Director of Safety & Fleet Compliance

PJK FOOD SERVICE LLC•Landover, MD

4d•$140,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Safety & Fleet Compliance provides strategic and hands-on leadership for occupational safety, commercial fleet safety, regulatory compliance, and risk reduction across Keany Produce & Gourmet’s perishable-food distribution operations. The role supports refrigerated and ambient warehouses, loading docks, food-production and value-added areas, offices, drivers, delivery routes, and company vehicles. This leader builds a practical, prevention-focused safety culture while helping operations meet customer service, product integrity, and on-time delivery expectations. The Director partners closely with Operations, Transportation, Human Resources, Food Safety/Quality Assurance, Maintenance, and executive leadership to reduce injuries, collisions, claims, compliance exposure, and business interruption. This is not an environmental-management position.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in occupational safety, transportation, logistics, risk management, business, engineering, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
10 or more years of progressive safety, fleet safety, transportation compliance, risk, or operational leadership experience, including at least five years leading people or enterprise programs.
Demonstrated experience supporting commercial fleet and distribution, food distribution, grocery, cold-chain, warehousing, manufacturing, or similar complex, high-activity operations.
Strong working knowledge of OSHA requirements and DOT/FMCSA motor-carrier safety requirements; ability to translate regulations into practical operating standards.
Experience leading serious-incident and collision investigations, corrective-action programs, regulatory audits, and workers’ compensation and auto-liability claim reviews.
Ability to analyze safety, telematics, claims, and compliance data and convert findings into measurable improvements.
Strong leadership, judgment, communication, and influencing skills; comfortable working with executives, site leaders, front-line employees, drivers, regulators, insurers, and external partners.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and safety, learning, claims, telematics, ELD, or fleet-management systems.
Valid driver’s license and ability to travel regularly among company locations; occasional after-hours availability for serious incidents or emergencies.

Nice To Haves

Professional certification such as Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Associate Safety Professional (ASP), Certified Director of Safety (CDS), or comparable credentials.
Experience with multi-site operations and a mixed commercial fleet serving dense urban, suburban, and regional delivery routes.
Familiarity with refrigerated operations, cold-storage hazards, food-distribution workflows, and bilingual or multilingual workforces.
Experience improving insurance loss performance, claim outcomes, and fleet-safety technology adoption.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a multi-site safety and fleet-compliance strategy aligned with Keany’s operational goals, risk profile, and growth plans.
Establish clear standards, accountability, and routines that embed safety into warehouse, production, transportation, and delivery activities.
Advise executive and site leadership on significant safety risks, regulatory obligations, corrective actions, and resource priorities.
Lead and coach site safety committees, operational leaders, supervisors, drivers, and designated safety representatives.
Maintain company policies and procedures for occupational safety, vehicle operation, incident response, and related compliance programs.
Direct safety programs for refrigerated warehouses, coolers and freezers, loading docks, material handling, order selection, receiving, replenishment, sanitation, and value-added food operations.
Ensure effective programs for powered industrial trucks, pedestrian–vehicle separation, dock safety, ergonomics and material handling, slips/trips/falls, machine guarding, lockout/tagout, hazard communication, personal protective equipment, contractor safety, and cold-environment exposure.
Lead job hazard analyses and operational risk assessments; partner with leaders to implement feasible engineering, administrative, and work-practice controls.
Conduct or oversee facility inspections and compliance audits, document findings, assign owners and deadlines, and verify sustainable closure of corrective actions.
Coordinate safety requirements for new facilities, equipment, process changes, fleet assets, and expansion projects.
Own the enterprise fleet-safety program for commercial motor vehicles, delivery vehicles, trailers, and other company-operated vehicles.
Oversee compliance with applicable U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requirements, including driver qualification files, hours of service, electronic logging, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle inspection/maintenance documentation, accident registers, and record retention.
Partner with Transportation and Maintenance to monitor preventive maintenance, pre- and post-trip inspections, out-of-service issues, vehicle condition, and timely correction of safety defects.
Use telematics, camera events, roadside inspection results, preventability reviews, and driver performance trends to target coaching and reduce collisions and unsafe driving behavior.
Maintain consistent driver onboarding, qualification, road-evaluation, remedial-training, and annual review process.
Monitor carrier safety performance and applicable compliance indicators; lead action plans that protect operating authority, insurability, and customer service.
Maintain compliance with applicable OSHA, DOT/FMCSA, state occupational-safety, motor-vehicle, and workers’ compensation requirements.
Manage regulatory inspections, inquiries, citations, and response plans in partnership with Legal, Human Resources, Operations, and other stakeholders.
Maintain accurate policies, training records, inspection records, injury and illness logs, driver and fleet records, and other required documentation.
Coordinate with Food Safety/Quality Assurance where employee or fleet safety intersects with sanitation, product handling, cold-chain integrity, facility security, and food-defense practices; food-safety program ownership remains with the designated Food Safety/Quality function.
Lead or oversee prompt investigations of employee injuries, vehicle collisions, property damage, near misses, and high-potential events using consistent root-cause methods.
Chair collision and preventability reviews and ensure corrective actions, coaching, discipline recommendations, or process improvements are applied consistently.
Partner with Human Resources, insurance carriers, brokers, third-party administrators, and legal counsel on workers’ compensation, auto liability, general liability, and related claims.
Support early reporting, return-to-work, litigation prevention, claim reviews, reserve discussions, and loss-control initiatives.
Identify recurring causes and verify that corrective and preventive actions are completed and effective across affected locations.
Design or approve role-specific safety and fleet training for employees, supervisors, managers, drivers, temporary labor, and contractors.
Ensure training is practical, documented, delivered in languages and formats appropriate to the workforce, and reinforced through observation and coaching.
Develop safety communications, toolbox talks, campaigns, recognition practices, and leader routines that encourage reporting and shared accountability.
Build the capability of operational leaders to address unsafe conditions and behaviors in real time.
Establish and report leading and lagging indicators, including injury rates, severity, lost time, near-miss reporting, audit completion, corrective-action closure, collisions, preventability, roadside inspections, driver events, training completion, and claim trends.
Prepare concise dashboards and executive updates that identify trends, business impact, priority risks, and recommended actions.
Benchmark performance, set measurable annual goals, and lead cross-functional improvement projects that reduce risk without compromising food quality, delivery service, or productivity.
Manage the safety and fleet-compliance budget and evaluate vendors, consultants, training providers, and safety technology.
Maintain and test emergency action plans for fire, severe weather, power loss, ammonia or refrigerant events where applicable, vehicle emergencies, workplace violence, medical events, and other location-specific risks.
Coordinate drills, emergency contacts, first-aid/AED readiness, and post-event reviews with facility leaders and external responders.
Support business-continuity planning for incidents that could disrupt warehouse operations, cold-chain performance, or customer deliveries.