About this role
The Role The Head of Global Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) is responsible for leading Fresenius Medical Care's Global Environment, Health & Safety Program and governance, establishing a consistent enterprise approach to protecting employees, patients, contractors, visitors and the environment across all business operations.
Reporting to the SVP, Real Estate, Security, and Environment, Health & Safety (EHS), the Head of Global EHS provides strategic leadership for the development, implementation and continuous improvement of the company's global EHS framework.
The role establishes enterprise-wide EHS strategies, policies, standards, governance processes and performance expectations, working in close partnership with business, regional and local EHS teams to drive consistent implementation across manufacturing, clinical, commercial and corporate operations while fostering a culture of safety, compliance and continuous improvement throughout the enterprise.
Key Responsibilities Global EHS Strategy Ownership • Develop, own, and execute Fresenius Medical Care's global Environment, Health & Safety strategy aligned with the company's business objectives, sustainability commitments and enterprise risk framework. • Translate enterprise strategy into practical global programs that improve safety performance and environmental stewardship. • Drive continuous improvement of the global EHS operating model. Enterprise-Wide EHS Governance, Policy & Standards • Develop, own, maintain, and continuously improve global EHS policies, standards, procedures, and management systems. • Ensure enterprise standards remain aligned with evolving regulatory requirements and recognized international best practices. • Provide governance across all businesses, functions, and regions while allowing appropriate flexibility to meet specific business and local legal requirements. • Establish enterprise minimum standards for environment, health & safety management. • Establish enterprise control frameworks and minimum compliance standards for key environmental programs including waste management, environmental permitting, spill prevention and response, transportation of regulated materials, environmental reporting and recordkeeping. • Ensure consistent implementation of enterprise standards while enabling business specific procedures where operational requirements differ.
Global EHS Coordination & Capability-Building • Lead and coordinate the global EHS ecosystem, providing direction, guidance and support to business, regional and local EHS leaders. • Facilitate collaboration and sharing of best practices across regions and business units. • Build organizational capability through training, coaching, and professional development. • Establish governance forums to monitor performance, share learning, and drive continuous improvement.
EHS Risk Management • Lead enterprise-wide identification, assessment and mitigation of environment, health and safety risks. • Ensure that global EHS assurance programs are in place and are operating effectively through safety inspections, environmental compliance audits, ISO management system audits, and regulatory readiness reviews. • Support Global Internal Audit in periodic assessment of EHS program effectiveness, testing of EHS controls and governance, and review of remediation effectiveness. • In close cooperation with the Legal and Global Affairs organizations, monitor emerging legislation and regulatory developments and assess organizational impacts. • Ensure appropriate governance for significant incidents, investigations and corrective action programs. • Maintain a forward-looking EHS risk register and provide executive briefings regarding significant regulatory developments and strategic risks. • Provide executive oversight for significant regulatory inspections, environmental compliance investigations, and enforcement matters. • Partner closely with Legal, Compliance, and business leaders to coordinate regulatory responses, remediation activities, and corrective action plans.
EHS Performance & Reporting • Develop enterprise EHS KPIs, dashboards and performance reporting. • Present regular updates to executive leadership on organizational performance, key risks, and strategic priorities. • Use data and analytics to identify trends and drive proactive interventions. Culture & Leadership • Champion a positive safety culture where everyone takes ownership for protecting themselves, colleagues and the environment. • Drive enterprise initiatives that strengthen employee engagement, wellbeing, and psychological safety. • Support leaders across businesses in embedding safety into everyday decision making.
Critical Success Factors • Establish globally consistent EHS governance and standards. • Engage stakeholders such as business leaders and business/local EHS teams to buy into a stronger, leaner and more coordinated focus on EHS topics. • Develop trusted partnerships with leaders across the organization. • Improve enterprise safety performance and reduce workplace incidents. • Build a strong global EHS ecosystem with consistent capability across regions. • Strengthen organizational EHS compliance whilst simplifying governance. • Increase leadership engagement and accountability for health and safety.
Candidate Profile The successful candidate will be an experienced EHS executive with a proven track record of leading global Environment, Health & Safety programs within a complex global organization. They will possess strong technical expertise together with the leadership capability to influence senior stakeholders and drive enterprise-wide improvements.
Ideally, they will also have a proven track record of establishing a consistent cross business EHS program in a multinational organization.
The individual will be comfortable operating strategically whilst also providing practical guidance to regional teams and supporting implementation across diverse operating environments.
Experience • Minimum 12years' experience within Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) including 8 years of EHS leadership experience. • Significant experience leading global or multi-regional EHS programs within a multinational organization, including external awareness, internal influence, and external engagement. • Experience developing enterprise EHS strategies, governance frameworks, policies and management systems. • Strong knowledge of international health, safety and environmental legislation (including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace safety and health standards) and recognized management systems (including ISO 14001 and ISO 45001). • Demonstrated experience assessing emerging regulatory requirements and translating legal and regulatory developments into enterprise-wide operational programs and controls. • Experience supporting manufacturing, healthcare, laboratory or regulated operational environments. • Demonstrated experience leading organizational change and driving cultural transformation. • Strong analytical, program management and risk management capabilities. • Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science, Occupational Health & Safety, Engineering or a relevant technical discipline is desirable; postgraduate qualification and recognized professional certifications desirable.
Leadership Competencies • Enterprise mindset with the ability to balance global consistency with regional and local requirements. • Strong strategic thinking and the ability to translate vision into practical execution. • Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills across multiple levels of the organization, internally and externally. • Proven ability to build high-performing global teams in a matrixed organization, and ability to develop organizational capability. • Collaborative leadership style with the ability to build partnerships across functions and geographies. • Strong commercial awareness and sound business judgement. • Demonstrates integrity, accountability, and a passion for creating safe, sustainable, and high-performing workplaces. Fresenius Medical Care is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, parental status, national origin, age, disability, military service, or other non-merit-based factors