Executive Director, National Environmental and Employee Safety & Health

The Executive Director, National Environmental and Employee Safety and Health provides strategic direction and leadership for developing and implementing a national environmental and employee health and safety program in support of Kaiser Permanente's aim to transform care delivery. This includes identifying, evaluating and optimizing opportunities to enable regulatory compliance and improve safety and health. This leader collaborates with executives at the highest level of the organization and manages a team of professionals who are accountable for designing and implementing innovative programs, projects, and technology to achieve and sustain the organizations safety and health goals in an effective and efficient fashion. Beyond responsibilities for daily operations, this leader looks ahead 2 to 5 years to ensure that Kaiser Permanente is prepared to accomplish its mission within a rapidly changing healthcare and regulatory environment.

• Establishes Kaiser Permanentes environmental and employee safety and health priorities in alignment with the organizations mission, brand strategy, and related performance improvement agenda, while balancing the unique needs of each Market with the requirements for consistency, efficiency, and integration across regional boundaries. In partnership with Human Resources, Legal, Compliance, Enterprise Business Services, National Facilities Services, KP-IT, Corporate Risk Management, Community Health, National Security Services, and Quality, collaborates with regional Medical Groups, Compliance Leaders, Operations, Patient Safety and Risk Management Leaders, and Regional Environmental, Health & Safety Leaders to develop, implement, and evaluate effective environmental and employee safety and health policies, programs, standards, technology, practices, and procedures consistent with the organizations Strategic Plan. 


• Enables compliance with environmental and employee safety and health regulations in a way that includes methods for training and tracking. Assures that environmental and employee safety and health risks are effectively identified and assessed across the Enterprise. Provides focus on sustaining mitigation, closure of findings and assures shared learnings and mitigation strategies are spread and sustained across markets. Establishes and maintains information-based systems to support the ongoing development of the safety and health management program, and transfers knowledge and proven practices across the organization. The position oversees enterprise-wide performance tracking, measurement, evaluation and reporting of safety and health performance metrics, including reporting to KP Boards of Directors. The executive director ensures that data collection and reporting systems are effective, efficient, and link to other KP systems.


• Provides operational leadership and consultation to Executive Management, Medical Groups, and Medical Centers on issues that arise throughout the healthcare delivery system. Communicates the status of their programs, discusses challenges and opportunities from a broader organizational perspective, and engages in dialogue regarding alternatives for managing and minimizing risks in a cost effective manner. Identifies and facilitates the rapid transfer of high-leverage strategies based on benchmarking with other industries, evidence or consensus-based practices, and internal breakthroughs in performance.


• Integrates the principles of High Reliability in supporting health, well-being, psychological safety, and productivity that improves performance of KP employees and influences the health of our members.