Health & Safety Standards Development Lead WCC624670

Job Details:

Salary range: £56,436 - £76,872 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experience.
Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QP
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Permanent
Vetting requirements: Standard DBS Check
Closing date: 6 September 2026

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF HAYLEA’S UNBEATABLE SPIRIT

Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where people use their optimism and talent to achieve more than anyone thought possible.

Nobody personifies this more than Haylea Navarro. Born with cerebral palsy and paralysed down one side since birth, Haylea has been gleefully proving people wrong ever since. Now a project officer, she brings faster broadband connectivity to Westminster businesses, boosting the economy for all. Throw in her gong at the 2020 London Apprenticeship Awards, and it’s clear for all to see just what can happen when you never give in.

Please view the extraordinary story of Haylea’s Unbeatable Spirit .

The Role:

As a Health & Safety Standards Safety Development Lead, you can make your own powerful contribution to shaping a safer, healthier, and more resilient Westminster. You’ll take a leading role in embedding consistent health and safety standards across the Council, helping to build a culture where safety, wellbeing, and accountability are at the heart of everything we do.

Working closely with the Head of Corporate Health and Safety, you’ll design and implement strategies that align with ISO 45001 principles and other best practice frameworks. You’ll review and enhance existing management systems, develop new standards and policies, and ensure our approach to occupational safety and health is both compliant and forward looking.

You’ll work with teams across all directorates – from senior leaders to front-line staff – to identify needs, build capability, and embed ownership of health and safety at every level. Part of your role will be to upskill managers, supervisors, and team leaders, ensuring they understand their responsibilities and are confident in applying safe systems of work.

As Health & Safety Standards Development Lead, you will drive consistency, quality, and assurance across our corporate frameworks – developing effective standards, systems, and policies that enable healthy, safe and excellent service delivery of all staff and others affected by their activities.

You’ll also take the lead on monitoring and health and safety management performance and audits, the development of key objectives and performance measures. By championing collaboration and continuous improvement, you’ll make sure best practices are shared, innovation is encouraged, and standards are consistently high.

Beyond technical expertise, this is a role that’s about influence, leadership, and impact. You’ll be trusted to drive change, shape corporate strategy, and represent the Council both internally and externally on all matters relating to health and safety. It’s a unique opportunity to make a tangible difference – improving outcomes for more than 3,600 colleagues and the wider community we serve.

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About You:

You’ll bring extensive experience of implementing ISO 45001 and other occupational health and safety management standards, with a strong track record of embedding integrated safety frameworks that drive consistency, engagement, and continuous improvement. With substantial experience implementing these standards within large and complex organisations – ideally in the public sector – you’ll understand how to translate compliance into culture.

You’ll hold an Occupational Health & Safety qualification at EQF Level 6 or higher – such as a NEBOSH or NCRQ Diploma, or NVQ/SVQ Level 6 – and be a Chartered Member of IOSH or Full Member of IIRSM, demonstrating your commitment to ongoing professional development. As a qualified ISO 45001 Lead Auditor, you’ll have led audits, produced detailed reports, and supported services to implement recommendations that deliver measurable improvements in performance and safety outcomes. You’ll also have the capacity to implement ISO 45001 and other Organisational Health and Safety Standards within the organisation.

Analytical and detail-focused, you’ll be confident assessing and prioritising health and safety risks across varied operational environments. You’ll have the precision to capture audit findings clearly, the insight to identify patterns and emerging risks, and the communication skills to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels – from technical specialists to senior leaders.

You’ll bring strong Health and Safety management system review experience and a forward-thinking approach, with an interest in how technology – including AI integration – can enhance safety management.

Most importantly, you’ll be known for your integrity, professionalism, and commitment to high standards. You take pride in building trust, coaching others, and fostering a culture where health, safety, and wellbeing are shared priorities across the organisation.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a Global Majority (GM), people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialised as 'ethnic minorities' (formally known as B.A.M.E, Black, Asian and multiple ethnic) background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is Our Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working. 

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.    

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.