Principal Consultant, Safety

Lead Safety Excellence Across Complex Capital Projects

As a Principal Consultant, Capital Project Safety based in Houston, TX, you will play a pivotal leadership role in helping clients proactively manage EHS risks across some of the most complex and high-profile capital projects in the industry. From early planning and design through construction, commissioning, start-up, and project closeout, you will serve as a trusted advisor, influencing critical decisions that protect people, strengthen safety culture, and drive successful project outcomes.

This is an opportunity to lead at the intersection of technical excellence, operational performance, and strategic risk management while partnering with multidisciplinary teams and industry-leading clients. If you are passionate about shaping safer project environments and delivering lasting impact, you'll find significant growth opportunities within ERM's rapidly expanding Safety Services team.

Why This Role Matters

Safety is not just a project requirement. It is a critical driver of successful project delivery, operational readiness, and long-term business performance.

In this role, you will help clients integrate safety into every decision and project phase, ensuring potential risks are identified and mitigated before work begins. Your expertise will influence project strategy, strengthen safety culture, support regulatory compliance, and help teams deliver complex capital projects safely, efficiently, and successfully.

What Your Impact Is

As a Principal Consultant, you'll help clients embed Safety throughout the full capital project lifecycle, from planning and design through construction, commissioning, start-up, and closeout. You'll support proactive identification and control of EHS risks, strengthen safety culture, and help ensure regulatory compliance at each project stage. This role offers exposure to complex technical challenges, mentorship opportunities, cross-functional collaboration, and long-term career growth within ERM's rapidly expanding Safety Services team.

What You'll Bring

Required

• Bachelor's degree in safety, occupational health and safety, engineering, construction management, or related field or equivalent experience.
• 6+ years (10+ years preferred) of capital project EHS experience, including owner-side safety support, contractor oversight, construction execution, and commissioning/start-up.
• Experience with Safety in Design, constructability reviews, PHA/PSM-informed risk reviews, and project EHS governance processes.
• Strong knowledge of OSHA construction/general industry standards, LOTO, permitting, emergency response, fire protection, and high-risk construction controls.
• Experience reviewing contractor safe work documentation, including JHAs, pre-task plans, permits, lift plans, energy isolation plans, training records, and toolbox talks.
• Strong field presence, communication skills, and ability to influence contractors, project teams, and client EH&S personnel.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and ability to manage multiple priorities, travel as needed, and deliver high-quality client service.
• Driver's License Required: This position requires a valid driver's license and/or the ability to operate a company vehicle due to the nature of job duties, which include frequent travel to various client locations across a large geographical area.

Preferred

• CHST, ASP, CSP, OSHA 30, confined space, fall protection/prevention, or equivalent certifications/training preferred.
• Complex capital project experience in pharmaceutical, high-tech, chemical, LNG, manufacturing, or similar sectors highly desired.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the owner's Safety representative across the capital project lifecycle, providing oversight, verification, coaching, and escalation while contractors retain responsibility for execution and control implementation.
• Embed Safety in Design through planning, engineering, constructability, PHA/PSM-informed reviews, and loss prevention assessments to identify and mitigate construction, commissioning, start-up, and operational risks.
• Define EHS requirements for scopes of work, bid packages, execution plans, safety plans, phase gates, contractor onboarding, emergency response, LOTO, and fire protection expectations.
• Design and execute project EHS governance processes, including risk reviews, assurance routines, site audits, escalation pathways, corrective action tracking, and management reporting.
• Align project, engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, contractor, and client EH&S teams on safety expectations, accountabilities, communication protocols, and incident-free execution.
• Review contractor safe work documentation, including JHAs, pre-task plans, permits, lift plans, energy isolation/LOTO plans, training records, toolbox talks, and emergency response plans.
• Conduct owner-side field observations and site audits to verify critical controls, identify hazards, assess contractor conformance, and escalate corrective actions.
• Participate in daily planning and pre-shift meetings to review work activities, site conditions, SIMOPS/interfaces, permit needs, and safety-critical controls.
• Track and communicate EHS observations, audit findings, contractor trends, corrective actions, leading indicators, and recommended actions.
• Support commissioning, start-up, and turnover readiness by verifying safety planning for new equipment, energized systems, LOTO, operational interfaces, permits, emergency preparedness, and transition to operations.
• Support closeout by confirming safety documentation, lessons learned, corrective action closure, demobilization controls, and transfer of EHS records.

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.

ERM is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Thank you for your interest in ERM!

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