Vice President, Environment, Health, & Safety

The Opportunity:

The Vice President, Environment, Health, & Safety (EHS) holds overall responsibility for leading the safety strategy and program, social compliance, and corporate facilities services at Maple Leaf Foods. Our Occupational Health and Safety goal is ambitious: zero occupational recordable injuries. As the VP, you will champion a workplace safety culture that encourages people to follow safety protocols, to use safety equipment, to identify hazards, and to speak up when they have any concerns. You can learn more about our commitment to being a global leader in workplace safety .

Maple Leaf Foods previously unveiled a new OHS framework centred around “Caring our Way to Zero” to reaffirm our ongoing commitment to our Team Members that their safety, health, and well-being are our number one priority. As the incoming VP, you are responsible for driving our Safety Promise and Zero Hero programs across the Maple Leaf Foods network of 20+ manufacturing facilities.

Any MLF team member interested in being considered for this role are encouraged to apply online by October 31. Applications received beyond that date are not guaranteed consideration.

Reason for vacancy: Existing Headcount

Snapshot of a Day-in-the-Life:

• Provide Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Senior Leadership: Provide executive guidance for the organization’s health and safety initiatives. You will ensure that action plans are executed to not only satisfy but exceed our EHS objectives.
• Oversee our OHS Policy Development: Direct the creation and application of policies and procedures that support a secure and healthy working environment. This includes the integration of comprehensive OHS training and educational programs across the network, including plant level OHS designates and senior OHS leadership teams.
• Drive Compliance Initiatives: Ensure that all operations and processes adhere to relevant health and safety laws and regulations, maintaining a culture of accountability throughout the organization.
• Direct our Corporate Facilities Operations: Foster an exceptional employee and visitor experience within our corporate facilities. Drive optimal performance in workplace services, maintenance, energy efficiency, and environmental impact in support of sustainability and employee experience objectives.
• Implement Risk Management Programs: Identify potential workplace hazards and risks. Implement measures to mitigate risks, and manage proactive emergency response strategies.
• Measure and Manage Performance Metrics: Install measurable safety targets across the organization by incorporating performance indicators to monitor and improve our safety outcomes.
• Foster Stakeholder Engagement: Work closely with a wide range of internal and external partners, including advisory committees, to continuously enhance our safety practices.
• Nurture Team Leadership: Lead and nurture the Senior OHS team along with designated safety leaders across the network, while also overseeing Environment, Social Compliance, and Head Office Facilities management. Consistently demonstrate and develop leaders to the standards of our Maple Leaf Leadership Values.
• Incorporate Best Practices: Champion the EHS aspect of the Safety Promise, guiding the organization toward achieving industry-leading safety standards

Critical Interactions on the Job:

• Partner with operations leaders to overachieve EHS goals. You will work closely with plant leadership, Facilities, Sanitation, Food Safety Quality Assurance, and other key stakeholders within plants and corporate functions.
• Collaborate with finance and HR for reporting and sustainability disclosures, due diligence, property insurance, return to work programs, and other initiatives.
• Coordinate with key functional leaders (Animal Care, Operations, Center for Food Security) to strive for global leadership of our sustainability programs.
• Support Sales & Marketing in building customer awareness and understanding of our safety commitments.
• Collaborate with real estate, sustainability, and EHS partners to support day-to-day and long term facility planning initiatives.
• Build trusted partnerships with key federal and provincial partners, and non-governmental agencies to influence EHS policies and best practices

Measures of Success:

• Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR):
  Achieve and sustain a reduced TRIR through proactive safety measures.
• Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART):
  Minimize lost workdays by ensuring swift and effective responses to workplace incidents.
• Safety Audits:
  Secure superior results through diligent oversight and continuous improvement of safety protocols.
• Social Compliance Requirements:
  Meet or exceed all socially driven compliance benchmarks consistently.
• Training and Education:
  Enhance organizational knowledge and participation in health and safety practices through comprehensive training initiatives.

What You’ll Bring:

• Strategic Thinking: Demonstrated ability to assess complex safety scenarios and build enterprise-wide strategies that anticipate risk, optimize safety outcomes, and align with operational priorities.
• Agility and Change Leadership: Experienced in leading organizational shifts in response to regulatory changes or incident learnings, embedding a proactive safety mindset through resilient leadership and clear change strategies.
• Growth Mindset: Continuously seeks out and applies new health and safety advancements, blending global best practices with real-world insights to enhance performance and foster innovation.
• Executional Excellence: Adept at managing multiple high-impact EHS projects concurrently, applying disciplined project management, risk mitigation, and continuous improvement techniques to meet critical milestones and outcomes.
• Emotional Intelligence: Builds trust and credibility across senior leadership, plant teams, and external stakeholders by communicating with empathy, adaptability, and clarity—particularly in high-pressure safety environments.
• Collaboration: Consistently strengthens cross-functional partnerships, bringing together Operations, Engineering, Quality Assurance, and external advisors to co-create and embed safe systems of work across the organization.
• Performance Management: Uses leading indicators and lagging metrics—such as TRIR, DART, and audit scores—as decision tools to inform strategy, drive accountability, and validate the effectiveness of safety interventions.
• Facilitation Skills: Leads with influence, whether presenting safety strategies to the board, facilitating critical incident reviews, or guiding safety leadership sessions that engage diverse executive audiences.
• Blueprint Alignment: Ensures that safety programs and culture-building initiatives align closely with Maple Leaf Foods’ Blueprint, promoting long-term organizational goals and sustainability outcomes.
• Leadership Capabilities: Deeply committed to our Leadership Capabilities—Strategic Thinking, Agility and Change Leadership, Growth Mindset, Executional Excellence, and Emotional Intelligence—demonstrated daily in high-impact safety leadership.
• Innovation: Leverages creative problem-solving to modernize safety systems, incorporating emerging technologies and design thinking approaches to enhance hazard control and engagement.
• Stakeholder Management: Builds and sustains productive relationships with internal teams, regulatory agencies, unions, and non-governmental partners, maintaining Maple Leaf Foods’ reputation as a leader in safety and responsible operations.

What We Offer at Maple Leaf Foods:

• Being part of a high-performance, people-focused company that has an inspiring and unique vision to become the most sustainable protein company on earth, and a deep commitment to sustainable protein across North America.
• An inclusive company culture and a work environment that keeps our people safe, rewards excellence, and empowers everyone to learn and contribute their best.
• Competitive Health and Wellness benefits that offer flexibility to meet your individual or family needs, including programs focused on improving mental health and wellbeing. These benefits start on your first day of employment.
• Defined Contribution Pension Plan with company matching that starts on your first day of employment.
• Learning and development opportunities, including workshops, ‘speaker series’ events, and resources that allow you to develop your skills and progress your career.
• Comprehensive tuition reimbursement program that supports continuous learning and development of our team members through investment in eligible degrees, diplomas, professional certification, or trades programs.
• Supporting our deep commitment to community impact, we offer up to two paid days annually to volunteer at a cause of your choice.