Senior Director - Process Safety

Job Purpose

• Accountable for preventing catastrophic events, including molten metal explosions, high-energy electrical incidents, structural failures, toxic gas releases, and major fires.
• Ensures that major hazard risks are systematically identified, controlled, verified, and reported to Executive Management and the Board.
• Safeguards people, assets, reputation, and business continuity by strengthening governance, assurance, and operational discipline across all major hazard activities.

Strategic Accountabilities

Major Hazard Governance

• Establish and maintain an enterprise-wide Major Hazard Risk Management Framework.

• Define, implement, and oversee Critical Controls for major hazard exposures, including:

  • Molten metal handling and transfer operations.
  • Potline integrity and high-voltage electrical systems.
  • Gas systems (e.g., natural gas, hydrogen, compressed gases).
  • Pressure systems and stored energy hazards.
  • Confined space entry and associated high-risk activities.

• Ensure governance and control frameworks are aligned with recognized international standards and best practice, including:

  • International Council on Mining and Metals Critical Control Management guidance.
  • Center for Chemical Process Safety Risk-Based Process Safety framework.
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Process Safety Management (PSM) principles.

Fatality & Serious Injury Prevention (SIF Focus)

• Lead the strategic shift from traditional lagging safety metrics (TRIFR/LTIFR) toward Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) prevention, ensuring the organization prioritizes catastrophic risk exposure and Major Accident Event (MAE) prevention.

• Establish and govern a robust SIF and High Potential (HiPo) Event Framework, including clear definitions, classification criteria, and escalation thresholds.

• Monitor and report barrier health and Critical Control effectiveness, ensuring early detection of control degradation, overdue verification activities, weak signals, and operational drift.

• Ensure all high-potential events, critical control failures, and repeated systemic weaknesses are reviewed directly with the committee, including:

  • Credible worst-case outcomes.
  • Failed or degraded controls.
  • Immediate corrective actions.
  • Long-term systemic improvements.

• Implement and oversee an independent verification program for Life-Saving Rules and Critical Controls, ensuring that high-risk controls are:

  • Tested against defined performance standards.
  • Verified through field validation and evidence-based assurance.
  • Tracked through governance dashboards.
  • Escalated when non-compliant or ineffective.

• Ensure leadership accountability through structured governance, including SIF performance reviews, barrier assurance reporting, and Board-level visibility of major hazard exposure and control performance.

Engineering & Asset Integrity

• Provide governance and oversight of engineering systems that protect against major hazards, including:

  • Mechanical integrity programs.
  • Electrical integrity and arc-flash risk controls.
  • Management of Change (MOC) governance.
  • Safe design reviews for new smelter technologies and modifications.

• Ensure process safety requirements are embedded into all capital projects, expansions, and major upgrades from concept through commissioning and handover.

Automation & AI in Process Safety

• Lead the integration of advanced technologies to strengthen process safety performance and reduce catastrophic risk exposure, including:

  • AI-based predictive analytics for early anomaly detection and emerging risk trends.
  • Real-time monitoring of critical parameters (temperature, pressure, gas concentrations).
  • Smart sensors for molten metal transport systems and high-risk equipment.
  • Digital barrier management and critical control verification platforms.
  • Automated shutdowns and interlock systems to eliminate or minimize human exposure.

• Ensure digital and automation initiatives are aligned with Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) prevention principles and leading practices highlighted by the National Safety Council.

Board Reporting & Risk Transparency

• Provide quarterly Board-level reporting on key process safety and major hazard indicators, including:

  • Tier 1 & Tier 2 Process Safety Events.
  • Critical Control Effectiveness Rate.
  • Barrier Health Index.
  • High-Potential Incident (HiPo) trends.
  • Mechanical Integrity backlog and risk exposure.
  • Major Hazard Risk Heat Map.

• Ensure the Board has clear, timely visibility of catastrophic risk exposure, emerging threats, and the effectiveness of mitigation and critical control performance.

Desired Candidate Profile

• Engineering degree (Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, or Process).

• 15+ years in high-hazard industrial operations.

• Deep expertise in:

  • HAZOP / LOPA / Bowtie.
  • Critical Control Management.
  • Major Accident Prevention.
  • Experience engaging regulators and Board committees.
  • Strong digital and data analytics literacy.

Leadership Expectations

• Demonstrate independent authority and confidence to escalate catastrophic risk concerns to Executive Management and the Board.
• Show courage and decisiveness to stop unsafe high-risk operations when critical controls are ineffective or degraded.
• Apply a strong systems-thinking mindset to identify underlying causes, systemic weaknesses, and cross-functional risk interactions.
• Influence senior leadership and operational teams to drive sustained process safety discipline, accountability, and performance improvement.

Key KPIs (Board-Level)

• Zero Tier 1 catastrophic process safety events.
• ≥95% Critical Control Verification effectiveness.
• 100% Management of Change (MOC) compliance for major risk changes.
• Reduction in SIF potential and high-potential events.
• Closure of high-risk corrective actions within agreed target timeframes.