Health & Safety Director - Global

Hines•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Global Health & Safety Director provides global functional leadership for Health & Safety across Hines' Global Management Solutions (GMS) platform. The Director sets strategy, policy, governance, management-system requirements and minimum operating standards, and supports their consistent, proportionate implementation across jurisdictions and operating models. In partnership with regional and country leaders and key functions, the Director ensures material Health & Safety, fire, life-safety and building-safety risks are identified, governed, reported and escalated appropriately. Regional and local leaders retain accountability for statutory compliance and operational execution. As a prominent member of the Real Estate Risk Committee (RERC), the Director helps shape the agenda, raises material and emerging risks, provides informed challenge, and drives significant issues and remediation actions to closure. The role translates differing legislative and enforcement frameworks into practical global minimum standards while recognising more stringent local requirements. It maintains sufficient engagement with regional teams, managed assets, major incidents and strategic suppliers to keep Hines' Health & Safety framework practical, credible and continuously improving. The position leads global strategy, regulatory oversight, assurance, performance and incident governance; partners with regional and operational leaders; establishes supplier, fire and building-safety governance; supports client, investor and external assurance; and develops global capability, culture and collaboration. The role includes targeted reviews and international travel and requires influence across a global matrix organisation.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree, or an equivalent combination of advanced professional qualification and substantial senior experience.
Chartered or Certified Member of IOSH (CMIOSH / CertIOSH), or equivalent recognised professional accreditation.
Significant senior-level Health & Safety experience, typically 12 or more years, in commercial real estate, property management, facilities management, engineering services or another complex multinational operating environment.
Experience developing global or multi-regional Health & Safety strategies, policies, governance frameworks and management systems.
Experience working across the Americas and Europe and navigating differing legislative, regulatory and enforcement approaches, including familiarity with the US OSHA framework and relevant UK and European requirements.
Experience serving on, or presenting regularly to, enterprise or real estate risk committees and advising senior and executive leadership.
Experience operating in a global matrix organisation and influencing leaders without direct authority.
Strong understanding of commercial property operations and material operational risks, including engineering services, fire and life safety, contractor management and strategic suppliers.
Experience establishing and overseeing global or multi-regional assurance programmes, performance reporting, remediation governance and significant-incident oversight.
Ability to translate complex technical and regulatory matters into clear policies, governance protocols and executive-level recommendations, including in client, investor and reputational-risk contexts.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Occupational Health & Safety, Risk Management, Engineering, Business or a related discipline.
ISO 45001 Lead Auditor qualification.
NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma or equivalent Level 6 qualification.
Qualification in fire safety, building safety, operational risk, business continuity or resilience.
Executive or professional development in governance, leadership or enterprise risk management.
Experience leading a global or multi-regional Health & Safety function within commercial real estate or a comparable service-led organisation.
Direct experience across both US and European commercial real estate markets.
Experience with ISO 45001 and other recognised occupational Health & Safety management frameworks.
Experience with global governance, risk, compliance or assurance technology platforms.
Experience engaging directly with regulators, insurers, professional bodies and major clients, including oversight of fire, life-safety or building-safety governance across complex portfolios.
Strategic Health & Safety leadership with practical operational judgement.
Global governance, enterprise risk and assurance oversight.
Multi-jurisdictional regulatory expertise.
Executive communication, presentation, influence and stakeholder management.
Commercial understanding of real estate operations, including fire, life-safety, building-risk and supply-chain governance.
Cross-cultural leadership and matrix collaboration.
Data-led insight, continuous improvement, integrity and accountability.

Responsibilities

Develop, maintain and communicate Hines' global Health & Safety strategy, policy framework, governance model and management-system requirements.
Establish global minimum standards, operating protocols, accountabilities, priorities, roadmaps and performance expectations aligned with GMS strategy and Hines' operational-risk framework.
Maintain informed oversight of Health & Safety, fire, building-safety and occupational-risk regulation across key jurisdictions, particularly the Americas, United Kingdom and continental Europe; translate requirements and enforcement approaches into practical standards and implementation expectations.
Monitor regulatory change and communicate material developments; advise senior and executive leadership on material risks, regulatory developments and organisational priorities; commission specialist advisers when needed.
Establish and oversee a risk-based global Health & Safety assurance framework, coordinate regional and third-party assurance, and review outcomes, indicators and systemic themes to set improvement priorities.
Track significant findings and remediation actions to closure, escalating delays, recurring concerns and systemic weaknesses.
Develop global Health & Safety KPIs, dashboards and executive reporting for GMS, the RERC and senior leadership, using technology and standardised workflows to improve risk visibility.
Set global requirements for significant-incident and high-potential-event reporting, escalation and investigation; provide executive oversight of serious incidents and ensure investigations, root-cause analysis and corrective actions are robust.
Benchmark Hines' performance and governance against recognised industry practice and relevant peers; communicate significant incidents, lessons, themes and remediation plans through relevant governance forums.
Partner with regional and country leaders to put global strategy, policies and standards into practice; provide strategic guidance and technical oversight to Property Management, Engineering Services, Asset Management and Investment Management leadership.
Engage with operational teams and managed assets, including through targeted reviews and international travel, to understand performance, implementation challenges and emerging risks.
Support mobilisations, acquisitions, service transitions and organisational changes from a Health & Safety governance perspective; challenge practices or controls that fall short of global expectations and promote knowledge sharing.
Establish global Health & Safety expectations for suppliers, contractors and outsourced service providers, including competency and vendor-assurance standards; work with Procurement to embed requirements throughout supplier processes.
Oversee strategic-supplier performance and escalate material supplier risks and remediation plans through appropriate governance forums.
Establish global governance standards and minimum requirements for fire, life-safety and building-safety risks with Engineering Services and regional specialists; oversee material deficiencies, remediation and enforcement matters.
Provide senior Health & Safety input to client and investor assurance, due diligence, governance reviews and significant new business or service-transition opportunities; represent Hines with clients, investors, regulators, insurers, professional bodies and industry forums.
Establish global capability, competency and training expectations; promote professional development and communities of practice; foster accountability, transparency, learning and continuous improvement, including an integrated approach to occupational health, safety and wellbeing.
Build effective relationships across Hines and lead or contribute to committees, working groups and cross-functional initiatives; influence within the matrix organisation and contribute to the global operational-risk governance framework and Management Services priorities.