Health & Safety Specialist

International Health & Safety Specialist

Fulltime, 38 hours per week

The International Health & Safety Specialist plays a key role in implementing and continuously improving Health & Safety across Action’s international organisation. The role translates the international H&S strategy and management framework into practical standards, programmes and improvements across countries, Stores, Distribution Centres and Offices, working closely with Action’s network of country H&S professionals to support consistent and effective implementation.

As an experienced H&S professional, you independently manage assigned H&S topics and business areas and act as process lead for designated international H&S processes. You provide specialist H&S expertise to country H&S teams and lead assigned international projects and improvement programmes. You identify risks and compliance gaps, identify opportunities to improve existing practices and work with the business and country H&S teams to implement practical and sustainable solutions that strengthen H&S performance and safety culture.

This is your daily action

As International Health & Safety Specialist, you drive the implementation and continuous improvement of Action’s international Health & Safety approach across your assigned areas of responsibility.

You provide trusted H&S expertise to countries and build strong relationships with stakeholders across Stores, Distribution Centers, Offices and central functions. You translate H&S requirements into practical solutions that work within the business while ensuring alignment with Action’s international H&S framework and applicable legislation.

You take ownership of defined H&S workstreams, processes and improvement programmes. Depending on the maturity of the topic, this may include designing and developing new processes or improving existing ways of working. You proactively identify risks and opportunities, recommend appropriate actions and drive agreed improvements through to completion. You lead assigned international H&S projects and work closely with country H&S teams and other functions to achieve effective and consistent implementation.

You conduct H&S compliance reviews and contribute to the international audit and assurance programme, assessing whether countries and business areas operate in accordance with applicable legislation and Action H&S standards and processes.

You identify compliance gaps, recommend corrective measures and monitor agreed actions through to closure.

You provide specialist H&S expertise on risk assessments, safe systems of work and operational changes, constructively challenging whether health and safety risks are adequately identified, assessed and controlled. You support and, where required, lead investigations into significant or complex H&S incidents, applying root cause analysis and translating findings into practical preventative and corrective actions.

You contribute to the effective operation and continuous improvement of Action’s H&S management framework, including incident management, risk management, policies, procedures, standards and assurance processes. You assess how international requirements work in practice and use lessons from countries, incidents, audits and projects to recommend improvements to the wider H&S approach.

You monitor H&S performance across your areas of responsibility, analyse incidents, trends and management information and translate insights into clear priorities and actions. You work with countries and H&S teams to address recurring issues, strengthen preventative action and continuously improve H&S performance.

You also contribute to building a strong and practical safety culture. You identify training and awareness needs, provide H&S expertise for communications and learning programmes and support managers and employees in understanding what is expected of them. Through visible engagement with the country H&S network, you encourage proactive risk management, accountability and continuous improvement.

Meet your team

You are part of the International Health & Safety team and report directly to the International Health & Safety Manager. You work closely with the International H&S Coordinator, country H&S professionals and colleagues across HR, Store Operations, Supply Chain, Security and other central and local functions.

You  have a broad international scope and collaborate closely with countries and business areas across a range of H&S projects and specialist topics. You bring strong professional expertise and act as an important link between Action’s international H&S framework and its practical implementation within the business.

This is you

You are an experienced Health & Safety professional who combines strong technical knowledge with a practical and business-oriented approach. You are comfortable working independently within a complex international organisation and know how to turn H&S requirements into workable solutions.

You are confident working in a multicultural and international environment, building credibility through your expertise, judgement and understanding of operational realities. You build and maintain a strong network with country H&S teams, fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing and consistent ways of working across countries. You identify risks and opportunities early, take ownership and drive actions forward.

You are analytical and able to connect information from incidents, risk assessments, audits, compliance reviews and performance data to identify underlying trends and priorities. At the same time, you are pragmatic and understand that effective H&S management needs to be simple, proportionate and embedded in everyday operations.

You are comfortable leading projects and workstreams across different countries and functions and can bring stakeholders together around a common objective. You communicate clearly, manage competing priorities effectively, and use sound judgement to determine when an issue can be managed within the business and when escalation is required.

And you have:

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent higher professional qualification in Health & Safety, engineering, occupational safety or a related discipline.
• Substantial professional Health & Safety experience within a complex, international and multi-site organization. 
• Good knowledge of H&S management systems, preferably including ISO 45001 or comparable H&S management frameworks.
• Demonstrable experience independently leading H&S projects or improvement programmes involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience developing or improving H&S processes, standards or ways of working and translating requirements into practical implementation.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong analytical and digital skills, with experience using H&S data and management information to identify trends, risks and improvement opportunities.
• Strong project management, communication and problem-solving skills, with a practical and results-oriented approach.
• Excellent written and spoken English; knowledge of Dutch is considered an advantage. 

What we offer

Surprisingly more! From our vibrant home base in the Netherlands, you will have the opportunity to make a visible contribution to Health & Safety across our rapidly growing international organisation. With more than 3,300 stores in 15 countries and a diverse range of working environments — from Stores and Distribution Centres to Offices — you will work on a broad range of H&S challenges and international improvement programmes.

You will have significant autonomy within your areas of responsibility and the opportunity to influence how Health & Safety is implemented and continuously improved across Action. You will work with colleagues across countries and functions, giving you broad international exposure and the opportunity to see the impact of your work in practice.

And as Action continues to grow, so can you. Whether through a new role, an international project or developing new skills, there are plenty of opportunities to take the next step in your professional development.

You will do this in a culture where our shared values are truly lived: customer orientation, teamwork, simplicity, discipline, cost consciousness and respect.

Did you know that you can also count on:

• A competitive salary based on a 38-hour working week.
• 24 days of annual leave and the option to purchase 5 additional days (based on 38 hours per week).
• 15% employee discount on your purchases at Action.
• A good pension scheme and collective health insurance and travel allowance / a lease car or mobility allowance.

Interested?

We are proud to be an inclusive employer and warmly invite everyone who recognises themselves in this vacancy to apply. So take Action and apply now!

Here’s what happens next:

1. You will receive a response to your application within 14 days — and usually sooner.
2. First interview with the hiring manager and a colleague.
3. Online assessment to get to know you better.
4. Second interview, including your recruiter.
5. Welcome to Action!

Throughout the process, your recruiter will be your dedicated point of contact and available to answer any questions.

We place great importance on integrity. A pre-employment screening therefore forms part of the recruitment process for this vacancy. Ask your recruiter for more information.