Assistant Director Research and Shop Safety

Department: Risk, Safety, and Resilience

Classification: Administrative Faculty

Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Manassas, VA

Workplace Type: On Site Required

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

Motor Vehicle Records Check: Yes

About the Department:

Risk, Safety, & Resilience (RSR) provides overall strategic oversight of the University's risk profile and management efforts, as well as provides leadership to sustain a safe and healthful environment for our community to learn, work, live, and thrive. RSR serves the university by managing enterprise and operational risk, health, safety, environmental, emergency management programs in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders.

About the Position:

The Assistant Director of Research and Shop Safety serves as a key leader within George Mason University’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) team. This position is ideal for an experienced EHS professional with a proven ability to independently develop, implement, and manage safety programs, as well as supervise and mentor staff.

The Assistant Director supports safe and compliant research and engineering activities across multiple campuses, including Fairfax, Manassas, and Arlington. Responsibilities include leading shop and field safety programs, overseeing engineering controls such as local exhaust ventilation, conducting inspections, developing and delivering training, supporting safety reviews for facility design and renovation projects, and assisting the Director of Environmental Health and Safety in short and long-term organizational planning and management.

This role requires strong collaboration with faculty, researchers, students, and EHS colleagues to identify emerging risks and apply creative but practical safety solutions in diverse environments such as 3D printing, robotics, drones, autonomous systems, field research, and specialized shops. The Assistant Director works closely with other safety program areas, including fire safety, occupational safety, biosafety, and risk management, to ensure consistent standards and a strong, proactive safety culture.

Responsibilities:

• Develops and maintains safety programs around 3D Printing, Instructional and Research Shop Safety, Marine Safety, Autonomous Vehicles and Drones, Robotics and Blimps Field Research and Heat Safety (risk assessments, written guidance documents, and training modules), and Local Exhaust Ventilation. Develops other safety trainings as assigned. 
• Provides both on-site and written safety assessments to ensure compliance with safety standards. Performs inspections of research and teaching spaces and prepares inspection reports, provides corrective actions, and follows up with stakeholders to ensure corrective actions are completed. Conducts safety reviews of proposed new construction and renovations in teaching and research shop spaces. 
• Serves as a programmatic liaison between research and instructional shops and other Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) team members as needed. Functions as the EHS liaison for engineering and research shop activities. Maintains general knowledge and understanding of EHS requirements outside of direct responsibilities and consults with EHS colleagues and subject matter experts when necessary. Collaborates with Risk Management and other EHS team members to coordinate overlapping program areas in engineering, such as fire safety, industrial hygiene, radiation and chemical safety, and travel-related risk management. 
• Creates and implements goals, performance metrics, and project plans to support program management. This includes developing, implementing, and overseeing research and shop programs and services for university personnel across multiple campuses, in alignment with regulatory and external agency requirements. Serves as the primary point of contact for faculty, staff, and students regarding research and shop program inquiries and acts as the main liaison with regulatory agencies on research shop safety matters.
• Serves on various university committees as assigned. Assigns and conducts document reviews for research and shop materials and training programs, following the RSR document management process. Reviews EFROA submissions, incident reports, and accident and incident data, implementing corrective actions when necessary.
• Responsible for compiling and submitting data and narratives for the Annual Report. Collaborates with and/or supports other RSR functional units to complete projects and advance RSR programs. Ensures timely notification to appropriate parties regarding emergencies, urgent issues, high-risk and high-profile threat assessments, regulatory agency notifications, inspections (both announced and unannounced), and significant safety concerns. This includes situations involving principal investigators, contractors, students, employees, visitors, or emerging off-campus safety threats, as well as personnel matters that may lead to disciplinary action or complaints from internal or external stakeholders. 
• Performs administrative functions related to oversight of the research and shop program. Responsible for effective employee supervision and performance management; fostering employee engagement, morale, and satisfaction; professional development planning; reviewing university time, leave requests, and conformance with RSR Leave Matrix; adjusting responsibilities as workloads, capacity, and skills evolve; reviewing employee projects and goals and prioritize as necessary; mentorship and supervision; disciplinary action when necessary; and completes all required state, university, RSR, and position specific required training and supervises employee training compliance. 

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in public health, science, safety, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience (a degree from an unrelated field may be accepted with an equivalent level of training and experience in a safety discipline);
• Significant relevant work experience including both technical and program management responsibilities;
• Demonstrated supervisory experience, creating professional development plans, performance plans, and conducting personnel evaluations;
• Experience developing and editing written safety compliance plans and associated documents;
• Experience developing and presenting safety training programs;
• Certification in CPR and First Aid or ability to obtain within 60 days;
• Knowledge of engineering and/or shop safety needs and program areas;
• Knowledge of applicable safety regulations and guidelines including proper personal protective equipment and training requirements;
• Proficiency in the use of related office equipment, computers and software, including Microsoft Office Suite;
• Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to prioritize work, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet inflexible deadlines on own initiative;
• Ability to implement and maintain applicable safety programs;
• Ability to coordinate and deliver applicable safety training to a diverse audience;
• Ability to conduct thorough safety inspections;
• Ability to lift 40 lbs., bend, crawl, and kneel with or without reasonable accommodation;
• Ability to work independently, under pressure, with strong problem-solving skills;
• Ability to interpret data, scientific research, training, or experience to facilitate resolution of assigned cases and develop appropriate mitigation action;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (oral and writing);
• Ability to independently recognize programmatic growth opportunities and problem solve/implement strategic solutions, strong vision and self-starter with ability to both expand existing programs and build programs from the ground-up;
• Ability to be a team player and collaborator to develop and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues and customers;
• Ability to influence through persuasion, "get to yes" mindset;
• Ability to think creatively and strategically to utilize limited resources to solve new problems;
• Must live within 25 miles of the Fairfax or Science and Technology campus;
• Must currently possess an appropriate, active, valid motor vehicle operator’s license that meets all of GMU’s requirements for operating state vehicles and equipment under Mason’s Vehicle Use Policy 1411 https://universitypolicy.gmu.edu/policies/vehicle-use/. The Office of Risk Management reserves the right to review the driver’s licenses and Motor Vehicle Reports (MVRs) of all candidates selected with employment contingent upon a favorable review; and
• Due to the unique role that RSR plays in emergency situations, each employee is designated to respond as requested during emergencies. Expectations for availability require that home and cell phone numbers be provided. In emergency situations, these numbers may be called and it is expected that the employee will respond when they are able. Repeated instances of unavailability will be addressed by the supervisor, however, the employee is not expected to be "on call".

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certified Industrial Hygienist and/or Certified Safety Professional credentialing; and
• Experience working in a higher education setting.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Assistant Director Research and Shop Safety at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume for review.

Posting Open Date:  November 24, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  January 2, 2026

Open Until Filled:  Yes