HSER Manager (12-month FTC)

HSER Manager  (12-month FTC)

Launceston (with occasional travel to Newport, Wales)

At DS Smith, safety and sustainability are fundamental to how we operate. We are committed to maintaining a zero-accident culture while protecting our people, our environment, and our communities. As HSER Manager you will play a critical leadership role in embedding a proactive safety and environmental culture that supports operational excellence.

You will lead and develop the site’s Health, Safety, Environmental and Risk (HSER) function, ensuring robust systems, processes, and behaviors are in place to meet legislative requirements, customer expectations, and internationally recognised management standards (ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001). Through your expertise and influence, you will position HSER at the forefront of decision-making and daily operations.

Working closely with the site leadership team, you will develop and deliver the annual HSER plan, setting measurable objectives and driving continuous improvement. You will act as the management representative for HSER systems, maintaining compliance and serving as the key liaison with regulators and insurers. Beyond the site, you will contribute to the wider central HSER network, helping shape strategy, policy, and best practice across the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Champion a strong safety and environmental culture where employees are engaged, accountable, and actively involved

• Build trusted relationships across all levels of the organisation to coach and influence safe behaviours

•  Support the leadership team in developing and delivering the annual HSER improvement plan

• Deliver HSER training and develop organisational competence in roles and responsibilities

•  Monitor, analyse, and report HSER performance metrics to drive informed decision-making

• Act as Management Representative for HSER systems, ensuring effectiveness and compliance

• Manage internal and external audit programmes and coordinate improvement actions

• Lead technical risk assessments including PUWER and COSHH compliance

• Serve as the primary HSER contact for external stakeholders, including regulators and insurers 

We are looking for a confident HSER professional with strong leadership capability, a strategic mindset, and the ability to influence positive change. You will be passionate about developing a culture where safety and environmental responsibility are embedded in everything we do.

What we would like our candidate to have

• Experienced in delivering a Health & Safety culture across a large business

• Experience with CDM

• Excellent persuasion skills, with the ability to communicate at all levels

• Leadership characteristics, and the ability to drive change in challenging environment

• An understanding of ISO standards, eg: 14001 / ISO 5001 / ISO 45001

• Experience providing hands on training

• Experience in Management Systems

• Excellent presentation skills

• Strong numerical & verbal skills, and experience in handing information

• Fully IT literate

• The ability to travel to other sites when needed

What we can offer you

• Competitive salary

• Qualifying Sick Pay scheme

• Pension scheme & Life insurance

• Share Save scheme

• Income Protection

• 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays

• Employee Assistance Programme

• Virtual GP, Occupational Health & free Flu vaccine

• Cycle to Work and shopping discounts

We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. We employ more than 65,000 colleagues in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), who are experts in innovation, manufacturing, design, sales, sustainability, supply chain, and much more. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Become part of a world-leading organisation and do your best work with us!

Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.”

#LI-SP