Compliance & Safety Engineer

You will be a Compliance and Safety Engineer supporting an Upper Tier COMAH establishment, responsible for the design, integration, and effectiveness of the Safety Management System (SMS) and for providing independent assurance that process safety and environmental control systems operate as intended across the site.

Reporting to the Process, Compliance and Safety Engineering Manager, the role is accountable for ensuring that what the site says it does is actually happening in practice, and that arrangements described in the COMAH Safety Report, Environmental Permit, and internal standards are implemented, integrated, and effective across all departments. This is a governance and assurance role, grounded in process and engineering understanding, with a strong focus on system design, verification, and cross‑functional compliance, rather than day‑to‑day operational ownership.

What you’ll be doing

• Safety Management System (SMS) Implementation and administration
• Support the design, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the Site Safety Management System, ensuring it remains proportionate, coherent, and aligned with site operations.
• Provide assurance that SMS elements are effectively implemented across Engineering, Operations, Projects, and Support Functions.
• Verify that systems, procedures, and standards are operating as described in the Safety Report and supporting documentation.
• Test the effectiveness of SMS arrangements through structured reviews, audits, performance indicators, and sampling.
• Identify gaps between documented arrangements, legislation and actual practice, and ensure these are clearly reported, owned, and addressed.
• Process Safety Compliance and Assurance
• Provide independent assurance that process safety and environmental controls are functioning as intended to prevent or mitigate major accident hazards.
• Verify that safety‑critical and environmentally‑critical controls are defined, implemented, and maintained through appropriate systems and governance.
• Review process safety and environmental risk assessments (e.g. HAZOP, environmental risk assessments, LOPA) to ensure outputs are correctly embedded into procedures, maintenance, and Operations.
• Provide challenge where controls rely on assumptions, informal practices, or inconsistent application across departments.
• Cross‑Departmental Integration & Governance
• Ensure that compliance requirements are consistently integrated into engineering, operational and project activities.
• Review and lead Management of Change (MoC) arrangements to confirm that process safety and environmental risks are fully considered and controlled before changes are implemented.
• Verify that roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities for safety‑critical and compliance activities are clearly defined and understood across departments.
• Support consistent application of site standards, procedures, and performance expectations.
• Lead and embed a human factors approach across the site, ensuring integration into operational and safety management processes.
• Regulatory & Permit Compliance
• Support compliance with COMAH and Environmental Permit requirements by assuring that commitments are translated into effective site systems.
• Provide assurance that permit conditions relating to emissions, containment, and monitoring are embedded into operational and engineering controls.
• Support preparation for Competent Authority and Environmental Agency inspections, focusing on system effectiveness rather than document presence alone.
• Track regulatory actions, recommendations, and commitments to ensure sustained compliance.
• Documentation, Evidence & Assurance
• Review and assure the quality and consistency of compliance‑critical documentation, including procedures, performance standards, and verification records.
• Support maintenance of the COMAH Safety Report and Environmental Permit supporting schedules, ensuring alignment with site arrangements.
• Ensure evidence of compliance is structured, auditable, and reflects actual site practice.
• Support internal audits, inspections, and management reviews of compliance systems and Quality Management Systems.
• Continuous Improvement & Learning
• Identify systemic weaknesses through incidents, near misses, audits, and performance trends.
• Support development of meaningful compliance and process safety performance indicators.
• Translate investigation findings into learning materials and system improvements, ensuring lessons learned are embedded within the SMS.
• Support competence and awareness activities related to process safety and environmental compliance.

What we’re looking for

If you have a genuine passion for what you do and want to work in an environment that celebrates progress, teamwork and dedication, you’re what we’re after.

Education & Training

• Degree in Chemical, Process, Environmental Engineering or related Science Based Degree (or equivalent experience).
• Training in key process safety methods (e.g. HAZOP, LOPA, SIL / Functional Safety).
• Understanding of COMAH regulations and regulatory expectations (e.g. Health and Safety Executive guidance).
• Environmental management awareness (e.g. ISO 14001).
• Desirable: Postgraduate qualification in process safety, environmental management, or risk.
• Lead/internal auditor qualification or human factors training.
• NEBOSH General Certificate
• IOSH Managing Safety and membership

Ideally you will have a degree in Chemistry / related scientific subject or a science background cover as much as possible with regard to essential criteria.

Knowledge & Experience

• Experience working within a COMAH or other major hazard regulated environment preferred experience.
• Strong understanding of Safety Management Systems and their practical application.
• Experience reviewing or assuring compliance with process safety and environmental requirements.
• Understanding of how engineering, operations, maintenance, and projects interact within an SMS.
• Familiarity with regulatory inspections, audits, and compliance assurance activities.

What we’ll do for you

We offer an excellent package which includes a competitive salary; a generous holiday entitlement as well as the opportunity to purchase additional holiday, we also offer a discretionary annual bonus, private medical and dental schemes, pension scheme with 9% employer contribution, life assurance, group income protection, SAYE schemes and free shares.

With the encouragement and development you need, we help you to become your ultimate you. Beyond building a successful career, we also support the wishes and ambitions of our staff outside of the office in achieving a health work/life balance - the wellbeing of our staff is paramount to us, which we actively promote and support by regularly delivering a variety of wellbeing initiatives and offering responsibility based flexibility. There will also be opportunities to be actively involved in community and charity projects and to take part in numerous subsidised social events.

Polite Notice

We politely request that we are not contacted by any recruitment agencies. We have a preferred supplier list and high volumes of speculative calls from agencies negatively impact upon the efficiency of our business. Please help us to maintain the highest levels of customer service by respecting our wishes.