Health & Safety Support Specialist

Join the Harris Federation’s central team and play a key role in ensuring compliance and promoting a positive safety culture across our academies and shared services departments. This early-career role offers progression into a Health & Safety Advisory role and involves coordinating audits, tracking actions, training the training programme, and providing first-line guidance to staff. You’ll maintain accurate data, support operational teams, and help streamline processes to keep our schools safe and compliant.

If you’re highly organised, detail-oriented, and interested in a career in health and safety, this is an excellent opportunity to develop your career within one of the UK’s leading education charities.

Your job responsibilities will include:

• Compliance Coordination & Tracking
  • Log and track actions arising from Health & Safety audits, Fire Risk Assessments, near miss reports, inspections, and incident investigations—maintaining clear audit trail and status dashboards.
  • Chase and elevate overdue actions with respective academies and departments in line with agreed SLAs (e.g., 10 working days for near miss review).
  • Maintain and update the central trackers and registers (SharePoint/Raw Data Sheets / RIDDOR Tracker or equivalent), ensuring data quality and evidence of closure.
  • Carry out regular safety checks as required to ensure compliance with health and safety standards.
• Training Administration & Records
  • Plan, organise, and book mandatory and role specific Health & Safety training (elearning and in person), ensuring sessions align with academy needs and federation requirements.
  • Manage financial aspects of training delivery, including raising purchase orders, liaising with suppliers, and confirming payment completion in line with finance procedures.
  • Maintain accurate training matrices (intervals, refresher dates) and proactively remind managers and staff of upcoming expiries, file certificates and attendance records promptly.

We would like to hear from you if you have:

• Strong organisation and coordination skills; able to manage multiple trackers and deadlines.
• Strong Excel skills and data accuracy; comfortable producing charts, pivot tables and dashboards.
• Clear, professional communication—written and verbal.
• Attention to detail and a methodical approach to document control and evidence gathering.
• Demonstrate strong IT skills, with the ability to work confidently across multiple platforms and learn new systems quickly to support reporting and data integrity.

If you would like to discuss the opportunity further, or if you have any questions, please contact us via email to arrange a conversation. Before applying please ensure you download the job pack from our careers website, this will help with completing your application. Please note that we only accept applications submitted online before the closing date.

Harris has a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

You will also have access to a variety of benefits, support programmes and initiatives including:

• Excellent opportunities for continuous professional development and career progression.
• Annual performance and loyalty bonus.
• Pension scheme (Teachers' Pension Scheme or Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contribution.
• 26 days' annual leave (inclusive of our Christmas Eve closure day) plus bank holidays, rising to 27 days after 2 years' service, or equivalent for staff on term time contracts.
• Harris Wellbeing Cash Plan including cover for routine and specialist healthcare.
• Employee Assistance Programme for free and confidential advice.
• Cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme.
• Wide range of shopping, leisure, and travel discounts.
• 20% off at Tapi Carpets, exclusive to Harris employees.
• Interest-free ICT and season ticket loans.
• For most non-teaching staff based at our Head Office in East Croydon, we also offer lifestyle friendly working arrangements including flexible start and end times, and hybrid working with two days from home and three days on site.

Salary: Up to £27,000 FTE + Performance and Loyalty Bonus + Pension Scheme (LGPS) + Harris Wellbeing Cash Plan + Additional Harris Benefits.