Building Safety Manager

Northeastern University • Boston, MA

4d • Onsite

About The Position

The Building Safety Manager (BSM) manages building-wide compliance with applicable regulatory standards associated with laboratory operations, with a focus on research and teaching labs, makerspaces, shops, and other unique lab spaces (greenhouse, clinical, cleanroom, etc.). The Building Safety Manager position is on-site at Northeastern’s Boston campus and reports to the Senior Manager of the Building Safety Program in the Office of Academic and Research Safety (OARS). As an embedded safety staff, you will facilitate, assess, and promote an enhanced culture of safety and healthy work environment through close collaboration and coordination with the broader OARS team and key individuals performing safety functions in assigned buildings, including Principal Investigators, lab personnel, Department Safety Officers, College Safety Officers, facilities personnel, and others. As an essential team member in the implementation and management of building-wide safety and compliance programs, your core activities will include, but are not limited to, maintaining resilient Maximum Allowable Quantity (MAQ) compliance defined in fire/building code, ensuring proper hazardous materials management, leading building-wide inspections and tracking corrective actions, conducting assessments (risk/hazard/job/space/equipment/PPE/SOP/etc.), contributing to lab design and construction/renovation projects, safety planning for research continuity, and supporting ongoing lab registrations with the City of Boston. In addition, you will serve as the focal point for implementation and compliance with Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) for laboratory emergencies, serving as the emergency coordinator and contact in assigned buildings and a member of the OARS emergency response team through the on-call program.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, process safety, materials science, environmental science, or other applicable degree with a minimum of five years of demonstrated work experience in managing EHS requirements.
• Working knowledge of federal, state, and local regulatory standards that apply to laboratory operations.
• Proficiency in use of a personal computer and current software applications including, but not limited to, Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook), Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Smartsheets.
• Effective written, verbal, and presentation communication skills, with strong interpersonal skills to effectively coordinate and adapt for various audiences with a customer service-oriented approach.
• Demonstrated problem solving and organizational skills, time and project management skills, including planning, prioritizing, and scheduling multiple ongoing projects.
• Experience conducting inspections, assessing risk, and recommending safety controls and corrective actions for experiments, equipment, and processes using appropriate methodology.
• Experience assisting with laboratory emergencies, including gas releases and spill remediation.
• Demonstrated ability to recognize unsafe conditions or dangerous situations and respond appropriately.
• Physical requirements include being medically qualified to wear respiratory protection and other personal protective equipment.
• Lifting up to 50 lbs and moving up to 500 lbs of materials using rolling carts or drum carts.
• Work areas include a variety of physical environments including weather extremes, mechanical spaces, potential confined spaces, elevated locations, and where the use of hazardous materials (chem, rad, bio) or equipment is in storage or use.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in one of the above, and a background in chemistry or chemical engineering is highly desired.
• Preferred experience includes employment within higher education, hazardous materials management, process safety, or high hazard environments or processes (e.g., semiconductor facilities).
• Experience in laboratory research or EHS compliance in laboratories or R&D is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Hazardous Materials Management (40%) You will be a leader in hands-on chemical safety and compliance in assigned buildings, collaborating with laboratory, safety, facilities, and other personnel to implement and manage processes to support building-wide hazardous material management plans in compliance with federal, state, and local requirements. Part of your duties will include monitoring chemical inventories for potential exceedances of Maximum Allowable Quantity thresholds, and working with lab/college/departmental stakeholders, university partners, and consultants to address. Through a customer service-oriented approach, you will be proactive in assisting laboratories for the purchase, inventory, storage, use, and disposal of hazardous materials and regulated waste.
• Laboratory Emergency Planning and Response (35%) You will be a focal point in the implementation of Emergency Action Plans (EAP) for laboratories, including training and exercises/drills as outlined in the EAP. You will be the lead in ensuring emergency equipment for laboratories are maintained, inspected, and certified, and that laboratory safety information for first responders is maintained. You will serve as the emergency coordinator and emergency contact for assigned buildings and will participate in the OARS on-call program and emergency response team in the event of laboratory or facility incident. As part of incident management, you will investigate laboratory incidents, documents findings, track corrective actions, and assist lab personnel to reduce the likelihood of similar incidents.
• Other Duties and Responsibilities (25%) As an embedded safety staff, you will work with principal investigators and lab personnel with risk assessments, safety inspections, and will promote safe lab work practices, working closely with other subject matter experts and providing referrals as needed. You will assist with start-up, commissioning, registration, shutdowns, and decommissioning of labs/makerspaces/shops, and will contribute to lab design and construction/renovation projects. As a primary safety contact in assigned buildings, you will disseminate and provide training on safety resources, regulatory information, compliance requirements, and best practices, including developing and implementing safety guidance and standard operating procedures. Maintaining an active presence in labs, shops, and makerspaces is essential, with routine lab inspections and functional testing of safety systems as core responsibilities for maintaining knowledge of the safety requirements for lab operations and enabling continuous improvement in compliance and safety.

Benefits

• Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation.
• Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees