Director, Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology

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To ensure a safe manufacturing environment, our Occupational Health and Safety Engineering team plays a crucial role in hazard prevention, conducting safety audits, providing training, and implementing risk mitigation strategies.

In this position...

The Global Director, Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, is a critical leadership role responsible for overseeing and guiding the corporate Industrial Hygiene (IH) and Toxicology functions worldwide. This position ensures global compliance with regulatory standards, drives the standardization of best practices in hazard identification, measurement, and control, and champions employee health and safety across the organization. Reporting to the Executive Director, Global Health Services, the Global Director collaborates extensively with key stakeholders including Human Resources, Safety, Environmental, Plant Management, and Labor Relations.

Location: Dearborn, MI (Onsite with weekly travel within Southeastern Michigan, monthly travel within the US, and occasional international travel) 

 

What you'll do...

Global Industrial Hygiene Strategy & Compliance:

• Develop and continuously update global Industrial Hygiene standards, oversee their implementation and monitor compliance through self-assessment programs (e.g., SOS) across all facilities.
• Establish and manage a global system for tracking employee chemical risk exposure data, scheduling risk assessments, coordinating sampling, and analyzing results. Ensure timely follow-up actions for exposures exceeding Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) to mitigate or eliminate risks.
• Provide global technical expertise and guidance on complex IH-related issues, such as asbestos abatement plans.
• Actively participate in the global material engineering group, reviewing, defining, and implementing actions for new restricted substance materials, including chemical composition review and decommissioning processes globally.

North America Industrial Hygiene & Toxicology Operations:

• Directly manage and support all U.S. and Canada IH requirements, including chemical exposure risk assessments, sampling coordination, vendor testing, and result interpretation, ensuring appropriate facility-level actions are implemented.
• Lead the definition, coordination, budget management, and reporting for North America (Canada/U.S./Mexico) manufacturing noise surveys with plants and vendors. Collaborate with medical departments to ensure employees exposed above 85 dBA are enrolled in the hearing conservation program.
• Manage the budget preparation, approval, and administration for the IH and Toxicology functions.
• Oversee the toxicology management process for North America production and non-production non-dimensional materials (chemical products). This includes conducting chemical composition reviews, validating Safety Data Sheet (SDS) information in appropriate languages, and approving/rejecting products based on regulatory compliance to assign a Company Tox Number.
• Execute the five-year re-review process for all approved products in the system to verify usage, volume, and chemical composition, ensuring database accuracy and alignment with new restricted substance lists (e.g., i-Point updates).

Partnership & Collaboration:

• Partner with joint programs (e.g., UAW) on IH issues and initiatives, including those stipulated in collective bargaining agreements.
• Ensure robust communication with all key stakeholders, including Medical, Human Resources, Safety, Environmental, Labor, and Union representatives.
• Collaborate with international teams (e.g., Mexico, South America, IMG, China) to coordinate and provide technical support for all IH programs.
• Work collaboratively with regional quality organizations (e.g., EQO NA) on chemical product approval processes.
• Provide technical support, training, and guidance to South America, IMG, and China on toxicology clearance processes and five-year reviews.

Lead and facilitate Global Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology Meetings, including agenda and material preparation.

Team Leadership & Vendor Oversight:

• Lead, guide, and supervise the corporate Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology staff.
• Provide effective oversight of third-party vendors.

You'll have…

Required Qualifications:

• Certified I