Responsibilities:
- People Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop a growing EHS team in a fast-paced, evolving organization
- Hire, onboard, and train EHS team members as the company scales
- Set clear priorities, performance expectations, and development plans for direct reports
- Foster accountability, adaptability, and ownership within the EHS team
- Drive a proactive and HOP-based EHS culture in a rapidly changing organization
- Support organizational change as processes, teams, and facilities evolve
- Provide strategic people management, including hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, and succession planning.
- Mentor and develop direct reports through regular coaching, goal setting, and career development discussions.
- Drive employee engagement and retention through effective leadership and clear communication.
- Program Development & Scaling
- Lead EHS team initiatives and responsibilities including regulatory reports, inspections, or information requests; internal audits; emergency drills; management system improvements; and program development and assessments
- Build and implement EHS programs, policies, and procedures suitable for a startup and scalable to future operations
- Establish foundational EHS management systems for shipyard and vessel testing environments
- Adapt EHS programs to support new yards, test sites, vessels, and operational profiles
- Balance operational speed of execution with risk management and regulatory requirements
- Ensure environmental programs scale with increased testing and yard activity
- Drive a proactive safety culture in high-risk maritime environments
- Support organizational change as shipyard operations, vessel capabilities, and test complexity evolve
- Shipyard and Vessel Maintenance, Repair, and Operations EHS
- Oversee EHS programs supporting shipyard activities such as fabrication, welding, blasting, coating, electrical work, rigging, and heavy equipment operations
- Ensure safe practices for dry dock, pier-side, and yard-based work
- Manage high-risk activities including hot work, confined spaces, working at heights, lifting operations, and contractor safety
- Ensure that environmental compliance programs are established and maintained including hazardous waste, stormwater, air emissions, chemical management, and spill prevention
- Partner with operations and engineering to embed safety into yard layout, work planning, and equipment selection Partner with engineering and operations to embed safety-by-design into equipment, facilities, and vessel design
- Ensure compliance with OSHA and applicable marine safety standards for vessels under 60 ft (e.g., USCG, ISM as applicable)
- Vessel Testing & On-Water Operations
- Develop and enforce EHS procedures for vessel commissioning, dock trials, sea trials, and operational testing
- Ensure safe launch, recovery, mooring, and towing operations
- Support safe execution of test plans involving propulsion, electrical systems, autonomy, and mission equipment
- Coordinate emergency response readiness for on-water testing activities
- Compliance, Risk & Incident Management
- Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, USCG, ISM, and state/local regulations
- Lead incident investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective action implementation
- Prepare for and support regulatory inspections and audits
- Identify emerging risks associated with growth and operational change
- Stay current on emerging EHS regulations, trends, and best practices, and communicate relevant updates to stakeholders within the organization.
- Develop individual and team objectives and key results and track progress towards completion.
- This position occasionally requires the ability to work overtime and weekends when needed.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in occupational health and safety, environmental science, engineering, public health, or a related field; professional certification (e.g., ASP, CSP, CIH, CHMM) preferred.
- 7+ years of experience in EHS, preferably in boat building, aerospace, or general manufacturing or industrial environments.
- Experience leading, coaching, developing team members to achieve individual and organizational goals.
Preferred Qualifications:
- 7+ years working on or with industrial hygiene, exposure assessments, indoor air quality, and ventilation.
- Thorough understanding of federal, state, and local EHS regulations, including OSHA, EPA/TCEQ, DOT, USCG requirements, and marine safety practices applicable to small vessels
- Experience building, scaling, or formalizing EHS programs in startup, scale-up, or rapidly growing manufacturing organizations
- Demonstrated success leading and developing EHS teams, including hiring, onboarding, and coaching in evolving environments
- Hands-on experience supporting complex manufacturing operations (e.g., welding, composites, machining, electrical systems, testing, and integration)
- Experience supporting marine or maritime operations, including vessel launch/recovery, sea trials, dockside work, or field operations (under 60 ft)
- Experience integrating EHS into engineering and operational decision-making, including safety-by-design and design-for-manufacturability considerations
- Strong background in incident investigation, root cause analysis, and corrective action management in fast-paced environments
- Experience managing environmental compliance programs such as hazardous waste, stormwater, chemical management, and spill prevention (SPCC)
- Familiarity with regulatory inspections, audits, and permitting at the federal, state, and local levels
- Ability to establish and track leading and lagging EHS metrics to support data-driven decision-making
- Experience driving safety culture initiatives during periods of organizational change
- Strong communication skills with the ability to influence frontline employees through executive leadership
- Comfortable operating with limited structure, balancing urgency, risk, and business objectives
Physical Demands:
- Ability to lift 35 lbs unassisted.
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
- Occasional standing and walking within the office.
- Manual dexterity to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and other office equipment.
- Visual acuity to read screens, documents, and reports.
- Occasional reaching, bending, or stooping to access file drawers, cabinets, or office supplies.