HSSE Specialist

Welcome to a workplace where everyone passionately believes in one purpose!
 
Our company's commitment extends beyond tasks; it's about infusing every action with purpose. We are dedicated to bringing unparalleled passion and customer focus to every facet of our business, creating an environment where your contribution truly matters.
 
With 70 years of experience, we are the leading strategic partner, providing specialized solutions for airlines, airports, and enterprises across 21 countries throughout The Caribbean and Latin America.
 
At GCG, we believe the secret recipe for a perfect team blends talent, focus, and discipline. We seek these qualities in candidates eager to thrive in a diverse and multicultural environment.
 
Our comprehensive solutions include Sky Dining, Airport Dining, Aviation Support, and Culinary. With a team of over 5,500 highly skilled experts dedicated to excellence, we uphold the highest standards of quality and service. We are committed to elevating travel & culinary experiences for all our customer's journeys, becoming the top choice in the region.

JOB PURPOSE

The HSSE Specialist is accountable for the technical adequacy of the Group’s health, safety, security, and operational environmental requirements and the effectiveness of related controls across stations, including ramp operations.

The role establishes preventive controls, directs technical implementation, investigates significant deviations, and requires timely corrective action. It develops local capabilities, verifies control effectiveness, and escalates unresolved risks, while Operations retains responsibility for daily execution and sustained implementation of controls.

Duties & Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Technical Requirements & Standards

·        Establish and maintain HSSE requirements within the approved corporate framework.

·        Translate applicable regulatory, airport, corporate, and customer requirements, together with relevant international standards and guidance, into practical operational controls.

·        Assess proposed local adaptations and approve them within delegated authority or submit them to the QHSE Lead for approval.

·        Require correction of practices that do not meet approved requirements and escalate unresolved technical disagreements.

·        Obtain additional expertise when a requirement, assessment, or proposed solution exceeds the available technical competence.

Health, Safety, Security & Environment Programs

·        Establish and maintain programs for occupational hazard identification, risk assessment, injury prevention, and emergency preparedness.

·        Define and verify ramp safety requirements for activities around aircraft, including equipment positioning, vehicle movements, loading, unloading, and coordination between operational teams.

·        Establish physical security controls within the department’s scope, including access control, protection of facilities and products, and reporting of security concerns.

·        Define operational environmental controls for waste, chemicals, spills, and other applicable impacts.

·        Review station programs and supporting evidence to confirm that controls reflect actual activities, equipment, facilities, and operating conditions.

·        Coordinate specialized assessments or services where occupational health, security, or environmental matters require additional professional expertise.

Cross-Disciplinary Coordination

·        Coordinate with the Food Safety & Quality Specialist where HSSE controls may affect hygiene, food safety, product protection, or service quality.

·        Review shared risks associated with maintenance, cleaning chemicals, facilities, loading, transport, and emergency response.

·        Define HSSE requirements for shared interventions without assuming technical ownership of food safety and quality.

·        Coordinate with Operations, Maintenance, HR, and other responsible functions on corrective measures that require changes to equipment, facilities, work practices, or personnel arrangements.

·        Escalate conflicting requirements to the QHSE Lead and contribute to practical, technically sound resolutions.

Risk Prevention & Performance Analysis

·        Apply approved criteria to identify hazards, assess risks, and prioritize preventive or corrective interventions.

·        Evaluate station performance using inspections, incident reports, near misses, control verification, and other relevant evidence.

·        Identify recurring failures, overdue actions, and gaps in the effectiveness of preventive controls.

·        Establish technical remediation priorities and deadlines proportionate to risk, within approved procedures.

·        Require targeted corrective responses and report material risks or unresolved deficiencies to the QHSE Lead and relevant operational leadership.

·        Promote accurate reporting of incidents, near misses, and unsafe conditions to support prevention and learning.

Local Technical Direction

·        Provide functional technical direction to designated local representatives responsible for occupational safety, ramp safety, physical security, and environmental controls.

·        Require implementation of approved requirements, completion of assigned programs, and timely submission of reliable evidence.

·        Challenge inadequate controls, unsupported conclusions, or ineffective corrective responses.

·        Coordinate resource and implementation requirements with station management and local OPEX Managers, where present.

·        Provide technical performance feedback and escalate capability or execution gaps without replacing local personnel management responsibilities.

Technical Visits & Inspections

·        Conduct HSSE inspections according to the corporate intervention plan and emerging operational risks.

·        Evaluate work practices and control effectiveness through observation, records, interviews, and relevant technical assessments.

·        Document deficiencies, communicate required corrective outcomes, and establish response deadlines within delegated authority.

·        Require follow-up inspections or reassessments when evidence is insufficient, exposure remains unacceptable, or failures recur.

·        Approve closure of technical inspection deficiencies within delegated authority, based on demonstrated implementation and effectiveness.

·        Provide technical validation to EA for deficiencies linked to corporate audit findings; EA retains the formal closure decision.

Incidents, Deviations & Corrective Actions

·        Require immediate containment of significant HSSE risks in accordance with applicable procedures and delegated authority.

·        Lead the technical evaluation of significant incidents, near misses, security events, and environmental deviations within the assigned scope.

·        Coordinate investigations with process owners and relevant specialists, ensuring that conclusions are supported by evidence.

·        Challenge root cause analyses that do not adequately explain the event or control failure.

