Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Manager

Qualifications and Requirements:

Must have

• 8+ years of progressive HSE experience in Kenya or East Africa, with a strong track record of implementing and running established HSE management systems in a high-hazard, multi-site environment.
  
• A background in high-hazard industry – marine/maritime, manufacturing and food processing, construction, oil & gas, or logistics – with hands-on ownership of both safety and environmental compliance in the field.
  
• Registered as an OSH Advisor/Practitioner with DOSHS, with a NEBOSH and/or professional HSE qualification (IOSH, ISO 45001/14001 lead auditor an advantage).
  
• Deep working knowledge of Kenyan HSE law (OSHA 2007, WIBA, EMCA) and NEMA/DOSHS processes.
  
• A track record of executing HSE programmes and measurably reducing incidents through disciplined, consistent enforcement – not just administering paperwork.
  

Strongly preferred

• Water/marine or cold-chain safety experience
  
• Experience commissioning HSE for a new processing or manufacturing facility
  

Key Responsibilities:

Systems and governance – execution

• Implement, roll out, and maintain the HSE management system as defined in the company’s HSE plan – policies, procedures, risk registers, safe systems of work, and the incident-management framework.
  
• Run the established HSE governance: convene the safety committees, keep the reporting cadence, and report the agreed leading and lagging KPIs monthly to the Managing Director and leadership team.
  
• Exercise the authority to stop any work deemed unsafe, without commercial or operational override.
  
• Keep the system current – apply updates handed down by Group and by regulators, and flag gaps or improvement needs upward rather than redesigning the framework independently.
  

Operational health & safety

• Enforce water and marine safety across all lake operations – life jackets, boat and vessel safety, man-overboard and rescue protocols, weather and swimming competency – the single highest life-safety risk in the business.
  
• Apply machine, chemical and cold-room safety controls across our facilities.
  
• Enforce road and fleet safety across the cold-chain distribution network: driver standards, journey management, and vehicle safety.
  
• Enforce construction and engineering safety on all build sites – working at height, lifting, excavation, and contractor management.
  

Environment & lake stewardship

• Deliver environmental compliance day to day: NEMA licensing conditions, EIA/EA obligations, effluent and waste management, and water-quality monitoring.
  
• Protect Victory Farms’ social license to operate on Lake Victoria by upholding environmental performance, in coordination with the Development function and community stakeholders.
  

Compliance, training and culture

• Ensure full, ongoing compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA 2007), the Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA), the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act (EMCA), and all related DOSHS and NEMA requirements.
  
• Manage statutory audits, inspections, registrations and returns, and act as the primary point of contact with regulators.
  
• Deliver HSE induction and ongoing training for staff and contractors; drive a proactive reporting culture with near-miss reporting and closed-loop corrective action.
  
• Lead incident investigation, root-cause analysis, and emergency preparedness and response drills across all sites.