Head of QHSE

Salary : £75,000- £85,000 pa Full Time Permanent Who we are: Sub. Sea Craft is a fast growing, privately-funded, UK-based innovative maritime technology company specialising in next-generation, high-performance watercraft and systems. We operate at the intersection of advanced engineering, cutting-edge design, and user-centric innovation, delivering safe, effective, and enabling solutions for both commercial and defence applications.

What we offer

Pension Contribution – Pension scheme with the option to contribute via salary sacrifice. Annual Bonus Scheme – Eligibility to participate in the company’s annual discretionary bonus scheme, linked to individual and company performance. Life Assurance and Critical Illness Cover – Comprehensive protection including Life Assurance (4x salary) and Critical Illness Cover for added financial security.

Annual Leave – Entitlement to 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays. Christmas Leave – A Christmas shutdown is typically observed. Wellbeing Day – An additional Wellbeing Day each year to focus on personal health and wellbeing. Family Leave – Enhanced maternity and paternity pay. Private Healthcare – Access to comprehensive private healthcare coverage to support your physical and mental wellbeing.

Professional Development – Commitment to ongoing learning and career growth, supported by training programmes and access to LinkedIn Learning. Flexible Working – Opportunities for flexible working arrangements to promote work–life balance. Inclusive Culture – A professional environment that values diversity, innovation, and collaboration.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic QHSE leadership and advice to the Executive Team on all health, safety, environmental, quality, and regulatory compliance matters. Maintain, develop, and improve the company’s integrated management system aligned to ISO 9001, ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 to achieve single certification assessments. Plan, conduct, and oversee internal and external audits to ensure ongoing compliance, certification, and continual improvement.

Ensure legal compliance with UK HSE, environmental and product regulations, including RIDDOR and regulatory reporting. Drive continual improvement in quality, safety, environmental performance, and manufacturing effectiveness across all sites. Develop and maintain quality control processes for manufacturing, engineering, and suppliers.

Oversee COSHH, PUWER, LOLER, and workplace risk assessments, ensuring controls are implemented and effective. Ensure effective training, competency management, and awareness for QHSE across the business. Liaise with enforcement agencies, customers, insurers, and auditors on QHSE matters. Ensure robust document control, management plans, and compliance records are maintained and audit-ready.

Support engineering and production teams to ensure designs, processes, and products meet safety, quality, and regulatory requirements. Chair QHSE committees and promote a positive, proactive safety and quality culture. Monitor and report QHSE performance metrics, trends, and risks to senior leadership and external stakeholders.

Manage supplier quality assurance, including audits, performance metrics, and corrective actions with the supply chain. Lead the investigation of incidents, non-conformances, and customer complaints, ensuring root cause analysis and corrective actions are implemented. Act as the focal point for all product, process, safety, environmental, and regulatory compliance issues through to resolution.

Lead risk management across the business, including risk registers, hazard logs, environmental aspects, and safety and quality risk assessments. Add two oversees Facilities to existing certification. Line manage and develop the Health & Safety and Quality Engineering teams, ensuring competence, performance, and engagement.

Qualifications

Lead auditor Trained Working knowledge of ISO9001, 14001, 45001 and NATO AQAP’s. Experienced in developing departmental capability and management frameworks. Team leadership experience. Demonstrable history of excellent technical communication, both written and verbal Unafraid to challenge the team and utilise relevant experience to drive towards the highest quality engineering output A proactive individual with strong commitment and self-motivation to be able to lead Any additional qualifications or certifications in the areas of safety, process control, auditing etc.

Note : Due to the nature of work undertaken at Sub. Sea Craft, the selected candidate must be capable of meeting the security requirements of the position, which would include as a minimum existing right to live and work in the UK, Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), with UK National security clearance required for certain roles.

• Values: Our people are our greatest asset, we continually strive to provide an excellent working environment to enable our team to do their best work. We have an agile professional workforce: we are founded on the belief that our people are valued and our business is trusted, inclusive and commercially-adept. What we expect from you: Teamwork, mutual respect and collaboration Initiative and independent working Honesty and integrity Business and commercial awareness Agility, adaptability and continuous development We are committed to building an inclusive, diverse workplace where everyone can thrive.

If you require any support or adjustments to interact with us, please let us know. *Please note that all offers of employment are conditional and subject to satisfactory DBS, driving licence and reference checks. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify candidates from employment. We will consider criminal record information alongside the wider range of evidence gathered at the application, interview, and pre-employment checking stages.

Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to everyone. If you are shortlisted, we will aim to contact you within 14 days of your application or the closing date (if stated). We may retain your details for future suitable roles unless you advise us otherwise. For details of how we process your personal data, please refer to our Privacy Notice .