Senior EHS Manager

Saronic Technologies•Austin, TX

19d

About The Position

The Senior EHS Manager is a hands-on people leader responsible for building, scaling, and implementing Environmental, Health & Safety programs across Saronic shipyards and maritime operations. In a startup and high-growth environment, the role balances day-to-day execution with program development, team leadership, and change management. The manager partners with operations, engineering, and leadership to establish scalable EHS systems that support growth while maintaining regulatory compliance, reducing risk, and promoting learning and operational excellence. The role oversees EHS programs for shipyard work and vessel maintenance, repair, and operations, including fabrication, welding, blasting, coating, electrical work, rigging, heavy equipment, dry dock, pier-side, and yard-based activities. It also develops procedures and supports safe vessel commissioning, dock trials, sea trials, launch and recovery, mooring, towing, and operational testing. The manager ensures environmental compliance programs are established and maintained and integrates safety into facility, equipment, and vessel design and operational planning. The position leads EHS team development, builds and adapts programs as facilities and operations grow, and manages compliance, risk, and incident response. The role supports regulatory inspections and audits and ensures adherence to applicable OSHA, EPA, USCG, ISM, and state and local requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in occupational health and safety, environmental science, engineering, public health, or a related field.
At least 7 years of EHS experience, preferably in boat building, aerospace, general manufacturing, or industrial environments.
Experience leading, coaching, and developing team members to achieve individual and organizational goals.
Thorough understanding of federal, state, and local EHS regulations, including OSHA, EPA/TCEQ, DOT, and USCG requirements and marine safety practices applicable to small vessels.
Hands-on experience supporting complex manufacturing operations such as welding, composites, machining, electrical systems, testing, and integration.
Strong communication skills and ability to influence frontline employees through executive leadership.
Ability to work with limited structure and balance urgency, risk, and business objectives.

Nice To Haves

Professional certification such as ASP, CSP, CIH, or CHMM.
At least 7 years working on or with industrial hygiene, exposure assessments, indoor air quality, or ventilation.
Experience building, scaling, or formalizing EHS programs in startup, scale-up, or rapidly growing manufacturing organizations.
Demonstrated success leading and developing EHS teams, including hiring, onboarding, and coaching in evolving environments.
Experience supporting marine or maritime operations, including vessel launch and recovery, sea trials, dockside work, or field operations involving vessels under 60 feet.
Experience integrating EHS into engineering and operational decisions, including safety-by-design and design-for-manufacturability considerations.
Strong background in incident investigation, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action management in fast-paced environments.
Experience managing environmental compliance programs such as hazardous waste, stormwater, chemical management, and spill prevention (SPCC).
Familiarity with federal, state, and local regulatory inspections, audits, and permitting.
Ability to establish and track leading and lagging EHS metrics for data-driven decision-making.
Experience driving safety-culture initiatives during organizational change.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, hire, onboard, train, and develop the EHS team; set priorities, performance expectations, and development plans.
Provide people management, including performance reviews, succession planning, coaching, goal setting, and career development discussions.
Promote accountability, adaptability, employee engagement, retention, and a proactive, HOP-based safety culture.
Lead EHS initiatives, including regulatory reports and information requests, inspections, internal audits, emergency drills, management-system improvements, program development, and assessments.
Build and implement EHS programs, policies, and procedures that suit a startup and can scale to future operations.
Establish and adapt EHS management systems and programs for shipyards, vessel testing, new yards, test sites, vessels, and evolving operational profiles.
Balance operational execution with risk management and regulatory requirements, including scaling environmental programs as testing and yard activity increase.
Oversee EHS programs for fabrication, welding, blasting, coating, electrical work, rigging, heavy equipment, dry dock, pier-side, and yard-based activities.
Manage high-risk activities, including hot work, confined spaces, work at heights, lifting operations, and contractor safety.
Establish and maintain environmental compliance programs for hazardous waste, stormwater, air emissions, chemical management, and spill prevention.
Partner with operations and engineering to embed safety into yard layout, work planning, equipment selection, facilities, and vessel design.
Ensure compliance with OSHA and applicable marine safety standards for vessels under 60 feet, including USCG and ISM requirements as applicable.
Develop and enforce EHS procedures for vessel commissioning, dock trials, sea trials, and operational testing.
Ensure safe launch, recovery, mooring, and towing operations and support safe test plans involving propulsion, electrical systems, autonomy, and mission equipment.
Coordinate emergency-response readiness for on-water testing activities.
Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, USCG, ISM, and state and local regulations.
Lead incident investigations and root-cause analyses and implement corrective actions.
Prepare for and support regulatory inspections and audits; stay current on EHS regulations, trends, and best practices and communicate relevant updates to stakeholders.
Identify emerging risks associated with growth and operational change.
Develop individual and team objectives and key results and track progress.
Support organizational change as teams, processes, facilities, shipyard operations, vessel capabilities, and testing complexity evolve.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical insurance; Saronic pays 100% of employee premiums and 80% of dependent premiums.
Dental and vision coverage; Saronic pays 100% of the basic-plan employee premium and 80% of dependent premiums.
Generous paid time off and holidays.
Paid maternity and paternity leave.
Competitive salaries and opportunities for performance-based bonuses.
401(k) plan with company match.
Stock options.
Basic life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage.
Discounted pet insurance, including a 24/7 telehealth helpline.
Free lunch and unlimited free drinks and snacks in the office.