Principal Consultant, Health & Safety

Shape the future of laboratory biosafety and enterprise health & safety performance in complex, high-risk environments.

At ERM, as a Principal Consultant, Health & Safety (Biosafety Focus) based in Scottsdale, Arizona, you will step into a highly visible, strategic role at the intersection of science, operations, and risk management. This is an opportunity to influence how leading biotechnology, pharmaceutical, research, and high-tech organizations design and run their biosafety and health & safety programs - moving beyond compliance toward resilient, high-performing systems that enable innovation while protecting people and operations.

Why This Role Matters?

As scientific innovation accelerates, organizations face increasing complexity in managing biological risk. Strong, well-governed biosafety programs are critical - not just for compliance, but for enabling safe, scalable innovation.

In this role, you will lead biosafety strategy and execution across BSL‑1 and BSL‑2 environments, with a strong preference for experience supporting or overseeing BSL‑3 laboratories. Your work will directly shape how organizations manage risk, engage leadership, and embed safety into everyday laboratory operations.

What Your Impact Is:

Lead and mature safety programs for multiple industries; and biosafety programs for BSL‑1 and BSL‑2 laboratories/manufacturers, with strong preference for experience in BSL‑3 program oversight, commissioning, or operational readiness

Develop, deploy, and manage safety and biosafety management systems, including policies, standards, procedures, risk assessments, agent‑specific risk reviews, exposure control plans, and biological spill response protocols

Support and participate in Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs) (e.g., member, administrator/secretary, or chair support), including protocol review, NIH Guidelines compliance, and governance cadence

Build and deliver role‑based training

health and safety and biosafety audits, gap analyses, and maturity assessments; develop corrective actions and verify effectiveness

Oversee program interfaces such as equipment certification coordination, laboratory design and operational readiness reviews, waste management, occupational health linkages (vaccines and medical surveillance), and contractor controls

Design and implement broader Health & Safety and Technical Risk programs, including compliance auditing, ISO 45001–aligned management systems, risk management, contractor management, and Serious Injury & Fatality (SIF) prevention

Lead incident investigations, root cause analyses, corrective action development, and control verification while driving organizational learning

Support safety culture and leadership initiatives, including coaching, field engagement, and capability building

Manage complex consulting projects and programs, ensuring scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations are met while exceeding client expectations

Serve as a visible subject matter leader in biosafety and general Health & Safety; contribute to ERM best practices and knowledge sharing

Partner with account teams and senior leaders to develop opportunities, support proposal development, and long‑term client relationships. Support the development of go-to-market strategies for biosafety and other health and safety service offerings.

Mentor and lead consultants, supporting recruiting, onboarding, performance coaching, and team development

What You'll Bring:

Required

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Biosafety, Microbiology, Biology, Public Health, Industrial Hygiene, Safety Engineering, or a related discipline or equivalent experience

6-8+ years of relevant EHS experience, including substantive biosafety leadership in BSL‑1,BSL‑2, and BSL-3 R&D and Manufacturing environments, including operations oversight, commissioning/operational readiness, or governance

Proven experience developing, deploying, and managing biosafety and Health & Safety programs (not just participating), including standards, procedures, training, metrics, assurance, and risk management strategy

Experience supporting or serving on Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs) with familiarity in protocol review processes and committee governance

5+ years of consulting experience preferred, or an internal client‑facing role with equivalent scope, including proposal support and relationship management

Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to translate complex technical risk into clear, actionable plans for stakeholders at all levels

Willingness to travel up to 50% based on client needs

Preferred

Professional credentials such as RBP/CBSP (ABSA), CIH, CSP, or PE

Experience working in biotech, pharmaceutical, high‑tech, chemical, academic research, or government environments

Demonstrated success building multi‑year roadmaps, KPIs and metrics, governance dashboards, and management review mechanisms

Experience interfacing with allied programs, including waste management, industrial hygiene monitoring, facilities/engineering, select agent awareness, and contractor controls in laboratory environments

Key Responsibilities:

Provide strategic biosafety leadership across complex laboratory environments

Design and operationalize integrated biosafety and Health & Safety systems aligned to business goals

Partner with senior stakeholders to strengthen governance, compliance, and risk management

Lead program implementation, audits, and continuous improvement initiatives

Build organizational capability through training, coaching, and culture development

Drive project delivery excellence while expanding client relationships and contributing to ERM’s growth

Who We Are:

As the largest global pure play sustainability consultancy, we partner with the world’s leading organizations, creating innovative solutions to sustainability challenges and unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations.

At ERM we know that creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment is an essential part of making our company a great place to build a career. We also see our diversity as a strength that helps us create better solutions for our clients. Our diverse team of world-class experts supports clients across the breadth of their organizations to operationalize sustainability, underpinned by our deep technical expertise in addressing their environmental, health, safety, risk and social issues. We call this capability our “boots to boardroom” approach for its comprehensive service model that allows ERM to develop strategic and technical solutions that advance objectives on the ground or at the executive level.

Please submit your resume and brief cover letter.

ERM does not accept recruiting agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, ERM employees or any other company location. ERM is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

Thank you for your interest in ERM!