Director, Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) - Costa Rica

SUMMARY: Provides strategic leadership for environmental, health, safety, industrial hygiene, and sustainability programs across the Costa Rica operation.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Develop and execute the site EHS strategy.

• Serve as critical Subject Matter Expert (SME) on corporate wide EH&S task force focused on driving compliance with regulations and adoption of best practices across the organization.

• Lead EHS compliance, risk management, and continuous improvement programs.

• Drive hazard identification and incident prevention initiatives.

• Lead audits, inspections, emergency preparedness, and crisis management activities.

• Partner with Operations, Engineering, HR, Facilities, and Quality leaders.

• Support sustainability and environmental stewardship programs.

• Build and maintain a strong safety-first culture.

• Develop and maintain an excellent EHS management system aligned with corporate and regulatory requirements.

• Lead environmental sustainability initiatives including waste reduction, energy management, and resource conservation programs.

• Oversee contractor safety programs and ensure compliance for all third-party personnel working on site.

• Direct industrial hygiene, ergonomics, occupational health, and wellness programs.

• Lead environmental permitting activities and regulatory reporting requirements.

• Collaborate with Facilities and Engineering on building expansions, equipment installations, and capital projects.

• Develop and maintain emergency response, business continuity, and crisis management programs.

• Establish safety leadership expectations and accountability programs across all levels of the organization.

• Serve as the primary site liaison with regulatory agencies and external auditors.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:  Yes.

Have supervisory responsibilities.

Leadership: Supervise/manage/direct the selection, training, development, appraisal and work assignments of personnel.

Supervises:

• Manager, EHS

• EHS Engineer I

• EHS Engineer II

• EHS Technician

Supervision: Direction: receive guidance with respect to general objectives; in the majority of tasks and projects assigned, determine methods, work sequence, scheduling, and how to achieve objectives of assignments; operate within specific policy guidelines.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in EHS, Environmental Engineering, Occupational Health, Safety Management, or related field; Master's preferred.

• 10+ years of EHS experience in manufacturing or regulated industries.

• 5+ years of leadership experience.

• Knowledge of Costa Rican EHS regulations.

• Medical device or life sciences experience preferred.

OTHER SKILLS and ABILITIES:

• Experience managing EHS programs in a medical device, pharmaceutical, life sciences, electronics, or advanced manufacturing environment.

• Strong knowledge of ISO 14001, ISO 45001, environmental management systems, and occupational health standards.

• Demonstrated success improving safety performance and reducing recordable incident rates.

• Experience leading regulatory inspections, environmental audits, and corrective action programs.

• Knowledge of industrial hygiene, ergonomics, risk assessment methodologies, and environmental compliance programs.

• Professional certifications such as CSP, CIH, ISO 14001 Lead Auditor, ISO 45001 Lead Auditor, or equivalent preferred.

• Experience supporting facility start-ups, site expansions, mergers, acquisitions, or significant organizational growth initiatives.

• Strong crisis management, incident investigation, and root cause analysis experience.

MANUAL DEXTERITY: Manual dexterity sufficient to reach/handle items and work with the fingers.

VISION REQUIREMENTS: No special vision requirements

WORK SCHEDULE/HOURS: Monday – Friday. Could support at nights and on weekends (presential / not presential)

TRAVEL: up to 5% of the time, as business needs require.

ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING CONDITIONS

Well-lighted, heated and/or air-conditioned indoor office setting with adequate ventilation.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Other physical working conditions:     

Moderate noise (examples: business office with computers and printers, light traffic)

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL:

Moderate physical activity performing somewhat strenuous daily activities of a primarily administrative nature.

COMMENTS: This job description is an outline of the major recurring responsibilities of the job.  It is not intended to be all‑inclusive of the work to be performed.  Other related job objectives, special assignments and less significant responsibilities will typically be performed by the incumbent(s).