Health And Safety Advisor in Huntingdon

As we continue our mission to make people and nature happy through reinventing chocolate, we’re looking for a Health and Safety Advisor to join our Operations Health and Safety Team on a 12-month fixed-term contract basis.

As Health and Safety Advisor, you will be responsible for providing expert advice and guidance to management and employees on all aspects of occupational health and safety. You will ensure compliance with all relevant legislation and internal policies, helping us maintain a safe and healthy work environment.

You will take ownership of our legislative responsibilities while actively championing best-in-class health and safety behaviour across our Manufacturing Operations. Leading by example, you will be a visible, trusted presence across site – supporting teams, raising standards and influencing a robust safety culture. Working closely with key stakeholders, you will help steer the business through significant change, ensuring that safety remains a constant priority as we evolve as a business.

Salary: £45,000 to £50,000 per annum (dependent on experience).

As well as a competitive salary and a range of company benefits including private healthcare cover, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and Company pension contributions, you’ll receive 50% discount on all products, and a 70% discount for you and your guests when you stay at our Rabot Estate hideaway on the paradise island of Saint Lucia.

The on-site location for this role is primarily at our Factory - ‘Hadley Park’, in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. There will also be occasional travel to our Packing Hall - ‘Alpha’ in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire.

What you’ll be doing:

• Offer practical and technical H&S advice to management and staff to ensure a safe working environment and compliance with legal requirements.
• Champion the development and improvement of existing health and safety systems, training records and policies and procedures, ensuring they are suitably maintained for internal and external audits.
• Review both operational and specific risk assessments, to ensure they remain fit for purpose and that any gaps have been highlighted.
• Support investigations into accidents, near-misses, and any other incidents, identifying root causes and recommending preventative actions.
• Maintain relevant records and statistics, whilst liaising with third party enforcement agencies and reporting under RIDDOR where required.
• Create and conduct H&S training sessions, including inductions, toolbox talks, and specific safety courses, when required.
• Regularly audit and inspect work areas to identify potential hazards and ensure adherence to H&S standards.
• Carry out audits and inspections on internal arrangements, ensuring staff and third parties are compliant.
• Create and communicate audit schedules that remain visible and in line with performance.
• Actively encourage and promote a positive H&S culture throughout the organisation by working pro-actively with managers and teams to promote a culture of safe and practical working practices across manufacturing operations.
• Deputise and represent H&S department at various meetings where required.
• Ensure H&S outputs of meetings are distributed in a clear way, whilst holding those with H&S actions accountable to close out.
• Work closely with the projects team to ensure H&S standards are not jeopardised when bringing new equipment / production lines on site.

Who you are:

• Essential NEBOSH diploma or equivalent.
• Proven experience in a similar H&S role, preferably within a fast-paced environment.
• In-depth knowledge of UK H&S legislation and its application in practical terms, including specific knowledge of industry standards.
• Excellent communication, influential, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
• Desirable strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with the ability to work within tight budget controls.
• Experience in conducting a variety of risk assessments (generic and specific), site inspections, audit, report writing and contractor management.
• Grad IOSH status or equivalent.
• Experience working with management systems advantageous (ISO’s), particularly within a food and beverage manufacturing and or FMCG environment.

We’re one of the UK’s favourite premium chocolate brands, with a range of products spanning luxury gifts, alcohol and our pioneering drinking chocolate system, the Velvetiser™.

A cacao pod takes years to grow – it can’t be rushed if it’s going to be just right for our products. The same can be said for Hotel Chocolat, which originally started as a mint production company before we realised it was luxury chocolate that we were really passionate about.

Now, we’re market leaders in the industry. What began as an online-only business grew to over 140 stores across the UK, and we’re still growing. Today, we’re multi-category, multi-channel, and multi-territory, and our customers, colleagues, cacao farmers and suppliers all benefit from the success we make together.