Vice President of Safety and Risk Management

About the Role: The Vice President of Safety & Risk Management is the organization's enterprise-wide safety, risk management, regulatory compliance and loss prevention strategy across corporate and franchise operations. As a key member of the leadership team, this individual will serve as a strategic business partner, organizational change agent, and trusted advisor to executive leadership. The VP will be responsible for transforming safety and risk management from a primarily reactive function into a proactive, data-driven business discipline that directly contributes to financial performance, franchise success, operational excellence, and brand reputation. Success in this role requires an executive who can balance big-picture strategic thinking with operational realities, translate complex risk exposures into actionable business strategies, and influence stakeholders across a decentralized franchise system.
 
What You’ll Do:
Enterprise Strategy & Executive Leadership
• Develop and execute a comprehensive, multi-year enterprise safety and risk management strategy aligned with the organization's growth objectives, financial priorities, and long-term business vision.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership, providing insight into emerging risks, regulatory developments, insurance exposure, and operational vulnerabilities that could impact business performance.
• Establish an enterprise risk management framework that identifies, prioritizes, and mitigates risks across corporate operations, franchise locations, transportation, and emerging business initiatives.
• Partner with senior leadership to evaluate the risk implications of new markets, service offerings, business expansion, and organizational initiatives.
• Translate complex safety, regulatory, and insurance data into actionable executive-level recommendations that support informed decision-making.
• Champion a proactive, prevention-focused safety culture that aligns operational accountability with financial and business outcomes.

Strategic Risk Management & Financial Performance
• Lead strategies designed to reduce the total cost of risk, including insurance premiums, claims frequency and severity, workers' compensation expenses, litigation exposure, and uninsured losses.
• Partner with Finance, Legal, Operations, insurance brokers, carriers, and third-party administrators to optimize insurance structures, coverage strategies, and risk financing decisions.
• Analyze historical claims data, loss trends, and emerging exposures to develop predictive risk models and proactive mitigation strategies.
• Develop financial models and business cases that demonstrate the return on investment of safety programs, technology, training, and risk mitigation initiatives.

Enterprise Safety Governance & Regulatory Strategy
• Establish and oversee an enterprise-wide safety governance framework that ensures consistent standards, accountability, and regulatory readiness across corporate and franchise operations.
• Provide executive oversight of compliance with applicable DOT, FMCSA, OSHA, and state transportation regulations, as well as workers' compensation and other relevant requirements.
• Ensure appropriate systems and controls are established for driver qualification files, motor vehicle records, drug and alcohol testing, hours of service, electronic logging devices, vehicle maintenance, and transportation registration requirements.
• Oversee enterprise audit strategies, regulatory assessments, and corrective action programs.
• Serve as an executive-level representative in significant regulatory matters, high-impact investigations, and strategic compliance discussions.

Fleet Safety, Technology & Operational Innovation
• Establish the strategic vision for fleet safety and transportation risk management across moving, junk removal, and other transportation-related operations.
• Evaluate and champion technology solutions, including telematics, driver monitoring systems, predictive analytics, and safety management platforms, that improve operational performance and reduce risk exposure.
• Develop strategies to reduce preventable vehicle accidents, improve driver performance, and minimize transportation-related losses.
• Collaborate with Operations and Technology leadership to integrate safety intelligence into operational decision-making.

Franchise Strategy, Influence & Operational Excellence
• Develop a strategic framework for embedding safety and risk management into franchise operations, franchise partner development, and ongoing business performance.
• Partner with Franchise Operations leadership to establish consistent safety expectations, performance standards, and accountability measures throughout the system.
• Identify opportunities to improve franchise profitability through reduced claims, stronger compliance, improved driver performance, and operational efficiencies.
• Collaborate with Training & Development to incorporate safety leadership, risk awareness, and accountability into franchise onboarding and operational training programs.
• Develop scalable resources, performance tools, and support structures that enable franchise owners to proactively manage risk within their businesses.
• Influence franchise partners through education, data-driven insights, relationship building, and demonstrated business value rather than relying solely on compliance enforcement.

Data Analytics, Performance Measurement & Executive Reporting
• Establish enterprise-wide safety and risk management KPIs that directly connect operational performance to financial outcomes.
• Develop executive dashboards, scorecards, and reporting frameworks that provide meaningful visibility into risk exposure, loss trends, and strategic progress.
• Establish performance benchmarks across corporate and franchise operations to identify best practices and areas requiring additional support.

Crisis Management, Business Continuity & Brand Protection
• Provide executive oversight and strategic direction during significant safety incidents, catastrophic losses, regulatory investigations, and other high-impact events.
• Establish enterprise-wide crisis response and escalation frameworks that protect team members, customers, company assets, and brand reputation.
• Partner with Legal, Human Resources, Operations, and executive leadership to coordinate responses to significant incidents and potential litigation.
• Oversee root cause analysis and ensure organizational learning is translated into meaningful improvements.
• Develop proactive strategies to strengthen business continuity, operational resilience, and preparedness for emerging risks.

Organizational Leadership & Change Management
• Build, develop, and lead a high-performing safety and risk management function capable of supporting the organization's evolving needs.
• Establish a long-term organizational structure, talent strategy, and succession plan for the safety and risk management function.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives that require alignment among Operations, Finance, Legal, Human Resources, Training, Technology, and Franchise Leadership.
• Drive enterprise-wide transformation initiatives that improve consistency, scalability, and long-term organizational effectiveness.

Required Education & Experience 
• 12–15+ years of progressive leadership experience in enterprise safety, risk management, transportation compliance, insurance, or related operational disciplines.
• 7+ years of senior leadership experience, with demonstrated responsibility for developing enterprise-wide strategies, leading teams, influencing executive stakeholders, and managing complex, multi-location operations.
• Demonstrated success in translating safety and risk management initiatives into measurable financial results, including reductions in claims costs, insurance losses, and operational exposure.
• Extensive experience with commercial insurance programs, risk financing, claims management, and insurance renewal strategies.
• Strong knowledge of DOT, FMCSA, OSHA, workers' compensation, commercial fleet safety, and transportation regulatory requirements.
• Experience leading risk management initiatives within multi-location, franchise, transportation, logistics, moving, or field-service organizations.
• Strong financial acumen, including the ability to analyze loss trends, evaluate investment opportunities, develop business cases, and manage budgets.
• Exceptional executive communication, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications
• Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA), Risk Management, Occupational Safety, or a related discipline.
• Professional certification such as CSP or ASP, CRM, CDS, OSHA 30, or DOT
• Experience working with captive insurance programs.
• Experience leading enterprise risk management.
• Experience implementing telematics, predictive analytics, and driver monitoring technologies.
• Experience within franchise systems, transportation, logistics, moving, waste removal, home services, or similarly decentralized operating models.
• Experience advising executive leadership on enterprise risk exposure, strategic investments, and business expansion.

Technology & Analytical Capabilities
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience with enterprise safety management systems, business intelligence tools, and executive reporting platforms.
• Familiarity with telematics platforms such as Motive, Samsara, Geotab, or comparable technologies.
• Ability to evaluate and leverage predictive analytics, reporting dashboards, and emerging safety technologies.
• Strong understanding of data-driven performance management and strategic reporting.

Work Environment & Travel
• Ability to travel up to 40% domestically to corporate and franchise locations, executive meetings, and industry events.
• Ability to engage directly with operational teams and conduct field visits in transportation, moving, and junk removal environments.
• Ability to occasionally lift and move up to 50 pounds.