Sr Director Risk Management EH&S

Ulta Beauty, Inc. • Bolingbrook, IL

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Risk Management provides enterprise oversight of insurance program management, claims management, environment, health and safety (EH&S), and enterprise risk management (ERM) for Ulta Beauty’s multi-site retail, salon, and distribution operations. The role directly manages the insurance function and leads managers responsible for Claims Management, EH&S, and ERM, ensuring strong governance, consistent execution, and measurable results. It partners with Operations, Supply Chain/Distribution, People Success, Loss Prevention, Finance, and Legal to reduce loss frequency and severity, strengthen compliance and incident management, and use data and analytics to improve program performance. The position reports to the Chief Legal Officer.

The leader owns insurance strategy, governance, renewals, broker and carrier relationships, coverage analysis, captive program governance, risk financing, budgets, and total cost of risk. The role also oversees claims strategy and administration, third-party administrator and managed-care performance, litigation management, reserves, recoveries, and return-to-work processes. It provides strategic oversight of EH&S compliance, safety programs, inspections, incident investigations, chemical safety, contractor safety, OSHA reporting, and emergency preparedness. For ERM, the role leads program governance, risk assessments, the enterprise risk register, mitigation planning, reporting, escalation, scenario analysis, and stress testing.

The Senior Director establishes operating and governance rhythms across Insurance, Claims, EH&S, and ERM; delivers executive-ready reporting; maintains enterprise risk and incident-management policies and playbooks; and drives continuous improvement, training, and adoption across field and distribution teams. The role also supports Ulta Beauty subsidiary Space NK in the U.K. and Ireland with insurance coordination. Travel may be required to support stores, distribution centers, and key stakeholders.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Risk Management, Business, Finance, Safety, or a related field.
• 15 or more years of progressive experience in corporate risk management and/or insurance.
• At least 5 years in a senior leadership role leading a risk management organization through people managers or program leaders, within a large multi-site U.S. retailer, distribution or warehouse operator, or similarly complex environment.
• Demonstrated success leading and developing people managers or program leaders, including goal setting, performance management, coaching, succession planning, and indirect leadership of larger multi-site teams.
• Experience managing brokers, TPAs, carriers, counsel, and consultants with strong governance, service-level expectations, and financial discipline.
• Strong communication and executive presentation skills, with the ability to influence across functions and levels.
• Demonstrated ability to use KPIs, dashboards, and trend analysis to improve team performance, program efficacy, and total cost of risk.
• Ability to travel as needed to support stores, distribution centers, and key stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

• Professional certifications such as CPCU, ARM, or similar.
• A safety credential such as CSP or similar, and experience partnering with EH&S leaders in multi-site operations.
• Experience with captives, large deductible programs, and collateral management.

Responsibilities

• Lead the insurance function and own program strategy, governance, renewal calendar, and broker and carrier relationships.
• Oversee coverage placement and analysis for core insurance lines, ensuring appropriate limits, retentions, and endorsements for store, salon, and distribution exposures.
• Oversee captive program governance, service-provider performance, reporting, and integration with retention strategy and claim funding.
• Optimize risk financing using loss analytics and market benchmarks; own insurance and risk-management budgets and monitor total cost of risk.
• Oversee insurance administration, certificates of insurance, additional-insured processes, contract and lease requirements, and exposure-data reporting and audits.
• Support Space NK with insurance coverage placement, compliance, documentation, and coordination with brokers, carriers, and internal partners.
• Lead the Claims Management program through a claims manager, setting strategy, performance expectations, controls, and resourcing.
• Oversee claims strategy and outcomes across workers’ compensation, general liability, auto as applicable, property, and employment-related claims.
• Set claim handling standards and documentation controls, including claim files, loss runs, litigation status, confidentiality, and retention practices.
• Direct TPA and managed-care oversight, including service levels, quality audits, performance, escalation, and KPI-based improvement.
• Oversee litigation management and outside counsel strategy for high-exposure matters in partnership with Legal.
• Partner with Finance, actuarial resources, carriers, and TPAs on reserves, trends, collateral needs, claim funding, and financial reporting.
• Oversee subrogation, recovery, claim quality, and fraud and leakage prevention; support return-to-work and accommodation processes with People Success/HR and Operations.
• Lead the EH&S program through an EH&S manager and set priorities, governance, objectives, and consistent execution across stores, salons, and distribution centers.
• Oversee compliance with applicable U.S. federal, state, and local requirements, including OSHA, and oversee required safety programs and training.
• Oversee safety inspections, audits, near-miss reporting, corrective action tracking, serious incident response, investigations, root-cause analysis, and operational learning.
• Oversee chemical safety and industrial hygiene considerations, including SDS management and safe handling and storage; partner on ergonomics and material-handling controls.
• Establish contractor and vendor safety expectations for store and distribution center projects and maintenance.
• Oversee OSHA recordkeeping and reporting, EH&S metrics and trend analysis, site readiness, and emergency preparedness.
• Lead the ERM program through an ERM manager, including program design, enterprise engagement, reporting, and escalation.
• Establish ERM governance, a risk taxonomy, and an assessment cadence aligned with strategic planning and operational cycles.
• Maintain an enterprise risk register and facilitate risk-owner accountability, mitigation plans, and documented controls.
• Partner with business units on mitigation plans and controls for insurable and non-insurable risks, including contingency planning where appropriate.
• Provide ERM reporting to senior leadership and, as applicable, board or committee audiences; communicate emerging risks, trends, recommendations, and material-event escalations.
• Facilitate scenario analysis and stress testing for priority risks and ensure mitigation and response plans are reviewed and improved.
• Establish governance cadence and operating rhythms across Insurance, Claims, EH&S, and ERM to track performance, risks, and priorities.
• Lead enterprise reporting and executive updates on risk, loss, and program performance, including trends, issues, decisions, and recommended actions.
• Own and maintain enterprise risk and incident-management policies, standards, and playbooks; drive adoption through training, communications, and change management.
• Drive continuous improvement by identifying control gaps and process inefficiencies and implementing scalable solutions, training, and field and distribution enablement.
• Develop and empower managers through coaching, feedback, accountability, goal setting, performance management, and succession planning.
• Build cross-functional relationships and use data and analytics to drive measurable improvement in cost, risk, and performance.
• Travel as needed to support stores, distribution centers, and key stakeholders.

Benefits

• Eligible full-time positions receive paid time off.
• Health benefits.
• Dental benefits.
• Vision benefits.
• Life insurance benefits.
• Disability benefits.
• Eligible associates may earn additional compensation under the company’s bonus plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director