvement.

The postholder will work closely with operational leaders, employees, Trade Union representatives, regulators and external stakeholders to create a resilient, learning focused and high performing organisation.

• Main Responsibilities
• Strategic Leadership
• Develop and deliver the SHEQ strategy, objectives and improvement plans aligned to Metroline London business priorities and the CDG UK&I SHEQ strategy.
• Act as principal adviser to the CEO and Executive Team on all SHEQ, risk and compliance matters.
• Lead the transition from a compliance driven approach to a learning organisation model founded on HOP, Safety II and operational resilience principles.
• Support business growth, tender submissions, contract mobilisation and strategic projects.

Prepare and present SHEQ performance reports, risk management registers and strategic recommendations at Executive level.

Ensure continued certification to all ISO standards held.

• Organisational Learning and Culture
• Champion principles by recognising that system conditions and organisational factors influence human performance.
• Implement and embed Restorative Just Culture practices across the organisation.
• Lead the adoption of Learning Teams and other operational learning methodologies.
• Promote learning from both successful operations and incidents to improve resilience and performance.
• Develop systems to capture, analyse and share lessons learned across the business.
• Foster psychologically safe environments where employees are encouraged to raise concerns and contribute ideas for improvement without fear of retribution.
• Measure and report on learning effectiveness, cultural maturity and employee engagement.
• Governance, Risk and Compliance
• Ensure compliance with all applicable health and safety, fire, environmental, transport safety, quality and CCTV requirements.
• Maintain SHEQ policies, standards and integrated management systems.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments, ensuring organisational compliance.
• Lead governance reviews, assurance activities and compliance programmes.
• Establish and maintain effective risk management frameworks across the organisation in line with CDG group requirements.
• Lead the quality agenda by improving the consistency, effectiveness and reliability of key business processes, ensuring quality insights support operational performance and customer outcomes
• Operational Assurance and Performance
• Oversee audits, inspections, assurance reviews and management system assessments.
• Ensure effective risk assessment processes, safe systems of work, emergency planning and business continuity arrangements.
• Lead incident investigation and organisational learning processes for safety, environmental and operational events.
• Develop data-led SHEQ insight that identifies emerging risks, early warning indicators, critical control effectiveness and drive continuous improvement through performance analysis, trend review and evidence-based decision making.
• Develop meaningful performance indicators that measure compliance, learning and culture effectiveness.
• Ensure environmental and safety risks linked to fleet decarbonisation, charging infrastructure and depot change are properly governed
• SHEQ and Sustainability Leadership
• Provide leadership and direction for SHEQ, Transport Safety and CCTV functions.
• Work collaboratively with Operations and Engineering teams to improve operational safety performance.
• Ensure effective management of driver, engineering, workplace and contractor safety.
• Lead environmental and sustainability programmes, ensuring compliance with environmental legislation and corporate requirements.
• Oversee environmental monitoring relating to emissions, waste, pollution prevention, noise and resource efficiency.
• Maintain ISO certifications and other relevant accreditations.
• Promote quality management and operational excellence through continuous improvement and best practice.
• People Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement
• Lead, coach and develop SHEQ teams, ensuring capability, succession planning and high performance.
• Build leadership capability across the organisation through coaching and mentoring.
• Develop positive relationships with regulators, enforcement agencies, local authorities, emergency services, contractors and industry bodies.
• Represent the business confidently with clients, transport authorities, regulators, enforcement bodies and external auditors, including during investigations, audits, tenders and performance reviews
• Work collaboratively with Trade Unions, employee forums and safety committees.
• Key Accountabilities

The postholder will be accountable for

• Delivery of Metroline London’s SHEQ strategy.
• Compliance with legal, regulatory and corporate requirements.
• Achievement and maintenance of ISO certifications and management system standards.
• Reduction in incident frequency, severity and recurrence.
• Improvement in organisational culture, organisational learning and workforce engagement.
• Effective management of organisational risk and assurance programmes.
• Development of competent and high performing SHEQ teams.
• Enhanced operational resilience and business performance through continuous improvement.
• (This list is not exhaustive)

Essential Criteria

• NEBOSH Diploma, NVQ Level 6 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, or equivalent.
• Recognised Environmental qualification.
• Significant senior leadership experience within a complex operational environment.
• Proven track record of developing and delivering SHEQ strategies and improvement programmes.
• Experience leading organisational culture change and improvement initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of UK health and safety, environmental and employment legislation.
• Significant experience engaging with Executive Teams, Boards and regulatory bodies.

Desirable Qualifications and Experience

• ISO Lead Auditor qualification.
• Formal training in HOP, Safety II, Learning Reviews, Resilience Engineering or related disciplines.
• Experience implementing a Restorative Just Culture and organisational learning programmes.
• Experience within transport, engineering, infrastructure or other safety critical sectors.
• Experience leading major business transformation programmes.
• Experience in developing psychologically safe workplaces.
• Critical risk and control programme experience.
• Competencies & Skills

Strategic thinking and vision.

Executive influence and communication.

Systems thinking and organisational learning.

Cultural transformation and change leadership.

Risk management and governance.

Commercial awareness.

Stakeholder engagement and relationship management.

Coaching, mentoring and people development.

Sound judgement, resilience and accountability.

Technical Competencies

SHEQ management systems.

Learning organisation models founded on HOP, Safety II and operational resilience principles.

Organisational culture development.

Learning Teams and organisational learning methodologies.

Environmental and sustainability management.

Quality management and ISO standards.

Incident investigation and learning reviews.

Risk management/assessment and assurance.

Transport safety management.

Data analysis and performance reporting.