EHS Manager

Lead environmental, health, and safety performance for a Vermont food-manufacturing campus, with primary ownership of a high-volume cheese cutting and packaging operation. This role will build practical programs, strengthen employee engagement, and ensure disciplined compliance with OSHA, EPA, DOT, and applicable state requirements.

The strongest candidate will be a visible plant-floor leader who has owned EHS programs in manufacturing, can translate regulations into workable controls, and knows how to influence operations, maintenance, engineering, and employees without relying on positional authority alone.

Location

Cabot, Vermont

Compensation

$93,000-$103,000 annually + bonus TBD

Relocation

Partial relocation assistance available, but highly prefer local candidates

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Paid time off
• 401(k) with company match
• Training, tuition reimbursement, and a promote-from-within culture
• Partial relocation assistance for the selected candidate
• Opportunity to support a mission-driven, farmer-owned food manufacturer with a long New England history

Responsibilities

• Provide EHS leadership, guidance, resources, and day-to-day support across the Cabot campus, with primary focus on the cutting and wrapping facility.
• Develop, implement, and maintain environmental, health, and safety programs that improve safe work practices, ownership, and employee engagement.
• Lead safety initiatives, behavior-based safety efforts, and continuous-improvement activity that moves the organization from reactive compliance to proactive risk reduction.
• Deliver new-hire safety orientation and required recurring training in accordance with OSHA, EPA, DOT, state, and company requirements.
• Partner with operations, maintenance, engineering, human resources, contractors, and employees to identify, evaluate, and control hazards.
• Serve as the primary resource and champion for Safety Committees, Emergency Response Teams, and site leadership.
• Lead incident and near-miss investigations, perform root-cause analysis, and drive corrective and preventive actions through closure.
• Maintain EHS permits, records, written programs, documentation, and regulatory reports.
• Conduct inspections, compliance audits, job-risk reviews, and facility risk assessments; prepare the site for internal and external audits and regulatory inspections.
• Evaluate equipment, processes, workstations, and material-handling activities for safety and ergonomic improvement opportunities.
• Recommend and implement engineering controls, administrative controls, and appropriate personal protective equipment.
• Track and communicate leading and lagging EHS metrics, trends, corrective-action status, and key performance indicators.
• Support workers’ compensation case management, return-to-work activity, injury prevention, and collaboration with occupational-health resources.
• Support environmental and sustainability programs, including waste management, reporting, and continuous reduction of environmental impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health and safety, engineering, environmental science, or another relevant technical field; an equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Three to five years of related EHS experience in a manufacturing environment, with demonstrated ownership of programs rather than administrative support alone.
• Strong working knowledge of OSHA, EPA, DOT, and applicable state and federal requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to lead EHS programs and influence safety performance at all levels of a plant organization.
• Experience leading regulatory audits, environmental compliance programs, and safety management systems.
• Experience with continuous-improvement methods and behavior-based safety programs.
• Hands-on experience with incident investigation, root-cause analysis, corrective action, hazard assessment, and risk reduction.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively with employees, leaders, contractors, and regulators.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and relevant EHS reporting systems.
• Ability to work onsite and move between facilities on the Cabot campus as business needs require.

Preferred Qualifications

• CSP, ASP, CHMM, CIH, or another relevant professional certification.
• EHS experience in food manufacturing, dairy processing, cheese production, refrigerated packaging, or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Exposure to machine safety, lockout/tagout, ergonomics, chemical management, wastewater or waste programs, emergency response, and contractor safety.

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to equal opportunity and equal treatment for qualified applicants and employees. Employment decisions are made without regard to any status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.