Health And Safety Advisor

We are looking for a proactive and hands-on Health & Safety Advisor to join our small Group Health & Safety team on a 12 month fixed-term contract.

About the role: This role is required to provide additional capacity and resilience within the team, including support during periods of team absence, while also helping us deliver key health and safety priorities across the business. The successful candidate will be confident managing their own workload, working independently, and seeing actions through to completion. This is a practical, operational role where you will work closely with leaders, colleagues and subject matter experts across the business to help maintain safe working environments and support continuous improvement. You will play an important role in supporting our distribution centre operations, local management teams and wider business functions. This will include chairing local health and safety meetings, supporting accident and incident investigations, helping to develop policies and processes, and supporting the continued implementation of our new health and safety management software over the next six months. This role would suit someone who is positive, solutions-focused and comfortable working in a fast-paced operational environment where priorities can change quickly.

Key responsibilities: As Health & Safety Advisor, you will:

• Provide practical health and safety advice and support to operational teams, leaders and colleagues across N Brown sites.
• Manage your own workload effectively, prioritising key activities and ensuring actions are followed through to completion.
• Work independently as part of a small Group Health & Safety team, providing cover and support during team absence where required.
• Build effective working relationships with key stakeholders and subject matter experts across the business, including Operations, Facilities, Engineering, People, Training, Compliance and third-party service providers.
• Work with cross-functional teams to embed health and safety into day-to-day operations, projects, processes and decision-making.
• Chair and support local health and safety meetings with site teams, ensuring actions are recorded, tracked and progressed.
• Support accident, incident and near miss investigations, helping managers identify root causes and appropriate corrective actions.
• Assist with the development and review of health and safety policies, procedures, guidance documents and safe systems of work.
• Develop, organise, deliver and report on health and safety training, ensuring colleagues and leaders have the knowledge and confidence to work safely.
• Support the implementation and roll-out of N Brown’s new health and safety management software, including helping colleagues understand and adopt new ways of working.
• Support operational teams through change by providing clear guidance, coaching and practical support.
• Undertake inspections, audits and site reviews, identifying risks, good practice and opportunities for improvement.
• Support risk assessment activity, including reviewing and advising on suitable control measures.
• Provide support on contractor management, workplace safety, fire safety, manual handling, MHE-related activity and general operational risk.
• Help inspire colleagues to put safety first by promoting a positive, inclusive and proactive health and safety culture.
• Work collaboratively to solve problems, remove blockers and support practical, proportionate health and safety solutions.
• Promote a culture where colleagues feel safe, supported and confident to speak up about health and safety concerns.

About you: You will need to be someone who takes ownership, follows things through, and can build credibility with operational teams. This role is not just about identifying issues; it is about helping the business find workable solutions, supporting teams to implement them, and inspiring colleagues to put safety first. You will be confident working across functions to embed health and safety into how we work, while helping to create a positive culture where colleagues feel safe, supported and able to raise concerns.

You will have:

• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in a similar health and safety role within a comparable operational environment.
• Essential experience in a distribution centre, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, retail operations or similarly fast-paced operational environment.
• Strong working knowledge of UK health and safety legislation and practical risk management.
• Confidence supporting accident and incident investigations.
• Experience chairing or contributing to health and safety meetings.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage colleagues at all levels.
• The ability to manage competing priorities and work independently.
• A proactive, positive and practical approach to problem solving.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to see actions through to completion.
• Confidence working with systems, data and digital tools.
• The ability to support colleagues through process and system change.

Qualifications and accreditations:

• Essential: NEBOSH General Certificate or equivalent recognised health and safety qualification.
• Technical membership of IOSH, or working towards this level.
• Good working knowledge of risk assessment, incident investigation and health and safety management systems.
• Desirable: NEBOSH Construction Certificate or relevant construction/CDM experience.
• IOSH membership at TechIOSH or GradIOSH level.
• Experience supporting contractor management, CDM activity, facilities projects or operational change.
• Fire safety, manual handling, MHE, PUWER, LOLER or warehouse safety experience.
• Experience using or implementing health and safety management software.

Key skills and behaviours:

• The successful candidate will be:
• Proactive — able to identify what needs doing and take action.
• Independent — confident managing their own workload and priorities.
• Hands-on — willing to spend time in the operation and understand how work is really done.
• Positive — able to bring energy, pragmatism and a solutions-focused approach.
• Resilient — comfortable working in a small team where priorities can shift.
• Collaborative — able to work with cross-functional teams and build strong relationships with managers, colleagues and SMEs.
• Accountable — someone who follows actions through and sees work to completion.
• Practical — able to balance compliance with realistic, workable solutions.
• Confident trainer — able to develop, organise and deliver engaging health and safety training.
• Culture-focused — able to inspire colleagues to put safety first and contribute to a culture where everyone feels safe.
• Clear communicator — able to explain health and safety requirements in a way people understand and can act on.

What’s in it for you?

• Hybrid working (3 days in the office at a minimum)
• 24 days holiday (+ 8 bank holidays)
• Annual bonus scheme
• Enhanced maternity and adoption leave
• Company pension with up to 8% N Brown contribution
• Mental Health support both internally and externally, including access to our wellbeing champions and counselling services
• A range of financial wellbeing support
• Stream - a financial wellbeing tool that helps you track your pay, access earnings early and manage your money with confidence
• Colleague discount across all N Brown brands
• Onsite café with subsidised rates and local restaurant discounts!
• Life Assurance and Private Medical Insurance
• Paid volunteer time – all our colleagues can take a full day paid to volunteer for a charity of their choice

N Brown – who we are and why work for us?

N Brown is a leading UK digital retail platform for clothing, footwear, home and technology, headquartered in Manchester and employing over 1,000 people nationwide. Through our strategic retail brands JD Williams, Jacamo and Simply Be and our unique payments offering, we exist to champion inclusivity and serve the underserved. Our customers are our passion, and we take great pride in delivering products that ensure they can look and feel amazing, without compromising on choice, value and accessibility. We’re committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment that values equality for all. Our vision is that by ‘By championing inclusion, N Brown will become the UK’s most loved and trusted consumer platform, shaping the future of financial empowerment and personal expression’. ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging are, therefore, at the heart of our culture. In May 2024 we were delighted to be named one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024. We work hard to create a happy and inclusive culture for everyone and we’re so proud to have made this list - as voted for by our very own colleagues!

Our promise to you: We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Please know your application is being reviewed by a real human being. We value your interest in joining us and appreciate you taking the time to submit your application.

What happens when you apply to a role at N Brown? As soon as we receive your application, we’ll send you an email to let you know. We always aim to come back to you as soon as possible with an update and we really appreciate you taking the time to apply for a role with us. Good luck!