Health & Safety Director (m/w)

Location: France

Department: Health & Safety

Reports to: Managing Director France

Contract Type: Permanent

Start Date: To be defined

Why you should join us :

Knauf stands for opportunity. We believe that opportunity looks different to each person, and that’s exactly why we see potential everywhere.

Knauf is a global, family-owned leader in building materials. Since 1932, we have been shaping better spaces through drywall systems and high-performance acoustic and thermal insulation solutions.

With over 43,000 employees in more than 90 countries, Knauf combines entrepreneurial agility with industrial excellence. In France, we operate within a competitive and demanding construction market, requiring financial rigor, operational efficiency and strategic foresight.

What the role involves :

The Country Health & Safety Director for Knauf Gypsum France is responsible for governing, coordinating, and continuously improving the Health & Safety management system, including 12 manufacturing facilities and all non-plant functions, encompassing approximately 1 000 personnel.

The Country Health & Safety Director acts as the functional authority and system owner for Health & Safety and as the functional supervisor for all 9 local Health & Safety Officers across Knauf Gypsum France.

Key responsibilities:

• You will act as the functional director, system owner, and functional supervisor of the Health & Safety management system for all Knauf Gypsum France operations, covering manufacturing sites and non-plant functions.

• You will provide functional leadership and supervision to all local Health & Safety Officers, defining expectations, setting priorities, aligning ways of working, and driving capability development across the national H&S organization.

• You will ensure full and sustained compliance with French Health & Safety legislation, and verify that legal requirements are consistently translated into effective operational controls at site and function level.

• You will lead the deployment, governance, and continuous improvement of the Knauf EMEA Health & Safety Management System within Knauf Gypsum France, ensuring that EMEA standards, audits, KPIs, tools, and governance routines are applied consistently and effectively.

• You will drive continuous improvement in Health & Safety performance, using audits, performance data, incident learning, and field observations to identify systemic weaknesses, prioritize actions, and strengthen controls.

• You will actively develop and reinforce a strong safety culture across Knauf Gypsum France by shaping leadership behaviors, promoting visible safety leadership, and embedding prevention-focused routines at all organizational levels.

• You will act as the principal Health & Safety advisor to the General Manager Knauf Gypsum France and the country leadership team, providing expert advice on risk, compliance, strategic decisions, investments, and organizational changes that may impact Health & Safety.

• You will govern national Health & Safety performance, including KPIs, audit outcomes, incidents, high-potential events, and recurring risk patterns, and escalate structural or systemic risks where controls are insufficient.

• You will lead and coordinate investigations into serious or incidents, ensuring high-quality root cause analysis, strong organizational learning, and sustainable preventive actions.

• You will serve as the national expert interface with French regulatory authorities, labor inspectorates, and external auditors, coordinating inspections, corrective actions, and regulatory follow-up in close cooperation with HR and Legal.

• You will contribute to EMEA-level harmonization by collaborating with the Health & Safety organization and sharing learning.

What you need :

We’re looking for someone with:

• Minimum 10–15 years of professional experience in Health & Safety management within industrial or manufacturing environments, preferably within multi-site organizations.

• The ability to influence and develop safety culture, shaping leadership behaviors and embedding prevention-focused routines across all organizational levels.

• You communicate clearly, confidently, and persuasively, and are able to translate regulatory and system requirements into practical expectations for the field.

• You are structured, analytical, and comfortable working with complex organizations and multiple stakeholders.

• You are fluent in French and professionally proficient in English.

• You are willing and able to travel approximately 40%, primarily within France, to maintain a strong on-site presence across all Facilities.