Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety

XPO•Ann Arbor, MI

12d

About The Position

The Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety at XPO will establish the enterprise safety vision, strategy, policies, and performance objectives. This role involves building accountability for safety throughout the organization, with a particular emphasis on frontline leadership and the integration of safety into daily operations. The position will lead programs to reduce preventable crashes and unsafe driving behaviors, oversee driver qualifications and training, and ensure compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and CSA performance. Additionally, the role will develop strategies to reduce injuries, oversee OSHA compliance, and lead the roadmap for safety technologies. The Vice President will also provide executive oversight of hazardous materials and environmental compliance, ensure prompt investigation of safety events, partner with various departments to reduce accident severity and litigation exposure, and establish executive safety scorecards. This role requires maintaining relationships with regulatory agencies and industry associations, leading and developing safety professionals, and maintaining knowledge of current security systems. The position involves partnering closely with various departments to build a strong safety culture and influence without relying solely on authority, leveraging technology and analytics to anticipate risk, and establishing safety as an integral component of operational excellence.

Requirements

10 years of progressively responsible transportation safety and regulatory experience, including significant leadership experience within LTL, truckload, logistics, or another large commercial motor vehicle operation
Bachelor's degree in safety, transportation, business, engineering, risk management, or a related discipline, or equivalent work or military experience
Extensive knowledge of FMCSRs, CSA, DOT compliance, OSHA requirements, hazardous materials regulations, accident investigation, driver qualification, and commercial vehicle safety practices

Nice To Haves

15 years of progressively responsible transportation safety and regulatory experience, including significant leadership experience within LTL, truckload, logistics, or another large commercial motor vehicle operation
Demonstrated regulatory expertise with strong operational and business acumen.
Ability to operate effectively from the service center floor to the executive leadership level, translating complex safety data into clear priorities and actionable insights

Responsibilities

Establish the enterprise safety vision, strategy, policies, and performance objectives.
Build accountability for safety throughout the organization, with a particular emphasis on frontline leadership and the integration of safety into daily operations.
Lead programs designed to reduce preventable crashes and unsafe driving behaviors.
Oversee driver qualifications, training, coaching, recognition, corrective action processes, and the ongoing evaluation of driver safety performance.
Maintain compliance with applicable Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and oversee programs affecting CSA performance, including vehicle maintenance, hours of service, driver fitness, controlled substances and alcohol testing, hazardous materials, and crash performance.
Lead DataQs and regulatory response strategies, as appropriate.
Develop strategies to reduce injuries across service centers, docks, yards, shops, offices, and other operating environments.
Oversee OSHA compliance, recordkeeping, injury trend analysis, corrective actions, and targeted injury prevention initiatives.
Develop the roadmap for technologies such as forward-, driver-, and side-facing cameras; AI-based driver monitoring; collision mitigation; lane departure and lane-centering systems; pedestrian detection; electronic DVIRs; telematics; and predictive safety analytics.
Evaluate emerging technologies based on measurable risk reduction and operational value.
Provide executive oversight of hazardous materials transportation, training, shipping documentation, handling requirements, spill prevention and response, environmental compliance, and regulatory reporting.
Ensure significant crashes, injuries, spills, and other safety events are investigated promptly and consistently.
Establish root cause analysis and corrective action processes, and ensure lessons learned are translated into systemic improvements.
Partner with Legal, Claims, Risk Management, and insurance providers to reduce accident severity and litigation exposure.
Ensure the preservation and availability of camera footage, telematics data, driver records, training documentation, vehicle information, and other evidence following significant events.
Establish executive safety scorecards and leading and lagging indicators.
Use data to identify high-risk drivers, locations, behaviors, routes, equipment, and operating practices, and prioritize interventions accordingly.
Maintain relationships with FMCSA, DOT, OSHA, state agencies, industry associations, and other transportation safety organizations.
Monitor regulatory developments and ensure the company is prepared for emerging requirements.
Lead and develop regional and corporate safety professionals, compliance specialists, and other safety personnel.
Build succession plans and develop safety leaders who influence operations while serving as strategic partners, not solely compliance resources.
Maintain knowledge of current security systems and provide strategic direction to functional leaders.
Partner closely with Operations, Linehaul, Fleet Maintenance, Human Resources, Legal, Risk Management, Security, and executive leadership to build a strong safety culture while supporting reliable service, operational efficiency, employee engagement, and profitable growth.
Influence without relying solely on authority; constructively challenge operating practices; develop frontline leaders; leverage technology and analytics to anticipate risk; and establish safety as an integral component of operational excellence rather than a standalone compliance function.