HSE Team Lead

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About us
Hop aboard Damen Naval; the naval division of the family-owned Damen Shipyards Group, where 12,000 professionals work worldwide. Damen Naval delivers advanced naval vessels to clients all over the globe. By implementing the most innovative technological developments in practice, we continue to push the boundaries of the shipbuilding industry. You can be part of our team! Are you ready for duty?

The role

As the HSE Team Lead at Damen Naval, you will be pivotal in leading and coordinating the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) function. You will oversee the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of our HSE policies, procedures, and systems.

Your leadership will be key in further cultivating a proactive health and safety culture, ensuring a safe and compliant work environment for all staff, subcontractors, suppliers, and visitors at our yard and on our abroad building locations. You will guide the HSE team, act as a senior advisor on complex HSE matters, and report on overall HSE performance. Given that Dutch and English is commonly spoken within Damen Naval, fluency in Dutch and English is required.

Key accountabilities
In this role, your responsibilities will include:

• Strategically lead and champion a proactive HSE culture, overseeing all related activities and ensuring a safe and compliant environment for all stakeholders. This includes leading the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of comprehensive HSE plans and systems.

• Be an expert sparring partner for Top management to drive the safety culture.

• Provide expert guidance and ensure organizational compliance, acting as the primary liaison with external parties and authorities on all HSE matters and offering strategic advice to management and project teams to guarantee full legal and contractual adherence.

• Direct complex HSE evaluations and risk mitigation, leading thorough audits and risk assessments, guiding the team in implementing effective mitigation measures, and verifying their successful execution.

• Drive continuous HSE improvement and performance monitoring, championing and directing programs for enhancement, tracking performance metrics, and strategically implementing improvements across the organization.

• Lead incident management, overseeing investigations into significant incidents, ensuring rigorous root cause analysis and timely reporting.

• Ensure the maintenance of critical HSE records, and managing essential registers for health, environmental aspects, and hazardous substances.

• Develop and empower the HSE team, leading, mentoring, and coaching HSE Officers and Assistants, managing team resources and workload, and contributing to the strategic planning of HSE initiatives to align with broader organizational objectives.

Skills & experience
We are looking for candidates with the following qualifications:

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in HSE in a project organisation, with at least 3 years in a supervisory, coordinating, or team leadership capacity, including proven experience in developing, strengthening, and leading HSE systems and managing diverse stakeholders.

• Demonstrable experience in leading and directing HSE in projects, coordinating team activities, and developing and delivering impactful HSE training programs.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical field, Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Science, or a related discipline.

• Expert knowledge of HSE management principles, advanced understanding of HSE systems (e.g., ISO 45001, ISO 14001), and comprehensive knowledge of relevant legislation and industry best practices.

• Holds a Diploma ‘Hogere Veiligheidskunde’ (HVK) or an equivalent advanced safety professional certification (e.g., NEBOSH Diploma, CSP).

• Proven leadership, team management, and mentoring skills with the ability to inspire and motivate a team.

• Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.

• Proficiency in Dutch and English, both written and spoken, is essential.

• Excellent references, as a security screening is part of the hiring process.

• Permanent EU citizenship and passport are both required. Candidates with EU (work) visa or with both an EU and non-EU nationality and/or passport are not eligible in accordance with the requirements imposed by the military nature of our projects.

What we offer
At Damen Naval, we highly value our employees, and we will support your professional a