·        Approve or reject the technical adequacy of corrective action plans within delegated authority and require revision of insufficient solutions.

·        Verify implementation and sustained effectiveness, escalating overdue actions, continuing exposure, or recurring failures.

·        Provide technical recommendations on suspension or restart of affected activities; decisions follow the applicable authorization requirements.

·        Inform EA when new evidence indicates that a previously closed corporate audit finding may require reassessment.

Technical Competence & Capability Development

·        Define HSSE training content, learning objectives, and practical competence criteria within the role’s scope.

·        Train and coach local representatives and operational teams in relevant preventive controls, risk assessment, incident reporting, and corrective action practices.

·        Verify competence through observation, practical exercises, and operational performance.

·        Identify training gaps and coordinate additional development or specialist instruction where required.

·        Validate technical best practices and the conditions required for replication across stations.

·        Coordinate with EA on communication of validated lessons and with local management on implementation and adoption.

Technical Documentation & Change Management

·        Develop, review, and maintain HSSE standards, procedures, technical instructions, inspection criteria, and training materials.

·        Require documentation to reflect actual operating conditions, applicable requirements, and lessons from incidents or evaluations.

·        Assess the HSSE implications of proposed changes to equipment, facilities, layouts, work methods, or operating activities.

·        Define the risk assessments, preventive controls, and technical evidence required before relevant changes are implemented.

·        Coordinate with OPEX and process owners so that revised operational methods incorporate approved HSSE requirements.

·        Submit documents through the established approval and document control process, retaining responsibility for technical content.

Corporate & Customer Assessments

·        Participate in corporate evaluations coordinated by EA according to assigned scope, competence, and objectivity requirements.

·        Provide technical input on HSSE criteria, evidence interpretation, and corrective action effectiveness.

·        Avoid independently evaluating work personally implemented or directly owned.

·        Assess customer and airport HSSE requirements with the Customer Compliance Officer, KAM, and Operations, as applicable.

·        Identify gaps between requirements and existing controls, define the necessary technical response, and verify implementation.

·        Escalate requirements that cannot be met under current conditions; KAM retains responsibility for formalizing commercial commitments, and EA retains formal closure authority for corporate audit findings.

Qualifications & Skills

Education and qualifications

·        Bachelor’s degree in occupational health and safety, Engineering, Environmental Management, Aviation Management, or a related discipline.

·        Formal training in occupational risk assessment, incident investigation, and corrective action management is required.

·        An occupational health and safety qualification, such as the NEBOSH International General Certificate or a recognized equivalent, is preferred.

·        Training in ramp safety and ground operations based on relevant IATA guidance, including the IATA Ground Operations Manual (IGOM), is preferred.

·        Aviation security training aligned with applicable ICAO guidance and national requirements is preferred.

·        Completion of an internal or lead auditor course in ISO 45001 or ISO 14001 is desirable.

• Additional training in emergency preparedness, environmental risk control, or dangerous goods awareness relevant to the assigned scope is desirable.

Skills/Competencies

• Strong practical knowledge of occupational hazard identification, risk assessment, preventive controls, and safe work practices.
• Working knowledge of ramp operations and the risks associated with vehicles, ground support equipment, and activities around aircraft.
• Working knowledge of relevant IATA standards and guidance, including IGOM, and applicable ICAO standards and recommended practices, with the ability to translate relevant provisions into operational safety and security controls.
• Ability to interpret applicable local regulatory, airport, corporate, and customer requirements.
• Working knowledge of physical security principles, including access control, protection of facilities and products, and incident reporting.
• Working knowledge of operational environmental controls, including waste handling, chemical management, and spill prevention and response.
• Ability to assess whether controls are adequately designed, implemented, and effective.
• Strong incident investigation, root cause analysis, and corrective action evaluation skills.
• Sound judgment in requiring containment, recognizing the limits of available expertise, and escalating unresolved risks.
• Ability to challenge insufficient evidence and communicate mandatory technical requirements clearly.
• Ability to coach local representatives and verify practical competence.
• Clear written and verbal communication in English and Spanish.
• Proficiency in technical reporting and digital tools for inspections, incident records, and corrective action tracking.

Experience

• At least five years of experience in occupational safety, operational safety, HSSE, or a related technical field.
• Demonstrated experience conducting risk assessments, inspections, incident investigations, and corrective action verification.
• Practical experience in airport ground operations, ramp safety, transport, logistics, or comparable operational environments.
• Experience implementing preventive programs and requiring corrective responses from operational stakeholders.
• Experience coordinating technical activities with local representatives, operational managers, and specialist service providers.
• Exposure to physical security and operational environmental controls is preferred.
• Experience working across multiple sites or with airline and airport requirements is desirable.

Work Environment

• A combination of office-based technical work and regular activity in operational environments.
• Frequent interaction with station management, local HSSE representatives, Transport, Ramp Operations, Maintenance, HR, and corporate functions.
• Participation in inspections, investigations, emergency exercises, training, and corporate or customer assessments.
• Compliance with applicable site safety, food safety, security, and airside access requirements during operational visits.

Travel requirements

Up to 75% of domestic and international travel, depending on deployment needs, project priorities, and organizational requirements.

Embark on a journey with us, where every day brings new opportunities for growth and success. If you thrive in a dynamic environment and want to be part of a team that celebrates achievements, come, be a part of our story. Your career adventure starts here!