Merck Life Science
Head of EHS (UK operations)
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Work Your Magic with us!
Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.
The Role
You will develop and execute the EHS strategy for the UK operations, aligning priorities with business goals and ensuring that environmental, health and safety standards are consistently applied across our sites.
You Will
- Lead and support the UK EHS community, working closely with site leaders and EHS managers across multiple locations.
- Develop/Execute EHS strategy at Irvine site, with direct leadership over the local EHS team.
- Set strategic objectives, performance measures and governance frameworks for EHS, including the oversight of the EHS function budget.
- Establish effective approaches to identify, assess and reduce risk, using data, trend analysis and root-cause insights to drive prevention.
- Ensure compliance with relevant environmental, health and safety legislation, sustainability requirements, waste-management obligations and organisational standards.
- Lead emergency preparedness and response planning for critical events, including chemical spills, fires and other serious incidents.
- Promote strong process safety management and the effective integration of EHS requirements into operational activities.
- Oversee the development and reporting of EHS KPIs, using performance data to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Ensure safety protocols, training and expectations are embedded across employees, contractors, vendors and other external partners.
- Champion innovation and continuous improvement, including the evaluation and adoption of new technologies and leading practices.
- Coach and develop EHS talent, helping to build capability, succession strength and empowered, autonomous teams.
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This is a visible leadership role with the opportunity to influence how EHS is managed across the UK operations and to make a lasting contribution to our safety, health, environmental and sustainability performance.
Who You Are
You bring strong EHS leadership experience and the ability to translate strategy, regulation and data into practical improvements across operational environments. You are comfortable leading through influence, collaborating across functions and engaging people at every level of the organisation.
You Have
- Experience leading an EHS team and programmes in a manufacturing, life science or similarly regulated environment.
- A strong understanding of environmental, health and safety legislation and standards, including requirements relating to sustainability, waste management and environmental compliance.
- Knowledge of process safety management, operational technology standards and relevant building or site requirements.
- Proven experience with risk assessment, hazard identification, risk reduction and proactive incident prevention.
- The ability to use EHS data, trends and root-cause analysis to inform decisions and improve performance.
- Experience developing emergency response plans and managing or supporting responses to serious incidents.
- Experience establishing EHS KPIs, governance and reporting processes.
- A track record of embedding training, safety protocols and compliance requirements across employees and external partners.
- Strong communication, influencing and problem-solving skills, with the confidence to work with site management and operational teams.
- A commitment to coaching, mentoring and developing EHS talent.
- A proactive, pragmatic and improvement-focused approach, with the curiosity to explore new technologies and better ways of working.
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You will be recognised as a role model for safety and sustainability: someone who builds trust, challenges constructively and enables teams to take ownership of EHS performance.
Join us and help shape a safer, more sustainable future across our UK operations.
What we offer:
We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!
Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!
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