Head of Health & Safety
Cheshire: Full Time | Senior Leadership Opportunity
Salary: Up to £65,000 dependant on experience.
Strategic Role | Meaningful Work | Values-Driven Organisation
Lead Safety. Shape Culture. Make a Difference.
At David Lewis, safety is about far more than compliance. It’s about protecting and supporting the people who live, learn and work across our charity every single day.
We are looking for an experienced and influential Head of Health & Safety to lead and develop a proactive, positive and organisation-wide safety culture across our specialist education, residential and clinical services.
This is a rare opportunity to join a well-established charity at a transformational point in its journey — helping shape strategy, influence senior leaders and make a genuine difference to the lives of people with complex needs, epilepsy and learning disabilities.
The Role:
Reporting to the Director of People, Culture & Systems, you will act as the charity’s lead competent person for Health & Safety, providing expert leadership, professional advice and strategic direction across all sites and services.
You’ll lead on:
- Health & Safety strategy and compliance
- Developing a strong organisational safety culture
- Fire safety and risk management
- Audits, inspections and incident investigations
- RIDDOR reporting and lessons learned
- Contractor and estates safety management
- Supporting leaders to manage risk effectively
- Health & Safety assurance reporting to senior leadership
- Embedding the principles of Martyn’s Law across the charity
You’ll also line manage the Health & Safety Officer and work closely with operational leaders, Estates, Governance, HR and external agencies.
What We’re Looking For:
We’re looking for someone who combines technical expertise with strong leadership and relationship-building skills.
You will ideally have:
- NEBOSH / IOSH recognised qualification (degree or postgraduate diploma level)
- Significant Health & Safety leadership experience
- Experience within health, social care, education or a similar complex environment
- Strong knowledge of current HSE legislation and best practice
- Excellent influencing and stakeholder engagement skills
- The confidence to challenge, support and lead positively across all levels of the organisation
A Fire Safety qualification and Chartered IOSH status would be advantageous.
Why Join David Lewis?
This is more than a compliance role.
It’s an opportunity to:
- Influence organisation-wide culture
- Join a charity with real purpose and impact
- Work alongside passionate and values-led colleagues
- Shape systems, standards and future development
- Help keep vulnerable people, colleagues and visitors safe every day
If you’re a strategic Health & Safety professional looking for a role where your expertise genuinely matters, we’d love to hear from you.
Apply Now:
Join us and help create safer environments where people can thrive.