Site Safety Advisor

As a Site Safety Advisor, you will be the "face of health and safety" for your assigned location. In this critical role, you will act as the vital link between our site operations and the Central Health & Safety (H&S) Team, ensuring that our safety standards aren't just met, but are continuously improving.
You will work directly with Partners on a daily basis, providing both proactive guidance and reactive support to ensure our working environments are safe, compliant, and aligned with the Partnership’s Safety Plan. This is a role for a collaborative communicator who can translate technical safety requirements into simple, actionable steps, ensuring that safety is at the heart of every decision made on-site.

In addition to your contractual pay, any time worked between 18:00 - 22:00 will attract an Evening Premium at a rate of £3.50 per hour, and any time worked between 22:00 - 06:00 will attract a Night Premium at a rate of £4.50 per hour. This will also apply to existing Partners who have enrolled onto Enhanced Hours Premium arrangements.

Salary: Up to £40,000/

Contract type: Permanent

Working pattern: Monday - Friday - Please note that the applicant must be willing to attend some night shifts to complete the role, ensuring safety support is consistent across all operational hours.

Location: Aylesford  (Onsite) 

Key Responsibilities

• Safety Performance & Support: Delivering proactive and reactive H&S support services. You will identify current and emerging safety issues and develop local plans to manage these trends effectively.

• Governance & Alignment: Ensuring local working practices align with the central safety management system (ISO 45001). You will manage site safety documentation and ensure no audit points remain overdue.

• Stakeholder Influence: Acting as a subject matter expert to influence senior stakeholders at your location, ensuring health and safety is a key criterion in business decision-making.

• Democratic Engagement: Liaising with democratic channels on-site to remain responsive to Partner sentiment regarding safety, ensuring their voices are heard and acted upon.

• Continuous Improvement: Working with site managers to include safety in the design of new processes or physical changes, making it "easy to be safe" for everyone on-site.

• Reporting & Representation: Representing your site at central H&S meetings to ensure consistency in approach across the wider Partnership.
   

Essential Skills/Experience You’ll Need

• Qualifications: A NEBOSH Certificate (or evidence that you are currently working towards one) is a minimum requirement.

• Influencing Skills: The ability to work collaboratively to reach mutual agreements, resolving professional differences through active listening and assertive communication.

• Communication: Capable of making complex technical safety language simple and accessible for non-technical audiences.

• Stakeholder Management: Ability to identify key stakeholders, understand their motivations, and build sustainable relationships to achieve safety goals.

• Adaptability: A flexible approach with the ability to work well under pressure in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
   

Desirable Skills/Experience You May Have

• H&S Background: Prior experience specifically in a dedicated Health & Safety role.

• Career Ambition: A strong interest in progressing your professional career within the Health and Safety field.

• Audit Experience: Familiarity with safety auditing processes and action plan monitoring.

• Sector Experience: Previous experience working within a Retail and/or Supply Chain environment.

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We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.  

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.   

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. 

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. 

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.  

Important points to note:  

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.  

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.