Manager, Pipeline Safety

Southern Company•Virginia Beach, VA

About The Position

The Manager, Pipeline Safety provides leadership and coordination for Southern Company Gas’s Pipeline Safety Management System, APEX. The position is responsible for implementation and enterprise initiatives, supporting APEX development, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement in alignment with API Recommended Practice 1173, applicable regulatory requirements, operating-company priorities, and enterprise governance. The Manager works across operational, technical, compliance, safety, risk, legal, communications, and executive functions to translate leadership direction and pipeline-safety expectations into defined initiatives, decisions, responsibilities, measures, and sustainable operating practices. The role coordinates enterprise pipeline-safety strategy and programs, supports APEX governance and management review, manages assigned projects and program processes (with specific focus on Management of Change), and presents performance, risks, gaps, priorities, and resource needs to leadership. It also supports continuous improvement, stakeholder engagement, industry collaboration, and alignment with operating, regulatory, and legal requirements. The Manager leads direct reports and matrixed teams, develops team capability, and coordinates subject-matter experts and cross-functional resources. The position primarily works in an office environment, with possible exposure to moving mechanical parts, fumes, airborne particles, chemicals, and construction activities. Occasional local and overnight travel is required; keyboarding accounts for approximately 50%–80% of daily tasks.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, safety, operations, business, project management, risk management, organizational learning, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
Seven or more years of progressive experience in pipeline operations, natural-gas utilities, safety management systems, integrity management, regulatory compliance, operational excellence, risk management, engineering, or complex program leadership.
Five or more years leading cross-functional programs, process improvements, or management-system implementation.
Demonstrated experience translating strategic or regulatory requirements into executable processes, governance, measures, and sustained operating practices.
Experience preparing and presenting complex operational or safety information to leadership.
Working knowledge of API RP 1173 and Pipeline Safety Management System principles.
Ability to distinguish regulatory obligations from voluntary management-system expectations.
Knowledge of governance, management review, continuous improvement, and Plan-Do-Check-Adjust principles.
Strong facilitation and decision-framing skills.
Operational judgment and ability to work effectively with field and technical organizations.
Advanced stakeholder-management, influencing, negotiation, and conflict-resolution skills.
Ability to lead across organizational boundaries without relying solely on direct authority.
Ability to translate complex operational, technical, or regulatory matters into clear leadership decisions and executable actions.
Knowledge of project and program management, risk management, change management, and process design.
Ability to define and interpret KPIs, dashboards, trends, action aging, and program-effectiveness measures.
Strong written communication, presentation, documentation, and executive-reporting skills.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives and prioritize safety, regulatory, operational, and time-sensitive commitments appropriately.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and applicable project, reporting, dashboard, action-tracking, and document-management tools.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree in engineering management, business administration, safety, risk management, or a related field.
Professional Engineer, Project Management Professional, Certified Safety Professional, Six Sigma, change-management, causal-analysis, or comparable credential relevant to the work.
Experience implementing or supporting API RP 1173 or another recognized safety or quality management system.
Experience in natural-gas distribution, transmission, Storage & Peaking, Construction, System Operations, or related utility operations.
Experience with Management of Change, operational learning or incident review, CAPA, contractor engagement, management review, audits, or maturity assessments.
Three or more years of formal supervisory or people-leadership experience.
Experience working with regulators, industry associations, or cross-company peer groups.
Natural-gas distribution or transmission engineering and construction knowledge.
Knowledge of applicable federal and state pipeline-safety requirements.
Experience with MOC, OLR, CAPA, Good Catch, near miss, Stop Work, safety alerts, and learning communications.
Experience with contractor PSMS or contractor safety-management integration.
Experience supporting assessments, audits, management reviews, or safety-culture evaluations.
Familiarity with enterprise reporting and action-management environments such as Power BI, SharePoint, Maximo, and comparable platforms.

Responsibilities

Coordinate development, design, and implementation of enterprise Pipeline Safety Management programs and strategy.
Manage assigned enterprise projects and programs involving API RP 1173 elements and initiatives.
Develop, implement, and execute supporting program processes, with specific focus on the Management of Change Program.
Support the APEX governance model, including element owners and leads, support structures, operating routines, and documented responsibilities.
Establish project and program charters, scope, objectives, deliverables, owners, schedules, decision points, and escalation paths.
Ensure appropriate interpretation, application, and implementation of applicable federal, state, and local codes and guidelines on projects and programs.
Present APEX performance, emerging risks, program gaps, priorities, and resource needs to appropriate leadership forums.
Coordinate management-review inputs, including goals, measures, risk-management results, audit and assessment findings, incident and learning-review outcomes, stakeholder feedback, corrective actions, and improvement opportunities.
Prepare leadership materials that distinguish approved measures from exploratory or prototype metrics.
Ensure management-review outputs produce documented decisions, assigned actions, owners, due dates, resource commitments, and follow-through.
Use quantitative and risk analyses to support compliance and business results.
Analyze project and program performance and lessons learned, and initiate process improvements.
Identify and contract qualified contractors and resources for project and program work.
Prepare and present project and program metrics on project and budget health to business owners and upper management.
Lead and advocate for continuous improvement and strategic alignment of the Pipeline Safety Management System across the enterprise.
Meet with Compliance & Technical Services leadership and support development of processes and standards as compliance initiatives are introduced.
Collaborate with business unit leaders to align work with operating, regulatory, and legal requirements.
Provide business and operations direction to contractors and team members based on risk evaluations, company standards and procedures, and regulatory requirements.
Lead direct reports and matrixed project teams responsible for PSMS analysis, program management, assessments, implementation, reporting, and continuous improvement.
Establish team objectives, responsibilities, deliverables, development expectations, and performance measures.
Build team capability in API RP 1173, facilitation, operational learning, action management, stakeholder engagement, data interpretation, and change leadership.
Acquire and coordinate subject-matter experts and cross-functional resources needed to deliver assigned work.
Promote collaboration, constructive challenge, timely escalation, and documented accountability.