National Director, Health & Safety – Canada in Vaughan

Ready to elevate your career? GESI is expanding! We are officially hunting for our next National Director, Health & Safety in Canada—someone ready to bring fresh ideas and grow alongside a dynamic team.

About Us

GFL Environmental Services Inc. ("GESI") is a high-growth environmental services company recently carved out of GFL Environmental Inc. Backed by leading private equity firms, GESI delivers liquid waste, industrial cleaning, and soil remediation services across North America through a vertically integrated platform of over 230 sites and a fleet of 1,800+ vehicles. Our employees, collectively known as 'Team Green,' enjoy numerous benefits: career advancement opportunities, competitive benefits, job stability within an essential services company, and the chance to make a positive impact every day for our customers and communities, Green for Life!

The Role

The National Director, Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) - Canada provides strategic, executive, and operational leadership over all EH&S programs across national operations, high-hazard facilities, field sites, and refinery operations. This role transforms regional EH&S achievements into national standards, establishing continuous improvement frameworks, driving a culture of safety excellence, and ensuring operational alignment with complex federal, provincial, and local regulatory requirements across Canada and North America.

Key Responsibilities

• Formulate, govern, and continuously enhance the enterprise wide HS management system framework (KPIs, EH&SMS, Corporate Safety Standards, policies, and SOPs), establishing consistent safety standards.
• Foster a company-wide culture of safety excellence by driving executive-led safety initiatives, continuous training programs, and proactive risk mitigation strategies.
• Drive the standardization of safe operating practices, hazardous task controls, and engineering risk mitigations to protect personnel, assets, and operational continuity.
• Establish senior leadership oversight and executive reporting protocols for critical incidents, ensuring operational transparency, accountability, and continuous organizational learning.
• Align EH&S stewardship goals with business objectives to support overall operational sustainability, compliance, and long-term organizational success.
• Provide strategic direction and executive oversight for risk management across all operations and diverse client industrial sites.
• Oversee HS onboarding, integrating acquired business units, personnel, and infrastructure into corporate EH&S management systems and safety cultures.
• Oversee comprehensive environmental compliance, facility monitoring, site remediation, and land-stewardship strategies.
• Direct the resolution of complex regulatory inquiries, permitting requirements, and third-party compliance verification systems (e.g., ISNetworld, Avetta).
• Provide senior oversight for environmental emergency responses including internal facility emergencies, and third-party technical consultants.
• Direct root-cause investigation methodologies (SCAT, RCA) for critical events, ensuring thorough analysis, systemic trend identification, and execution of corrective and preventive action (CAPA) frameworks.
• Partner closely with Human Resources on employee retention, safety leadership training, and Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) disability claims management.
• Collaborate with Fleet Compliance to ensure driver safety, National Safety Code alignment, and fleet technology integration.
• Coordinate with Risk & Insurance on certificates of insurance, asset/vehicle coverage, and enterprise risk management (ERM).
• Provide EH&S oversight and technical reviews for commercial proposals, RFPs/RFQs, and client pre-qualification submissions.
• Oversee and drive functional design, optimization, and rollout for digital management software (Enablon, SEMS, GFL Learning Hub).
• Experience with EH&S Dashboards to track real-time KPIs, audit findings, KPI logs, and critical incident trends across all business units.

Knowledge, Skills and Competencies

Knowledge & Technical Skills

• EH&S Management Systems & Governance: Expert knowledge of enterprise EH&S management system architectures (EH&SMS, GreenBook, Corporate Safety Standards) and the development of corporate policies, manuals, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Policy Development: Extensive expertise in North American environmental protection legislation, federal/provincial/state OHS regulations, Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG), WHMIS, and municipal environmental bylaws.
• Process Safety & High-Hazard Operations: Deep technical understanding of Process Safety Management (PSM), pressure systems safety engineering, Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) standardization, and hazard identification across complex industrial services, hazardous waste processing facilities, used oil/glycol refineries, and resource sector sites (mining, forestry, oil & gas).
• Digital EH&S Systems & Data Analytics: Aptitude and functional implementation experience with digital EH&S management platforms (Enablon, SEMS, WorkHub, GFL Learning Hub) and data visualization platforms.
• Environmental Stewardship & Assessment: Technical background in environmental earth sciences, Phase I/II/III environmental site assessments, Decommissioning & Reclamation Plans (DRP), spill contingency planning, and regulatory reporting (NPRI, emissions, effluent/water monitoring).

Behavioral Competencies

• Executive Leadership: Ability to influence, align, and direct senior operations executives, regional directors, and frontline teams toward a unified vision.
• Strategic & Analytical Thinking: Skilled at evaluating complex operational data and incident trends to formulate proactive mitigation strategies.
• Collaboration & Cross-Functional Partnership: Proven track record of breaking down functional silos and embedding EH&S into HR, Legal, Claims, IT, and Finance workflows.
• High-Impact Communication: Exceptional verbal and written presentation skills for board-level reporting, regulatory negotiations, and company-wide safety messaging.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (Environmental Sciences, Engineering, Occupational Safety)
• 10-15 Year Relevant Experience in Senior EH&S Leadership Role.
• Multidisciplinary experience: Operations, Hazardous Waste Management, Environmental Management/Consulting, Emergency Response, Engineering, Process Safety Management.

Working Conditions & Travel

Work Environment: Hybrid setup involving corporate/regional offices, operational yards, waste processing facilities, and refinery sites.

Travel Requirements: Approximately 25% travel across North American operations to support EH&S team members as required, complete site inspections, participate in Senior Leadership initiatives, and provide frontline leadership engagement.

What We Offer

Why join us? We believe in taking care of our team. Here is a snapshot of our total rewards you can expect:

• Health: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Wellness: Employee Assistance Program, life insurance, and paid time-off.
• Financial: RRSP matching, profit sharing and competitive wages.
• Culture: Growth opportunities and continuous learning opportunities.

Join us and become part of "Team Green" at GFL Environmental, where your skills and dedication will be valued and rewarded.