Director of Safety – Safety Division – SF Municipal Transportation Agency (9183)

City and County of San Francisco•San Francisco, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Safety serves as San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) safety executive, providing strategic leadership for all safety programs for one of the nation’s largest and most complex urban transit systems. Operating under broad policy direction, this role is central to the Agency’s unwavering commitment to safety and protecting passengers, employees and the public across bus and rail operations every day. The Safety Director assumes full accountability for developing and executing the Agency’s strategic safety plan, setting long-range goals and shaping policy across occupational health (Cal/OSHA) and system safety disciplines. This is a high-visibility leadership role with direct broad reporting and agency-wide impact.

Requirements

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university; AND Ten (10) years of professional-level experience in transit system safety, safety management, industrial safety, transportation planning and/or system safety engineering of which four (4) years of this experience was in a supervisory or management capacity supervising professional-level staff; AND Possession of a valid driver’s license.
One year (2000 hours) of qualifying experience will be considered equivalent to 30 semester units/45 quarter units.

Nice To Haves

Credentials as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Transit Safety and Security (TSSP) or comparable certification.
Experience in developing and implementing safety programs in multimodal transit setting
Extensive knowledge of operational safety, system safety engineering, quality assurance, workers’ compensation, loss control, and management principles.
Thorough understanding of rail and bus systems, transit procedures, and equipment, including vehicles, facilities, power, signal, communications, and control systems.
Demonstrated experience in budgeting, strategic planning.
Ability to work effectively with diverse staff and diverse demographics.

Responsibilities

Ensuring the agency complies with laws, standards, and regulations required by government agencies including Cal/OSHA, EPA, FTA, DOT, DOL, and CPUC; industry best practices, standards and requirements established by APTA, NTSB, ANSI, NFPA and TCRP.
Develops, implements and continuously improves comprehensive safety policies and procedures to reduce risk, eliminates accidents and protect all agency stakeholders.
Monitors the regulatory landscape and proactively adapts agency programs to address evolving compliance requirements.
Provides leadership over all aspects of the Safety Division including the System Safety team, establishing vision, priorities, and performance standards aligned with Agency goals.
Leads development of the agency’s goals, strategic plans, policies, procedures, and work standards translating policy direction into measurable programs and outcomes.
Champions a culture of safety agency-wide, influencing leadership, operations and front-line staff through visible commitment and clear communication.
Manages organizational change initiatives within the Safety Division, ensuring effective transitions and sustained performance.
Oversees occupational safety and health (Cal/OSHA) and system safety programs for bus and rail operations and ensuring robust safeguards across all operating environments.
Develops and ensures safety procedures to reduce and eliminate accidents, injuries and system failures.
Leads accident investigation programs ensuring root cause analysis is conducted rigorously and corrective actions are implemented and tracked to closure.
Develops and presents comprehensive safety reports for executive management and the SFMTA Board of Directors translating complex data into clear, actionable insights.
Collaborates cross – functionally with operations, City officials, City Attorney’s Office, and HR leadership to integrate safety into all agency functions.
Serves as the agency’s primary point of contact for safety-related regulatory agencies and external stakeholders.
Directs the development and implementation of effective safety training, education and prevention programs throughout the agency.
Performs other duties as assigned.