Group Health & Safety Director
Bullet points
Exciting H&S opportunity on a global portfolio of superb private schools
Group / Strategic role in a market-leading dynamic private education business
About Our Client
Focused on academic excellence, Inspired was established in 2013 and has since grown to over 30 co-educational, non-denominational independent schools across 11 global locations. With an ambitious growth strategy, the business is currently responsible for educating over 24,000 students and continues to invest in acquiring schools as well as developing and building new school across its global network. The business is now looking to appoint its first Group Health & Safety Director to ensure that continued commitment to best practice for the safety of all children and staff remains at the highest standard globally. The individual will need to be proactive / hands-on, have a keen eye for attention to detail and legislation, results driven with the capacity to travel extensively and visit schools across the portfolio.
Inspired was founded by Nadim M Nsouli following the acquisition of Reddam House, a leading group of schools in South Africa. Since then, Inspired has grown to 30+ co-educational, non-denominational independent schools across 5 continents: Europe, Australia, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
As well as ensuring academic excellence, Inspired also enriches students lives through performing arts and sports programs designed to nurture and encourage the children of today to become the adults of tomorrow. The business aims to ensure all their students are as well-equipped as possible to deal with the competitive nature of the workforce they will enter and the challenges of the leadership positions many of them will hold.
Built around three core pillars - Academic, Sports and Performing Arts, the senior team work together through their collective experience to ensure the group takes a fresh and contemporary approach to education, driving and supporting pioneering academic experiences for all of its students.
The organisation places its core values at the centre of the teaching approach. With a vision to create confident, tolerant and resilient young people it encourages and develops core skills of curiosity, confidence and security.
Job Description
As a new Group level role within Inspired, candidates will:-
- Frequently travel to each school to assess Health & Safety discipline. Track, document and report back to Inspired Group Chairman, CEO's, Directors / Senior Leadership team.
- Ensure any statutory Policies, Risk Assessments, Accreditations and Licenses are up to date, compliant and centrally recorded across the Group.
- Be responsible for training staff around all essential H&S policies which directly impact the students and themselves/team members.
- Proactively screen 3rd party providers / contractors (e.g. Facilities Management, Catering, I.T consultants, external trainers) to ensure their protocols meet statutory requirements and any employees who will engage schools are vetted and carry requisite certification to be practising in the educational environment.
- Provide Risk Assessments on temporary activities, events, minor works and repairs to ensure they are H&S compliant. with a structured time-line / visible process document in place
- Be strategically minded and able to consult H&S matters for due diligence purposes on new Group school acquisitions - both schools in existence and new build.
- Be highly organised with ability to manage, store and assess large amounts of data and documents for Group H&S purposes with ability to concisely report back across the school portfolio at any time.
- Be H&S best practice savvy, informing the Inspired Group about new potential strategies / technologies / processes which will ensure the business is market-leading in its service delivery to students.
- Ensure boarding has the best practices to ensure the absolute safety of the students that board at the schools.
- Ensure best practices are implemented for tours and excursions.
- Ensure facilities H&S issues are immediately dealt with focused in particular on security, electricity and fire.
The Successful Applicant
Interested candidates will have to share the vision and passion of Inspired and be committed to providing best in class education both for its fee paying students and those successful in gaining one of the means-tested scholarships. You should be able to demonstrate a clear track record in assessing and improving H&S matters across multiple sites in multiple regions. This opportunity is targeting those comfortable in a role which will see you travel across the world, engaging senior internal and external stakeholders to ensure the highest level of H&S is upheld and of paramount importance: the safety of the students and staff is maintained.
Organisational skills, flexibility to travel and an ability to work at pace will be essential. People engagement and soft skills will also be vital to ensure that anyone who might have an impact on H&S across the portfolio understands and is fully on-board with importance of the Group H&S message. Ideally candidates will have multi-site, multi-region, senior level hands-on H&S experience in the private education sector. People who are commercially astute and driven having worked in an H&S capacity within the Children attraction and youth entertainment sector will also bear relevance (Theme Park, Sporting Centres of Excellence, Exhibitions, Museums) In summary - someone who is well versed in working, and positively managing, environments where the safety of large numbers of children is of the highest importance. In addition someone who is strategic and can contribute to the longer term vision of the group yet who is fully hands on and proactive.
Candidates must have strong communication skills and an ability to influence stakeholders at all levels, both internally and externally. The successful candidate should also be a brand ambassador, able to represent the business across all locations, engendering the knowledge that they are trustworthy and reliable on all H&S matters at Group level.
In addition candidates must:
- Have a solid understanding of the principles of International Health & Safety policies. Alongside this, candidates will have a reliable network of professionals, Counsel and/or advisor who can assist them with their delivery of the highest H&S standards across the portfolio.
- Work in a youth-centric sector - primarily private education, youth entertainment, leisure and possibly hospitality organisations
- Be proactive, have the ability to make recommendations and provide swift solutions to any issues that may arise.
- Be perceptive, someone who is capable of relating to individuals at all levels internally and externally in order to drive best H&S performance.
- Be articulate and confident - engender "safe pair of hands" mind-set from all who meet them.
- Have an ability to work flexibly, calmly and efficiently whilst responding to multiple and ever changing business priorities.
- Be self-motivated / self-starter, results orientated and dynamic, always prepared to go the extra mile.
- Ideally have had experience with a growing portfolio where integration of new assets and H&S responsibilities will not phase them in their work.
Essential to be successfully selected:
- A demonstrable track record of maintaining, improving and delivering new H&S strategies in a student/youth intense environment/portfolio.
- 10+ years of relevant experience in roles of increasing seniority, ideally with a number of years working across two or more global locations.
- A willingness to travel internationally to support the business across its wide portfolio.
- Ideally a Bachelors or Master's degree in a relevant/associated sector.
What's on Offer
Our client is offering a competitive Salary and bonus package.