OVERALL DESCRIPTION

The Director of Safety Culture & Human Factors provides strategic leadership to advance a strong, positive safety culture across operations in alignment with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Safety Management System (SMS) and Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) requirements. This role focuses on strengthening workplace culture at all levels, by addressing what people do (behaviors), how people feel (values and attitudes), and how SEPTA supports safety through its policies, systems, and structures. The role fosters labor and SAM collaboration and reinforces shared accountability to prevent serious incidents and support safe, reliable service. 

Working closely with executive leadership, labor representatives, operations, maintenance, and frontline employees, the Director promotes active employee engagement, increased reporting, moving beyond passive compliance toward shared ownership of safety outcomes. The role supports non‑punitive reporting environments where hazards, near‑misses, and errors can be reported without fear, enabling meaningful systemic learning rather than individual blame. 

The Director integrates human factors and human performance principles into daily decision‑making, incident learning, and work design—ensuring processes and environments account for human limitations such as fatigue, stress, and cognitive load. Using data‑driven approaches and leading safety indicators, the role helps shift SEPTA from compliance‑based safety to a proactive, integrated culture that prevents serious incidents and supports safe, reliable service. 

Serving as a trusted advisor, the Director influences safety outcomes through collaboration, clear two‑way communication, and alignment with SEPTAs long‑term strategic plan, while respecting collective bargaining agreements and workforce expertise. 

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• Safety Culture Leadership: Advance a proactive, human‑centered safety culture across operations that goes beyond compliance to prevent serious incidents,  strengthen workforce engagement and improve employee morale. 
• Human Performance & System Design: Apply human performance and human factors principles to risk understanding, incident learning, and system and process design, creating environments that account for human limitations and support learning and recovery. 
• Incident & Near‑Miss Learning: Facilitate cross‑functional incident and near‑miss review processes that emphasize systemic improvement, shared learning, and prevention rather than individual blame. 
• Psychological Safety & Reporting: Strengthen trust across the workforce by supporting non‑punitive reporting environments that empower employees to identify hazards and actively contribute to safety outcomes. 
• Leadership & Labor Collaboration: Partner with executive leadership, labor representatives, frontline employees, and departments across the Authority (including Operations, Maintenance, System Safety, and Human Resources) to embed safety considerations into policies, capital projects, system design, and daily operations. 
• Policy & Compliance Integration: Collaborate across departments to ensure safety culture and human performance principles are reflected in agency safety policies, procedures, and regulatory compliance activities. 
• Safety Measurement & Insights: Guide the use of leading safety indicators—such as audits, workforce feedback, and cultural assessments—to