Director of Health and Safety Central Business Operations & Other Oxford, England, United Kingdom

Join us at the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), where we’re on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real-world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO₂
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you’ll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society.

Your Role

We are seeking an experienced Director of Health & Safety who will lead the continued development, implementation, and continuous improvement of EIT’s health, safety, and laboratory compliance strategy. The role requires a pragmatic, risk-based approach to health and safety that balances the risks and rewards inherent in advanced scientific research, applying industry-leading standards and professional judgement rather than purely prescriptive approaches. This role provides expertise, governance, and oversight across all operations, with a particular focus on laboratory-based operations, as well as supporting wider site activities. The postholder will work with scientists and operational teams across EIT to ensure that all laboratory and technical environments operate in robust compliance with UK legislation, guided by risk-based professional judgement, while driving a strong safety culture with a focus on continuous improvement and excellence.

Your Responsibilities

• Own the organisational health and safety strategy, ensuring it supports EIT’s scientific, operational and growth objectives, with particular focus on complex laboratory based and regulated environments.
• Define and oversee the organisation’s health and safety governance framework, including policies, standards and accountabilities, ensuring alignment with UK legislation and industry-leading and emerging best practice (e.g. HSE, COSHH, MHRA, COMAH).
• Develop excellent working relationships with research teams to utilise their expertise and experience to develop fit for purpose policies and procedures which appropriately govern laboratory research from a health & safety perspective.
• Set the organisation wide approach to health and safety risk management, overseeing frameworks for risk assessment, audit, inspection and incident investigation, and ensuring systemic risks are identified, prioritised and mitigated.
• Work with research teams to find solutions that demonstrate sensitivity to their primary objectives.
• Provide executive assurance of regulatory compliance while applying risk-based, industry-leading approaches that enable innovative research and translation without unnecessary constraint.
• Ensure the organisation consistently meets its obligations under all relevant health, safety and biosafety legislation and applicable GxP requirements whilst maintaining a flexible approach that adapts as research priorities evolve.
• Act as the organisation’s senior authority and subject-matter expert in safety, biosafety and chemical risk management, providing independent, expert advice to the Scientific Management Committee and Senior Leadership Team.
• Ensure the organisation maintains robust, future-proofed systems for the control of biological, chemical, radiological, ergonomic and physical hazards, appropriate to the scale and complexity of laboratory operations.
• Champion a strong safety culture at leadership, influencing senior stakeholders to drive accountability, visible leadership and continuous improvement in health and safety performance.
• Work in close partnership with the Head of Environmental, Health & Safety and research teams to align Quality, Facilities and Scientific Operations with the direction for operational delivery, ensuring health and safety principles are consistently embedded across all laboratories and operations.
• Provide strategic oversight of EHS learning and competency, ensuring role appropriate training frameworks are in place for employees, contractors and visitors.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support research initiatives, product development, and clinical trials.
• Drive innovative health & safety projects, leveraging advanced technologies and methodologies to enhance laboratory capabilities.
• Contribute at a senior level to sustainability and environmental management strategy, including waste management, chemical disposal, energy efficiency and environmental performance.

Essential Skills, Qualifications & Experience

• Demonstrated ability to apply risk-based, industry-leading health and safety practices in complex and regulated scientific environments (e.g. life sciences, biotech, research or similar), balancing regulatory compliance with the need to enable fast-moving and innovative research programmes.
• Proven experience engaging and influencing at national or system level with regulators, policymakers and government stakeholders (e.g. UK Government departments, arm’s-length bodies, regulators, industry forums or standards-setting organisations) to contribute expert input into the development and evolution of regulatory frameworks relevant to advanced scientific research, innovation and commercial translation.
• Experience establishing and using health and safety performance metrics, dashboards and benchmarking to inform senior decision-making, regulatory engagement and the enablement of complex scientific operations.
• Deep working knowledge of UK health and safety and biosafety legislation and guidance, including the Health and Safety at Work Act, COSHH, biological safety regulations, and relevant MHRA and GxP requirements, with the ability to interpret and apply these at both organisational and local levels.
• Strong leadership and influencing skills, with a track record of working collaboratively with senior operational leaders (including Heads of Function) and key stakeholders to align strategic intent with effective delivery and drive a positive health & safety culture which supports EIT Oxford’s objectives.
• Experience overseeing assurance activities, including audits, inspections, incident investigations and regulatory interactions, with the ability to drive systemic learning and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and lead high-performing teams, including mentoring senior professionals, shaping future capability and supporting organisational growth.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience in fast-growing or scaling organisations, with experience adapting health and safety frameworks to support organisational growth, change and increasing regulatory complexity.
• Direct experience of external regulatory inspections and enforcement activity, including interaction with the HSE, MHRA and other relevant regulators.
• Knowledge of environmental and sustainability frameworks, including waste management, chemical disposal and broader ESG or EHS integration.

Our Benefits

• Salary: £130,000 - £140,000 + travel allowance + bonus
• Enhanced holiday + options to buy additional days
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electric Car Scheme
• Childcare benefit

Working Together – What It Involves

You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. In certain cases, we can consider sponsorship, and this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate).