Head of Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) in Gillingham

Rainham, Essex

Reports to: Operations Director

About Frive

Frive stands for Food to Thrive - we help busy people thrive not only because our meals are healthy, balanced and made with 100% whole foods/ natural ingredients, but also because they’re ready to heat and eat in minutes - saving you an hour a day, or up to 7 hours a week, for what matters most. We’re the UK’s highest-rated meal prep brand, with over 20 million meals delivered, and we’re just getting started. Now we’re looking for a new IT Operations Lead to keep everything running in our Rainham Factory. We work with people from all different backgrounds and communities and recognise our own biases. We strive to create a strong sense of belonging and believe we will be better equipped to achieve our goals by building a team that approaches problems from different angles, using different perspectives and experiences to solve problems. All qualified applicants will be considered and we have no regard for age, ethnicity, ability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation - the more the merrier, and together we can achieve greatness.

Impact

Frive is committed to operational excellence, regulatory integrity, and the highest standards of health, safety and environmental (HSE) performance. As the business continues to expand supported by the transition to a new state-of-the-art facility in FY26, Frive requires senior leadership capability to ensure safe, sustainable and compliant operations across all current and future sites. The Head of Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) is a senior leadership role responsible for developing, leading and implementing Frive’s enterprise-wide HSE strategy, ensuring the organisation maintains full compliance with UK legislation, industry standards, and customer expectations. This role acts as the senior competent person under UK health and safety law and provides strategic advice, governance oversight, and regulatory liaison on behalf of the organisation. The postholder will play a critical leadership role in shaping the HSE framework for the FY26 facility, ensuring safe design, commissioning and operational readiness.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Governance
  • Provide strategic leadership for all Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) matters across Frive, including multi-site operations and future facilities.
  • Develop, implement and maintain the company-wide HSE strategy, policy framework and management systems (HACCP, BRCGS, ISO 45001, ISO 14001).
  • Act as the organisation’s Senior Competent Person under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
  • Advise and influence the Executive Team and Senior Leadership Team through clear reporting, insight and recommendations.
• Compliance, Risk & Assurance
  • Ensure full compliance with all statutory, regulatory, insurance and customer audit requirements.
  • Lead enterprise-wide risk management, including risk registers, audit programmes, incident investigation and corrective actions.
  • Act as Frive’s primary HSE representative with regulators, auditors, insurers and relevant authorities.
  • Lead crisis management, emergency response and business continuity planning.
• FY26 New Facility & Capital Projects
  • Own all HSE planning and compliance for the FY26 new facility, including design review, commissioning, building safety and environmental permitting.
  • Embed HSE requirements into engineering, production and technical operations for all major projects.
• Safety Culture, Capability & Performance
  • Build and sustain a high-performing safety culture with clear accountability across leadership and operational teams.
  • Oversee HSE competency frameworks, training programmes and mandatory learning for employees and contractors.
  • Drive continuous improvement across occupational health, well-being and environmental performance.
• Environmental & ESG Leadership
  • Lead Frive’s environmental sustainability agenda, including energy efficiency, carbon reduction, waste and emissions strategy.
  • Support broader ESG commitments through data-driven monitoring and reporting.
• Financial Ownership
  • Own the HSE budget, resource planning and investment decisions to ensure effective and scalable HSE capability.

About You

• Strategic thinker with clear leadership presence.
• Resilient, decisive and confident in high-pressure environments.
• Able to challenge constructively and influence at all organisational levels.
• Demonstrates a proactive, prevention-led mindset.
• Values-driven, collaborative and committed to continuous improvement.

Staff Benefits

• Private Medical Insurance
• 25 days Holiday + Public
• Bonus Scheme
• A discount on our amazing food
• Hybrid working pattern
• Enhanced parental leave