Director, EHS - Electric

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN), parent company of Liberty, is a diversified international generation, transmission, and distribution utility. AQN is committed to providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective energy and water solutions through our portfolio of utility investments to over one million customer connections, largely in the United States and Canada.

At Algonquin, our vision is to be the most trusted utility service provider in North America - a premium regulated utility, known for our customer focus, commitment to sustainability, and strong community partnerships. Our employees are at the heart of that vision. We believe that when people are empowered to learn, grow, and contribute their ideas, we can achieve remarkable results together.

We are building a culture that values integrity, inclusivity, and innovation. By joining Algonquin, you'll be part of a team that is shaping the future of energy and water, while creating long-term value for our customers, communities, employees, and shareholders.

Purpose

This position provides strategic leadership for occupational health, safety, and environmental (OHSE) performance across an assigned commodity across the Liberty footprint (East, Central, West, or other designated region).

The Director is accountable for advancing a strong safety culture, strengthening employee engagement, and improving OHSE performance across all operations and locations within the region. Working closely with regional leadership and a team of EHS professionals, the role drives alignment between operational priorities, risk management, and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities include implementation of Liberty's OHSE management system; oversight of occupational hazard identification, risk assessment, and control; and stewardship of the regulatory compliance framework, including applicable occupational regulations, environmental requirements, and industry standards relevant to the region's operating businesses.

The Director leads, develops, and mentors a team of EHS professionals. Team size and organizational structure will be aligned with the scope, complexity, and risk profile of the region's operations.

The role provides enterprise-level leadership to strengthen safety performance, reduce incidents, and advance next-generation approaches that improve both OHSE outcomes and operating efficiency. The Director brings broad experience leading both behavior-based and process-based safety programs and uses data-driven insights to achieve continuous improvement in key performance indicators such as LTIR, RIR, motor vehicle incidents, near misses, and safety observations.

The Director also champions innovation in modern OHSE practices, including the application of advanced digital tools, data analytics, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and emerging technologies such as augmented reality to improve operational effectiveness and safety performance across Liberty.

Accountabilities

• Lead implementation of Libertys 5yr Strategic EHS Plan within the assigned Region to develop an interdependent culture reflective of a commitment to an illness and injury-free workplace.
• Foster collaboration within the assigned Region for the development and implementation of all Liberty EHS policies and procedures and integration of local procedures and work practices, job-specific, modality-specific, etc. with all affected functions including but not limited to: Operations, Engineering, Customer Care, etc.
• Prioritize tactical and oversee strategic direction on all Environmental, Health and Safety policies and programs which bear critical importance to overall corporate objectives, operations, and profitability of the various divisions within the assigned Region.
• Implement and support incident investigation protocols to prevent recurrence of incidents and to ensure information on incidents is shared appropriately within the assigned Region and across all Regions as applicable.
• Support the updating of Liberty EHS standards, policies and procedures as needed.
• Arrange technical support and training as needed to ensure daily optimal function of EHS Systems (Gensuite, MSDSOnline, ISNetworld, etc.)
• Handle planned and unplanned regulatory events such as but not limited to: requests for information, inspections, complaints, and any correspondence from governing bodies (ie. OSHA, Departments of Labor, Public Utility Commissions, Department of Transportation, etc.) and industry organizations to which Liberty is a member company (ie. AGA, EEI, ACPA, etc.)
• Participate in decision-making with regional leadership to ensure compliance with occupational regulations, corporate standards, and industry best practices where applicable.
• Support Corporate and Regional EHS teams as a liaison for projects, updates and modifications to EHS Systems as needed.
• Support due diligence efforts to evaluate prospective new assets for enterprise risk and compliance with EHS-related regulations.
• Lead coordination, teamwork and integration between internal and external stakeholders for a seamless asset transition with EHS operations within the assigned Region.
• Coordinate EHS metrics for Regional operating divisions to ensure accurate and timely EHS Reporting across the assigned Region using Gensuite.
• Manage efforts to track, trend and develop action plans for leading and lagging environment, health and safety key performance indicators for the assigned Region.
• Oversee preparation of EHS performance metrics and injury/illness record-keeping for each location within the assigned Region (ie. OSHA logs as applicable).
• Continuously engage and influence leaders across the assigned Region to operationalize safety and fulfill the expectations of leading a safe workforce, maintaining compliance with applicable occupational health, safety and environmental regulations, and addressing concerns of hazards and risks inherent to their individual scope of responsibility.
• Prepare the annual operating budget for EHS for the assigned Region
• Actively participate and support Emergency and Storm Response Efforts for Mutual Aid, Unplanned Events, Avalanche/Wildfire Events, Crisis Management, etc.
• Oversee the triage and management of employee injury and illness incidents and claims in collaboration with employees, people leaders, HR, and workers compensation partners.

Education and Experience

• University degree in a technical field or equivalent education/industry experience
• 10+ years field experience at an Electric Utility/Contractor would be an asset
• Minimum of 10 - 15 years senior management experience in the Environmental Health and Safety field in North America.
• Relevant experience in environmental compliance, preferably in the power generation and regulated utility space in Canada and US.
• Proven track record in creating significant positive culture shift in regards to safety in a business with multiple locations across the US and Canada.
• Solid understanding of Occupational Health and Safety laws and regulations as applicable to the utility industry in North America.
• Experience in remote management and supervision - demonstrated leadership qualities.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Superior team building and coaching abilities, both as a leader and a team member.
• Extensive travel required due to assets in Canada and the US.
• Preference will be given to candidates with knowledge of US EH & S regulatory regimes.

Compensation Data

Full base salary range $160,000.00- $230,000.00 per year*Liberty considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and responsibilities, a candidates work experience, education, training and skills, and geographic location.

Our purpose is sustaining energy and water for life, and it is demonstrated in everything we do as a business and as an employee team.

As the successful candidate

Our Mission

We provide safe, secure, reliable, cost-effective and sustainable energy and water solutions. Our mission is how we create value as an organization-it is what drives us every day to fulfill our purpose.

Our Vision

We better the lives of our customers and communities. Our vision is what we see as possible. Its where we aspire to be, what we want to achieve and how well make an impact. It guides and keeps us on the right path as we work towards fulfilling our purposes.

Our Guiding Principles

• Customer Centric
• Integrity
• Entrepreneurial
• Teamwork
• Owner mindset
• Outcome focused
• Continuous learning

What we offer

Collaborative environment with a genuine flexible working policy

401k Plan with matching

Share purchase/match plan

Leadership Development Program

Volunteer paid days off

Employee Assistance Program

Achievement fund

Free parking

Variety of Health & Wellness programs

Discount and Perks program

We are focused on building a diverse and inclusive workforce. If you are excited about this role and are not confident you meet all the qualification requirements, we encourage you to apply to investigate the opportunity further.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value each persons unique background, diversity, experiences, perspectives and talents.

Full participation of all employees in a safe, healthy and respectful environment is key to individual and company success. We are committed to fully utilizing the abilities of all our employees and expect each of our employees to honour this commitment in their daily responsibilities.