Description
Application Deadline: 19 July 2026
Department: Health and Safety
Location: Poole
Compensation: £60,000 – £70,000 / year
Diversity matters
We are building a brand that represents the people of the world. It’s what you do that counts, and we are always looking to expand perspectives and voices to shape our future.
Who we are
You might know us as the inventors of the bath bomb, but there’s more to this great-smelling, partly employee‑owned, family‑run company than pioneering cosmetics. We believe our business should put more back into the world than it takes and demonstrate that capitalism can be a force for good. The Living Wage Foundation’s statement “a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay” is one that we are proud to commit to in the UK. As an accredited Living Wage employer, we put our people first and fight cruel practices like animal testing, promote regeneration, and show that it is what’s inside that counts – whether that’s an ingredient in a product or the minerals in a smartphone.
Role Overview
This is a pivotal, highly visible leadership role based across our busy manufacturing and production facilities in Poole. At Lush, we believe safety belongs on the shop floor, not behind a desk. We are seeking a dynamic, hands‑on HSE professional who thrives on being present in the production environment working directly alongside our teams, influencing behaviours, and moving our operations from reactive compliance to proactive, data‑led safety leadership.
As Senior HSE Manager, you will mentor an established safety team and lead cultural change across a matrix organisation. Crucially, you will manage physical, environmental, and operational risk while partnering closely with other teams to ensure our physical safety protocols seamlessly align with wider employee wellbeing, legislative compliance, and training frameworks.
Please note: We may close this vacancy early if we receive an overwhelming response or our business requirements change.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Safety & Engineering Compliance
- Develop, execute, and continually improve our health and safety management systems, working toward or maintaining alignment with ISO 45001 standards.
- Oversee the creation, implementation, and review of robust machinery risk assessments, Safe Systems of Work (SSOW), and complex COSHH assessments across all manufacturing processes.
- Act as the primary HSE stakeholder for site modifications, machinery installations, and facility expansions, ensuring strict compliance with CDM (Construction, Design, and Management) Regulations.
- Control the site permit to work system, ensuring all external engineering, maintenance, and facility contractors are fully vetted, inducted, and compliant.
Culture, Training & Incident Management
- Maintain a high frequency presence across all manufacturing units to coach, mentor, and constructively challenge behaviours, fostering an authentic “safety‑first” culture.
- Lead thorough root cause investigations into accidents, near misses, and environmental anomalies. Own the regulatory reporting process, ensuring flawless compliance with RIDDOR.
- Oversee statutory site compliance tracking, including the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, PAT/fixed‑wire testing, and life‑safety systems.
- Write technical Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and machinery check sheets, collaborating with production managers to deliver engaging safety inductions and updates.
Cross Functional Partnership & Data Strategy
- Work with leadership and key stakeholders to share data trends, ensuring physical incident reporting actively feeds into broader preventative organisational strategies.
- Partner with the wider People team to utilise and scale Manufacturing’s Litmos training platform to standardise and digitise safety record keeping business wide.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
- NEBOSH Diploma (or equivalent Level 6 health and safety qualification) is highly preferred. Candidates with a NEBOSH General Certificate backed by significant, demonstrable senior leadership experience will be considered.
- Graduate or Chartered membership of IOSH (GradIOSH / CMIOSH) is highly desirable.
- Extensive experience leading HSE performance across multiple sites within a fast paced manufacturing, FMCG, factory, or heavy industrial environment.
- Expert, up to date knowledge of UK statutory HSE legislation, environmental compliance, and fire safety codes.
- Exceptional communication, storytelling, and negotiation skills. You must be equally comfortable presenting risk trends and KPIs to board level directors as you are coaching an operator on the factory floor.
- Approachable, solution focused, and collaborative. A champion of people who understands how to lead change through empathy and education rather than rigid policing.
Benefits
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
- 6 months of full pay for parental leave (primary caregiver must qualify for SMP)
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Bonus scheme
- Day off for weekday birthdays
- Holiday purchase scheme
- 50% discount on Lush products and spa treatments
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounted rail and bus season tickets
- Employee assistance programme
- We actively welcome conversations about working flexibly and look at what that could mean for each role and location.
- We’re 10% Employee Owned – all colleagues play a role in protecting our ethics, our independence, contributing ideas for the future and sharing in the rewards of success when the company is doing well.
- Wellbeing & mindfulness sessions
- Access to employee‑led Community Networks, including Disability and Chronic Illness, Family Support, Global Majority (Race and Ethnicity), LGBTQIA+, Menopause and Neurodiversity communities.
- Tailored gender affirming care
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