Lead Saftey Officer

Vanderbilt University Medical Center•Nashville, TN

54d

About The Position

This role is responsible for implementing and evaluating chemical, biological, radiological, general, and fire safety programs independently. The Lead Safety Officer ensures that facilities comply with standards set by regulatory and accrediting agencies and acts as a lead resource for the team in achieving department objectives. The position involves direct supervision of staff, performance evaluation, mentoring, and processing employee actions. The role requires a deep understanding of external regulations and internal policies, including developing inspection checklists, conducting inspections, evaluating compliance, and developing departmental documents such as SOPs and guides. Training delivery, including the development of presentations and programs, is also a key responsibility. The Lead Safety Officer provides direction and supervision to Associate Safety Officers and/or Safety Officers, and is expected to continually enhance technical skills in areas like radiation safety, chemical safety, biological safety, or hospital safety, potentially pursuing or maintaining certifications. Participation in and leadership of various committees, subcommittees, and task forces is expected, including facilitating meetings, setting agendas, and managing minutes. The role also involves developing departmental reports for internal and external use. Technical capabilities include advanced knowledge in computer/electronic use, safety practices, regulatory compliance interpretation and application, documentation and writing, project management, and data analysis.

Requirements

Master's degree
5 years of relevant work experience
Advanced knowledge of computer/electronic applications and tasks.
Advanced knowledge of and attentiveness to safety, and compliance with safety rules.
Advanced knowledge of appropriate rules and regulations and ability to apply them in difficult, stressful and complex situations.
Ability to interpret and explain ambiguous or unclear rules and regulations.
Ability to direct others in interpreting rules and regulations on the job and train others in them.
Advanced knowledge, training, and experience in documentation and writing to provide high quality products.
Ability to deliver documentation services in a creative and imaginative manner.
Advanced project management skills: Planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.
Advanced data analysis skills: Ability to analyze data in an accurate manner.
Experience in information technology and informatics, finance, administration, legal and community affairs, human resources, communications and marketing, development, facilities.
Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance and gain knowledge in new areas.
Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.
Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences.
Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.
Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.
Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness.
Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.
Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them.
Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring.
Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.
Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.
Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities.
Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.
Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges.
Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Nice To Haves

Certifications

Responsibilities

Directly supervise staff, evaluating performance and delivering feedback.
Mentor and develop employees' performance.
Process employee actions in employee management system.
Communicate team performance to department leadership.
Understand applicable external regulations and internal policies/SOP's and evaluate compliance status.
Develop inspection checklists, perform inspections, prepare and present results, and perform program evaluations.
Develop final department documents including SOP's and guides.
Deliver training to all audiences.
Develop training presentations and programs.
Provide direction/assistance and supervise Associate Safety Officers and/or Safety Officers.
Continually enhance technical skills in either radiation safety, chemical safety, biological safety, hospital safety or a combination of multiple areas.
Participate in scholastic study of technical area to maintain certification or plot a path to certification.
Participate on, lead, and present at various associated committees, subcommittees and task forces by appointment; provide recommendations and assist with corrective actions.
Facilitate meetings, set agenda and manage minutes for committee meetings.
Develop departmental reports for internal and/or external reporting including producing final versions.