Vice President of Safety and Compliance

POSITION SUMMARY

The Vice President of Safety & Compliance provides enterprise-wide leadership, strategy, governance, and oversight for transportation safety, regulatory compliance, risk prevention, and loss-control activities. This executive serves as the Company's senior authority for transportation safety and compliance and is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive safety strategy that protects employees, drivers, customers, the public, Company assets, operating authority, and reputation. The Vice President establishes a proactive, data-driven safety culture across transportation, logistics, fleet, warehouse, and distribution operations while ensuring compliance with applicable Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and federal, state, and local requirements. This position partners with Operations, Human Resources, Legal, Risk Management, Insurance, Fleet Maintenance, Recruiting, Training, Information Technology, and executive leadership to reduce risk, prevent accidents and injuries, improve regulatory performance, and continuously improve safety results. This position will serve as a senior Company representative during FMCSA, DOT, OSHA, state, or other regulatory audits, investigations, or compliance reviews.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

SAFETY STRATEGY & EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

• Develop, implement, and continuously improve the Company's enterprise-wide safety and regulatory compliance strategy.
• Establish short- and long-term safety objectives aligned with operational, financial, customer-service, and growth goals.
• Serve as the executive subject-matter expert and primary advisor to leadership on transportation safety, regulatory compliance, fleet risk, accident prevention, and emerging regulations.
• Establish accountability for safety performance throughout Operations, Fleet, Maintenance, Warehousing, and other applicable business functions.
• Promote a culture in which employees and leaders proactively identify, report, correct, and prevent unsafe conditions and behaviors.
• Translate regulatory requirements, operational data, and safety trends into practical policies and operating strategies.
• Provide executive leadership with regular reporting regarding significant risks, trends, regulatory developments, corrective actions, and safety performance.
• Exercise authority to escalate or suspend practices, equipment use, or operations that present an imminent safety hazard, significant regulatory violation, or unacceptable risk.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Safety, Transportation, Logistics, Business Administration, Risk Management, Occupational Safety, Supply Chain, or a related field required. Equivalent substantial executive-level transportation safety experience may be considered.
• Master's degree in a related discipline preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 10–12 years of progressively responsible experience in transportation, trucking, logistics, fleet safety, regulatory compliance, or risk management.
• Five or more years of senior leadership responsibility for a multi-location or enterprise-level safety organization strongly preferred.
• Significant experience with commercial motor vehicle operations regulated by the FMCSA.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing DOT/FMCSA compliance programs.
• Proven record of improving measurable safety performance.
• Experience managing regulatory investigations, DOT audits, compliance reviews, and corrective-action programs.
• Experience leading significant accident investigations.
• Experience managing safety programs across geographically dispersed operations.
• Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with executive and operational leadership.

PREFERRED CERTIFICATIONS

One or more of the following is preferred:

• Certified Director of Safety (CDS).
• Certified Safety Professional (CSP).
• Certified Transportation Professional (CTP).
• OSHA safety certification or advanced OSHA training.
• Other recognized transportation safety or risk-management credentials.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES

The successful candidate must demonstrate advanced knowledge of:

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
• DOT and FMCSA compliance.
• CSA and Safety Measurement System requirements.
• Hours-of-Service and Electronic Logging Devices.
• Driver Qualification Files.
• FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse requirements.
• Vehicle inspection, maintenance, and roadside compliance.
• Accident investigation and root-cause analysis.
• OSHA requirements.
• Transportation risk management and claims.
• Fleet safety technologies and analytics.
• Corrective and preventive action systems.

The position also requires strong executive leadership, strategic planning, analytical decision-making, communication, change management, operational understanding, accountability, problem-solving, and talent-development capabilities.

WORK ENVIRONMENT & TRAVEL

This position operates in corporate, transportation, terminal, warehouse, maintenance, and field environments.

Regular travel to Company facilities, terminals, customer locations, and operating sites is required. The Vice President may occasionally respond to significant accidents, regulatory matters, or other safety events outside normal business hours.

Travel of approximately 25–40% should be expected depending on organizational requirements.