Health, Environmental & Safety (HES) Manager
Reports To: Refinery General Manager
Position Overview
The Health, Environmental & Safety (HES) Manager provides strategic leadership and tactical oversight for all health, safety, environmental, and process safety management (PSM) programs across the refinery. This role is responsible for establishing a zero-harm safety culture, ensuring strict compliance with local, state, and federal regulations (OSHA, EPA, state & county environmental agencies), and driving continuous environmental and operational risk reduction. As a key member of the refinery executive leadership team, the HES Manager works closely with operations, maintenance, and engineering to integrate safety and environmental excellence into daily refining operations.
Key Responsibilities
Safety & Occupational Health Leadership
- Establish, execute, and maintain the refinery’s health and safety management systems to reduce work-related risks, incidents, and occupational exposures.
- Direct industrial hygiene (IH) programs, including atmospheric monitoring, noise mitigation, toxic chemical management, and ergonomics.
- Lead root-cause failure analyses (RCFA) for major health, safety, or environmental incidents; implement robust corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
- Drive safety field presence, auditing programs, behavioral safety initiatives, and front-line engagement to foster an active, modern safety culture.
Environmental Compliance & Stewardship
- Oversee site compliance with federal, state, and local environmental regulations, including Title V Air Permits, NPDES (water discharge), RCRA (hazardous waste), SPCC, and GHG reporting.
- Manage relationships and communications with regulatory bodies (e.g., EPA, state DEQ/DEP, OSHA, APCD); direct regulatory reporting, permit renewals, inspections, and agency audits.
- Lead environmental sustainability strategies aimed at reducing air emissions, wastewater impact, energy intensity, and waste generation.
Process Safety Management (PSM) & Risk Reduction
- Partner with engineering and operations teams to institute all 14 elements of OSHA’s Process Safety Management (PSM) and EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP).
- Oversee Process Hazard Analyses (PHAs), Layer of Protection Analyses (LOPA), Management of Change (MOC) reviews, and Pre-Startup Safety Reviews (PSSRs).
- Monitor high-consequence risk scenarios, ensuring critical safety system barriers and Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) are maintained.
Emergency Preparedness & Response
- Serve as the primary emergency management authority for the refinery; develop and maintain the site Emergency Response Plan (ERP), Fire Protection Plan (FPP) and Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasures (SPCC) plans.
- Lead the site Incident Command System (ICS) and oversee the emergency response operations management.
- Coordinate routine joint exercises with external municipal emergency responders and local community advisory committees.
Team Management & Operational Integration
- Lead, recruit, and develop a high-performing team of safety specialists, environmental engineers, industrial hygienists, and PSM experts.
- Manage the annual HES operating and capital budgets.
- Standardize site HES training curricula to ensure compliance for all employees, contractors, and visitors.
Qualifications & Skill Requirements
Required Experience & Education
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Industrial Hygiene, a related technical discipline, or equivalent experience.
- Experience: Minimum of 10+ years of progressively responsible HES experience in oil refining, petrochemicals, or heavy industrial chemical manufacturing.
- Leadership: 2+ years in a team leadership or supervisory role managing HES professionals within a continuous-process facility.
- Technical Expertise: Deep operational knowledge of OSHA General Industry standards (29 CFR 1910), OSHA PSM (1910.119), EPA Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Preferred Qualifications
- Certifications: Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or Professional Engineer (PE).
- Proficiency in incident investigation methodologies (e.g., TapRooT, 5-Whys, Cause Mapping).
- Hands-on experience managing agency inspections and consent decrees.
- Strong executive presentation skills and capability to influence operational teams at all levels.
Physical Requirements & Working Conditions
- Combined role consisting of executive office environment and field activity in an operating refinery.
- Must be capable of walking long distances, climbing ladders/stairs, navigating elevated structures, and wearing required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including respiratory protection.
- Subject to on-call duty and emergency response support 24/7.
Why Join Us?
Santa Maria Road Materials (SMRM) is restarting an asphalt production business with close to 100 years of history operating on the Central Coast of California. SMRM is committed to becoming the premier provider of asphalt binder, asphalt emulsion and associated materials / products for the whole state of California. Joining SMRM now as a HES Manager provides an excellent opportunity for a technically gifted and dedicated professional to build an exciting career with an entrepreneurial and fast growing organization as part of a team dedicated to your success.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $100,000.00 - $200,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
