Health & Safety Manager, APAC

About the Role

We are looking for a proactive and handson Regional Health & Safety Manager to establish and lead AVTEL's H&S function across Singapore, Australia, Korea, Japan, and India.

As AVTEL continues to expand, this is a greenfield role where you will build the foundation of our safety program in the APAC region -from core policies and procedures to reporting structures, training, and governance. You will work closely with our technical teams across the region, as well as collaborate with our EMEA Health & Safety team to ensure global alignment, shared best practices, and consistent standards across all regions.

The role supports employees working in corporate offices, retail sites, customer environments, and live or constructionphase data centres, as well as our project and service teams who operate in the field daily.

Strong communication skills, a practical mindset, and the ability to partner with both internal teams and client H&S groups are essential.

This is a regional, handson role suited for someone who is comfortable developing strategic frameworks while also being on-site to support daytoday operations.

Key Responsibilities

Workplace Health & Safety Governance

• Build a H&S foundation for the region WSHE practices, policies, procedures, checklists and reporting framework.

• Act as the APAC subject matter expert for:

• WHSE Safety and Risk Management Programs

• Injury Prevention

• Drug and Alcohol Management Programs

• Return to Work and Injury Management

• Business Continuity

• Establish countryspecific H&S action plans aligned to local legislation in Singapore, Australia, Korea, Japan, and India.

• Implement incident reporting, risk registers, dashboards, and corrective action tracking.

• Collaborate with Global H&S team to align standards, share insights, codevelop templates, and contribute to global H&S consistency.

Project & Site Safety Support

• Provide guidance to project managers, engineers, and field technicians on risk assessment and method statements, permittowork requirements, and risk controls.
• Conduct random site safety checks across project worksites, service calls, and data centre environments.
• Develop monthly site inspection checklist templates for Project Managers to complete (covering plant and equipment checks, PPE stock levels, and other key safety elements). Review completed checklists and follow up on any actions identified.
• Design and distribute toolbox talks, prestart briefings, and safety readiness guidance for Project Managers to deliver onsite.

Regulatory & Client Compliance

• Monitor and interpret H&S regulations across all supported countries.

• Serve as the safety liaison for client EHS teams, ensuring alignment with site rules and audit expectations.

• Maintain subcontractor compliance through onboarding, prequalification, and scheduled audits.

Incident, Injury Management & Continuous Improvement

• Manage safety issues, lead incident and nearmiss investigations, rootcause analysis, and followup actions.

• Support managers in implementing recovery and return-to-work plans.

• Support the development of individual return-to-work plans as required.

• Oversee Workers Compensation vendor activity and collaborate with internal stakeholders.

• Maintain logs and KPI reporting for APAC leadership.

• Issue Safety Alerts and share learnings regionally and with the EMEA H&S group.

Training & Culture

• Develop and maintain a regional training matrix for inductions and sitespecific competencies.

• Train and coach managers and our technical teams on core safety practices.

• Promote a strong safety culture and build local safety Champions across markets.

Audit & Certification Support & Readiness

• Prepare for and support internal audits, client audits, external regulatory inspections, and H&S assessments across APAC markets.

• Maintain auditready documentation, evidence, logs, and reports in accordance with both regional and global standards.

• Conduct and participate in site H&S assessments, subcontractor assessments, and periodic compliance reviews.

• Track, follow up, and close out audit and assessment findings, ensuring corrective and preventive actions are completed on time.

Who We Are Looking For

You have strong experience in construction, engineering, or technical services, with the ability to work confidently with both field teams and senior stakeholders. You are organised, solutionsoriented, and capable of building systems and structure from the ground up.

You communicate clearly, simplify complex regulations, and work collaboratively with teams across multiple countries-including close partnership with global H&S teams. You thrive in dynamic, fastpaced environments and are comfortable supporting employees in both office settings and active jobsite conditions.

To be successful in this role, you take a pragmatic and commercial approach to hazards and incidents, balancing regulatory requirements with operational realities. You are selfmotivated, able to work independently, and comfortable travelling regularly across different countries and job sites to provide ontheground support where it matters most.

Ideal Profile

• 5+ years experience in H&S within technical services, construction, MEP, data centres, or critical environments.

• Proven ability to build or significantly mature an H&S management system.

• Strong understanding of APAC H&S legislation and regulatory frameworks.

• Handson experience with RAMS, permittowork processes, site audits, and incident investigation.

• Confident working directly with clients, principal contractors, and regulatory authorities.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, SharePoint, and digital collaboration tools.

• Able to travel regionally (approx. 30-50%)

Nice to Have:

• Relevant certifications: NEBOSH, IOSH, ISO 45001 Lead Auditor, or equivalent.

• Multilingual capability

• Experience with digital safety platforms or mobile inspection tools.

• Exposure to global audit programs or multinational safety frameworks.

Work Arrangement

Fully on-site at the office.