Health and Safety Officer

Want to help change how the world is fed?
Uncommon began its journey as Higher Steaks and recently underwent a transformative rebranding. Our new brand and identity truly reflects our mission, values, and the positive global influence we aspire to achieve. We transform the global food system by making delicious and nutritious food – from animal cells and plants. We are pioneering the development of cultivated meat to solve some of the world’s growing challenges in health, sustainability and animal welfare.
We're a purpose, science and engineering-driven company dedicated to creating breakthrough technologies that will push the boundaries of what’s possible – delivering innovations that benefit people, the planet and animals.
Our brilliant team are experts in their respective fields, drawn from around the world. We’re passionate, curious, innovative and at the forefront of the ground-breaking work being done in this exciting and rapidly growing sector. Uncommon is a well-funded biotech company; we’ve experienced spectacular growth over the last few years and continue to accelerate every month.
We are growing rapidly again this year so this is a great time to join us and solve one of the most important challenges we face today!
 
The role
We’re moving at speed towards the launch and commercialisation of our cultivated meat products. It’s critical that everything we do meets the highest standards of health and safety as well as quality and we are constantly identifying areas for development and improvement.
In this role you’ll make a big contribution to building, implementing and overseeing our Health and Safety systems. You’ll provide support and ensure health and safety practices are in place, that employees are appropriately trained, and legislative requirements are met.
More specifically you’ll lead and manage Health and Safety activities including conducting internal audits within the R&D labs, bioprocess lab, pilot manufacturing plant, food development lab and across all functions so that the requirements for accreditation and certification are met. This will involve monitoring and reviewing how effectively Health and Safety is being applied, recommending, designing and implementing improvements and reporting on its overall effectiveness.
This role is predominantly based in our state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge, offering a blend of on-site work and some flexible hybrid working options.

What you’ll be doing:
- Conduct internal safety audits and establish safe working methods based on identified risks.
- Proactively encourage, influence, and coach employees at all levels to prioritize safety as a core business matter.
- Identify and lead improvement programs targeting quality and health and safety processes.
- Ensure completion of risk assessments across all teams and departments, and provide necessary training to staff to fulfil this responsibility.
- Thoroughly investigate accidents, alerts, non-conformances, and near misses, ensuring proper documentation and reporting.
- Review and report on trends of Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) during meetings.
- Collaborate closely with the Quality Team to establish and maintain safe and appropriate work systems.
- Provide leadership and coordination for the Health and Safety Committee and contribute to the HACCP team.

What we think you need:
- Comprehensive understanding of health and safety management requirements, including familiarity with ISO 45001:2018 standards and auditing systems.
- Knowledge of health and safety regulations in either the biopharmaceutical or food industry.
- Degree or relevant qualification in Health and Safety, such as IOSH, NEBOSH, or an equivalent NVQ Level 6/7 safety-related qualification.
- Experience in training and developing personnel, facilitating their growth in health and safety practices.
- Excellent relationship-building and influencing skills to effectively drive quality and safety outcomes through others.
- Proactive mindset, enabling efficient organisation, prioritisation, and coordination of tasks amid conflicting demands.
- Ability to work independently with a hands-on approach to work, effectively taking ownership of responsibilities.
- Adaptability and resilience to respond positively to unforeseen events in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment.
- Attention to detail, ensuring accuracy and precision in all aspects of work with the ability to assimilate, analyse, and communicate information effectively to diverse audiences.
We’d love it if you also have:
- Additional post-graduate scientific experience or qualifications, such as a master's degree.
- Prior experience working within GMP or GMO facilities and/or an online Quality Management System (QMS) platform.
- Proven track record in designing and delivering effective presentations.

Reward
Alongside a competitive base salary, all our people get these benefits:
- Share options
- 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
- Enhanced parental leave pay
- Cycle-to-work scheme and gym membership
- Flexible hours
- "Make your work life easier" annual stipend
- Regular team dinners and social activities
- Snacks, fruits, tea, coffee and more!