Director, Safety & Compliance
About The Position
The Director of Safety, Compliance & Safeguarding (North America) provides strategic leadership for safeguarding, child protection, regulatory compliance, health and safety, and enterprise risk management across operations in Canada and the United States. Reporting to the VP of Safety & Compliance, this executive leadership role develops and drives a consistent North American framework so every school, centre, acquisition, and new development meets shared standards for safety, compliance, operational excellence, and child wellbeing. The Director leads the North American Safety Audit Team, consisting of nine direct reports, and oversees safety audits, regulatory matters, and corrective action planning. The position partners with Operations, Human Resources, Legal, Licensing, Facilities, Development, and Executive Leadership to identify and mitigate risk while fostering accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement. The role leads safeguarding and child protection frameworks; oversees regulatory compliance and compliance monitoring; manages audit standards, processes, records, metrics, and corrective action follow-up; and directs enterprise health, safety, emergency preparedness, crisis management, business continuity, and risk-reduction initiatives. Frequent travel, including overnight travel, is required. The role also requires meeting applicable background-screening requirements.
Requirements
- 5+ years of progressive experience in early childhood education, safety, compliance, quality assurance, operations, or a related field.
- Experience leading audit, compliance, safety, or risk-management programs across multiple locations.
- Strong knowledge of childcare licensing, health and safety requirements, incident management, and regulatory compliance.
- Experience leading and developing teams, managing competing priorities, and partnering effectively with operational leadership.
- Demonstrated ability to interpret regulations, identify risk, analyze trends, and develop corrective and preventative actions.
- Ability to travel frequently, including overnight travel.
- Ability to walk, stand, bend, stoop, and move in a variety of environments.
- Ability to occasionally lift or carry materials or equipment weighing up to 25 pounds.
- Ability to work at a computer for extended periods of time.
- Must be able to meet applicable background screening.
Nice To Haves
- Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, Business, or a related field preferred.
Responsibilities
- Lead the organization's safeguarding framework across all North American operations.
- Develop and maintain safeguarding policies, standards, and procedures.
- Ensure consistent implementation of child protection practices, supervision standards, and mandatory reporting requirements across jurisdictions.
- Monitor safeguarding trends and identify systemic risks requiring organizational action.
- Lead enterprise-wide corrective action planning following serious regulatory visits.
- Oversee compliance with provincial, state, federal, licensing, accreditation, and organizational requirements.
- Develop enterprise-wide compliance monitoring systems and audit programs.
- Conduct operational compliance reviews and risk assessments across locations.
- Support centres during licensing inspections, investigations, corrective actions, and regulatory reviews.
- Monitor legislative and regulatory changes and implement organizational responses.
- Lead the management, training, calibration, and performance of a team of nine field-based Auditors conducting routine audits across assigned centres.
- Establish and maintain consistent audit standards, tools, protocols, scoring methodologies, and documentation practices.
- Develop and maintain a centralized system for audit documentation, findings, corrective action plans, supporting evidence, and historical records.
- Analyze audit results to identify recurring findings, emerging risks, regional and organizational trends, repeat deficiencies, and opportunities for systemic improvement.
- Establish processes for timely escalation of critical or high-risk findings and partner with stakeholders to ensure corrective actions are implemented, documented, and sustained.
- Develop and report audit metrics and trends to leadership and cross-functional partners.
- Regularly evaluate and enhance the Safety Audits based on trends, regulatory changes, organizational growth, and lessons learned.
- Lead enterprise-wide health and safety initiatives across schools, centres, offices, and support functions.
- Develop organizational emergency preparedness, crisis management, and business continuity strategies.
- Monitor incident trends and implement proactive risk-reduction initiatives.
- Oversee safety programs related to supervision, transportation, visitor management, physical security, playground safety, and emergency response.
- Lead enterprise risk assessments and organizational mitigation strategies.
- Drive enterprise-wide consistency in safeguarding, compliance, documentation, and operational procedures.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Paid time off and company holidays
- Professional development and leadership growth opportunities
- Collaborative, supportive leadership team
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
