Environmental Health & Safety Leader

Job Details

Job Title: Environmental Health & Safety Leader

Location: Chicago, USA

Work Arrangement: Onsite

About the Role

The US EHS Leader is responsible for leading environmental, health, safety, and regulatory compliance programs across U.S. operations. This position ensures the organization maintains safe, compliant, and efficient work environments by implementing EHS standards, reducing operational risk, supporting regulatory requirements, and building a proactive safety culture across manufacturing, warehouse, laboratory, and office locations.

Reporting to the North America EHS Leader, the US EHS Leader partners closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Human Resources, Maintenance, Engineering, Logistics, and site leadership to improve safety performance, strengthen compliance, and drive continuous improvement. The role provides practical field leadership while ensuring consistent execution of company EHS expectations, policies, training, audits, and corrective action processes.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Development

- Lead, coach, and support site leaders and EHS resources in the execution of U.S. EHS programs and initiatives.

- Establish clear EHS goals, KPIs, and performance expectations aligned with business objectives and North American EHS strategy.

- Foster a culture of accountability, employee engagement, hazard recognition, continuous improvement, and safety ownership.

- Support development of site-level EHS capabilities, training plans, and succession readiness.

EHS Compliance & Program Management

- Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local EHS regulations, including OSHA, EPA, DOT, and related agency requirements.

- Maintain and improve EHS policies, procedures, work instructions, permits, reporting requirements, and regulatory documentation.

- Lead internal EHS audits, compliance assessments, and corrective action follow-up across U.S. locations.

- Monitor regulatory changes and partner with site leadership to implement required updates and controls.

- Support regulatory inspections, agency communication, response planning, and closure of related findings.

Long Description

Risk Management & Incident Prevention

- Lead hazard assessments, job safety analyses, risk reviews, and development of practical controls to reduce injury and environmental risk.

- Investigate incidents, near misses, environmental releases, and unsafe conditions to determine root cause and corrective actions.

- Drive completion and verification of corrective and preventive actions to prevent recurrence.

- Implement proactive injury prevention, behavioral safety, ergonomics, machine safety, chemical safety, and contractor safety initiatives.

- Partner with Maintenance and Engineering to support safe equipment design, facility improvements, and management of change processes.

Training, Communication & Employee Engagement

- Develop, coordinate, and verify completion of required EHS training for employees, contractors, supervisors, and site leaders.

- Promote active participation in safety committees, safety observations, toolbox talks, Gemba walks, and employee-led improvement efforts.

- Communicate safety alerts, lessons learned, regulatory updates, and best practices across U.S. sites.

- Ensure training records, inspection logs, incident documentation, and EHS files are accurate, current, and audit-ready.

Job Responsibilities

Long Description

Environmental & Sustainability Support

- Oversee environmental programs related to air, water, waste, stormwater, chemical management, spill prevention, and emergency response.

- Support environmental reporting, permit compliance, waste minimization, recycling, and sustainability-related initiatives.

- Partner with operations and supply chain teams to improve environmental performance and reduce operational risk.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Partner with Operations to integrate EHS expectations into daily management, production scheduling, and operational execution.

- Collaborate with Quality and Food Safety teams to support GMP, PPE, sanitation, allergen, and plant safety requirements where applicable.

- Work closely with Human Resources on workers compensation, return-to-work, employee engagement, and safety-related employee matters.

- Support capital projects, new product introductions, facility changes, and strategic initiatives with EHS risk review and compliance guidance.

- Participate in cross-functional projects that improve safety, compliance, operating discipline, and end-to-end business performance.

Skills

Education

- Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health & Safety, Occupational Safety, Environmental Science, Engineering, Industrial Hygiene, or a related field required.

- CSP, ASP, CHMM, CIH, OSHA 30, HAZWOPER, DOT, Lean Six Sigma, or equivalent professional certification preferred.

Experience

- Minimum of 5 years of progressive EHS experience in manufacturing, warehousing, chemical processing, food ingredients, food-grade blending, logistics, or industrial operations.

- Minimum of 3 years of experience leading EHS programs, initiatives, audits, or site-level EHS resources.

- Experience supporting multi-site operations across the United States strongly preferred.

- Strong working knowledge of OSHA, EPA, DOT, hazardous materials, environmental permitting, incident investigation, and risk management requirements.

- Experience with EHS management systems, action tracking, training systems, incident reporting tools, and Microsoft Office Suite.

Skills & Competencies

- Strong leadership, coaching, and field execution skills.

- Excellent communication, training, facilitation, and employee engagement abilities.

- Advanced understanding of regulatory compliance, risk assessment, incident investigation, and corrective action management.

- Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into practical improvement actions.

- Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills in fast-paced operational environments.

- Ability to influence cross-functional teams and build strong working relationships across multiple sites.

- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, behavior-based safety, ergonomics, and operational discipline principles.

- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, audits, projects, and deadlines.

About Caldic

At Caldic, we’re a global leader in distribution solutions, serving diverse markets across the world. Joining us means becoming part of an entrepreneurial, collaborative, and innovation-driven team.

We offer:

- Global opportunities with rapid career growth and development

- An inclusive, diverse, and dynamic work environment

- The chance to shape the future of specialty ingredient solutions across industries like food, pharma, personal care, and more

We operate in 43 countries around the world. Our innovative solutions are tailored to meet the needs of industries such as food, pharma, personal care, and industrial markets, ensuring sustainable success for all stakeholders. To learn more, visit: www.caldic.com

Ready to Join Us?

If you're ready to take your career to the next level and join a global leader, apply now at Caldic!

Equal Opportunity Employer

Caldic celebrates diversity and is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, or any other characteristic.