At Mergon, we mould ideas for a sustainable future. We work with leading brands like Tesla, BMW, Xerox and Abbott to design, manufacture and deliver sustainable products for the vehicles and equipment of the future.
We care deeply about our colleagues, customers and our community and have a curiosity that constantly pushes us to innovate and improve. We are competent, capable and invest in our people and our processes so that we continue to grow and do our best work every day.
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced EHS and Facilities Manager to join our team at Mergon International. This is a broad and influential leadership role with accountability for the effectiveness, continual improvement and assurance of our Health and Safety Management System, which is certified to ISO 45001, our Environmental and Energy Management Systems, certified to ISO 14001 and ISO 50001, and the leadership of the Facilities team on site.
A central part of the role is to help Mergon further strengthen its safety culture by embedding health and safety into day-to-day operational management. The EHS and Facilities Manager will provide the framework, expertise, coaching, challenge and assurance that enables line managers to own safe work execution and safety outcomes in their areas. The role is therefore both a technical leadership position and a key change leadership role, supporting the transition from safety being managed by the EHS function to safety being led by the line and enabled by EHS.
The successful candidate will ensure strong regulatory compliance, effective risk management, meaningful employee consultation and participation, and continued improvement in EHS, facilities, energy and environmental performance across the site.
Key Responsibilities
Health & Safety Leadership, Governance and Management System
- Own, maintain and continually improve the Mergon International Health and Safety Management System in line with ISO 45001, ensuring it is effective, practical, risk-based and embedded into how work is planned, supervised and improved.
- Act as the site subject matter expert for health and safety legislation, ISO 45001 requirements, risk management and best practice safety leadership.
- Ensure the Safety Statement, risk assessment process, operating procedures, emergency arrangements and legal compliance registers remain current, effective and proportionate to site risks.
- Develop the site safety strategy, annual EHS plan and improvement roadmap, aligned with business priorities, manufacturing performance, employee wellbeing and continuous improvement objectives.
- Establish clear safety roles, responsibilities and expectations for senior leaders, line managers, supervisors and employees, ensuring that operational ownership of risk is understood and consistently applied.
- Provide coaching, tools, standards and challenge to line managers so that they can effectively own risk assessments, safe systems of work, safety conversations, corrective actions and safe work execution in their areas.
- Integrate safety into daily and weekly management routines, including tier meetings, Gemba walks, layered process audits, management of change reviews, project reviews and operational performance discussions.
- Support Operations, Engineering, Quality and Continuous Improvement teams to ensure new processes, equipment, layouts, automation, materials and changes to existing operations are assessed and controlled before implementation.
- Lead the development of strong leading indicators, including safety observations, hazard reporting, near miss reporting, corrective action closure, audit completion, training compliance and leadership safety activity.
- Monitor and report on lagging indicators, including lost time accidents, recordable injuries, first aid cases, incident trends and regulatory events, ensuring insight is used to prevent recurrence and improve controls.
- Facilitate effective employee consultation and participation in health and safety, ensuring employees are engaged in hazard identification, risk assessment, improvement activity and learning from incidents.
- Coordinate emergency preparedness arrangements, including emergency response teams, drills, procedures, equipment and lessons learned from exercises or events.
- Benchmark and share best practice within the Mergon Group and externally where appropriate, helping to raise standards across sites.
Incident Management, Learning and Assurance
- Ensure all incidents, near misses and hazards are reported, triaged, investigated and closed out in a timely and effective manner.
- Ensure line managers lead incident investigations and own corrective and preventive actions for their areas, with the EHS function providing methodology, facilitation, root cause expertise and independent challenge.
- Verify the effectiveness of corrective actions and ensure learning is communicated across relevant teams, shifts, processes and sites.
- Develop and maintain an audit and inspection programme that tests both compliance and the effectiveness of operational controls.
- Escalate significant risks, repeated non-conformances or ineffective controls through appropriate governance channels, ensuring timely leadership action.
- Prepare clear EHS performance reports for site leadership, Group leadership, regulatory bodies and customers as required.
Environmental & Energy Management
- Maintain and continually improve the Environmental and Energy Management Systems to meet the requirements of ISO 14001 and ISO 50001.
- Monitor and report on environmental and energy indicators, including carbon footprint, water usage, waste generation, recycling rates and energy consumption.
- Develop and implement policies, procedures and improvement initiatives for waste management, recycling, emissions reduction, resource efficiency and energy performance.
- Conduct environmental and energy audits and inspections to identify risks, compliance gaps and opportunities for improvement.
- Support Mergon sustainability goals through practical energy-saving, waste-reduction and environmental improvement projects.
- Liaise with external stakeholders, including regulators, customers, suppliers and service providers, on environmental, energy and compliance matters.
Facilities Management
- Own the management, maintenance and compliance of site facilities that are critical to employee safety, welfare and business continuity, including welfare facilities, building fabric, grounds, utilities and associated infrastructure.
- Ensure employee welfare facilities, including canteen, sanitary facilities, changing areas, first aid facilities, drinking water provision and welfare spaces, are maintained to appropriate legal, health, hygiene and company standards.
- Maintain the integrity and compliance of the site building fabric, including roofs, floors, fire doors, walkways, stairs, pedestrian routes, lighting, drainage and structural elements, ensuring hazards are identified and addressed promptly.
- Manage site grounds and external areas, including roads, car parks, pedestrian walkways, traffic management systems, fencing, signage, landscaping, drainage and winter maintenance activities, ensuring they remain safe and fit for purpose.
Team Leadership and Change Leadership
- Lead, develop and motivate the on-site EHS and Facilities team, building a high-performing function that is trusted, commercially aware and operationally engaged.
- Set clear priorities, objectives and development plans for the team and ensure work is aligned with business risk and site priorities.
- Foster a culture of accountability, ownership, learning and continuous improvement across EHS, Facilities and the wider site leadership team.
- Coach line managers and supervisors to build confidence and competence in safety leadership, risk assessment, incident learning and employee engagement.
- Influence at all levels of the organisation, challenging constructively where safety standards, behaviours or controls do not meet expectations.
- Work cross-functionally with Production, Engineering, Quality, HR and Continuous Improvement to optimise plant performance while protecting people, the environment and the business.
Qualifications & Experience
- A recognised qualification in Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Management, Facilities Management, Engineering or a related discipline.
- Demonstrable experience managing ISO 45001, ISO 14001 and/or ISO 50001 management systems in a manufacturing, industrial or similarly regulated environment.
- Strong knowledge of health and safety legislation, environmental compliance, building regulations, contractor management and operational risk control.
- Experience supporting or leading a culture change programme where safety accountability is embedded into line management.
- Strong practical experience in risk assessment, incident investigation, root cause analysis, audit, corrective action management and management of change.
- Experience leading and developing teams in a fast-paced operational environment.
- Ability to coach, influence and challenge managers and employees at all levels while maintaining strong working relationships.
- Strong data analysis, reporting, communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convert EHS data into practical business insight.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and experience using EHS, facilities, maintenance or action-tracking systems is desirable.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities, balance compliance with operational practicality and deliver sustainable improvement.
Key Attributes
- Visible, credible and practical safety leader.
- Strong coach and facilitator who builds ownership in others rather than taking ownership away from them.
- Confident decision-maker with sound judgement and the courage to escalate risk when required.
- Continuous improvement mindset with the ability to connect EHS performance to manufacturing excellence, reliability and employee engagement.
- Collaborative, resilient and comfortable working in a hands-on manufacturing environment.
Benefits
- 26 days holidays
- Career growth and development opportunities
- Wellness Programme
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
- Company gym
- Health insurance for you and your family
- Competitive salary