CoE Lead Safety, Workspace & Wellbeing

Responsibilities

• Uphold the company code of conduct, policies and procedures, ensuring integrity and accountability in every aspect of your work.
• All employees have a responsibility to adhere to safety, health, and wellbeing policies, guidelines and procedures in all actions and decisions.

Deliver G4G Transformation 

• Lead delivery of G4G transformation across Safety, Workspace and Wellbeing as a driver of commercial intensity and futuristic thinking.
• Translate enterprise strategy into fit-for-purpose workplace, safety and wellbeing models that enable productivity and performance.
• Position Safety, Workspace and Wellbeing as strategic enablers of business performance, employee experience and resilience.
• Drive transformation of workplace and safety practices from reactive to proactive, data-driven and future-fit models.
• Embed a high-performance culture across environments, linking safety, wellbeing and workspace to business outcomes.
• Enable convergence between workplace design, employee experience and digital ways of working.
• Drive adoption of new behaviours and practices aligned to hybrid, agile and AI-enabled work environments.
• Partner with business and HR leaders to ensure transformation initiatives are embedded and sustained across all functions.
• Monitor and track transformation impact, ensuring delivery of measurable improvements in performance, engagement and efficiency.

Integration of AI & Digital-First Safety 

• Embed AI and digital solutions to transition safety management from reactive to predictive and preventive .
• Leverage real-time data and analytics to identify risks and drive proactive interventions.
• Introduce intelligent monitoring systems across workplaces to reduce hazardous exposures.
• Drive automation of safety reporting, compliance tracking and risk management processes.
• Enable data-driven decision-making in safety governance and operations.
• Integrate safety systems with enterprise digital platforms for seamless visibility and control.
• Partner with Technology to build AI-enabled safety capabilities aligned to enterprise architecture.
• Continuously evaluate emerging technologies to enhance safety outcomes and efficiency.
• Drive adoption of digital tools across the organization to improve safety awareness and compliance.

Safety, Health & Wellbeing Strategy 

• Define and lead the enterprise SHW strategy, positioning safety and wellbeing as core business enablers.
• Institutionalize a proactive, risk-based safety culture embedded in daily operations and leadership accountability.
• Embed safety into business strategy, operations and transformation initiatives across all clusters.
• Drive visible leadership commitment to safety through governance forums, reporting and accountability structures.
• Align safety strategy to CI (commercial intensity) and FT (future thinking) by linking safety to productivity and performance.
• Establish enterprise-wide safety standards, frameworks and policies across all environments.
• Lead continuous improvement of safety maturity using global benchmarks and internal diagnostics.
• Drive integration of wellbeing into performance, engagement and workforce productivity agendas. 
• Partner with business leaders to embed safety ownership at all levels of the organization.

Institutionalizing Safety

• Define and lead the enterprise-wide safety strategy, shifting Safaricom from reactive, compliance-driven practices to a proactive, prevention-focused safety culture embedded in daily operations.
• Embed safety as a core business priority by integrating safety considerations into strategic planning, operational processes, and decision making across all functions and levels.
• Drive visible and sustained leadership commitment to safety by equipping leaders with clear expectations, accountability frameworks, and tools to role-model safety-first behaviours.
• Establish and enforce enterprise safety governance, standards, and policies aligned to global best-in-class benchmarks and regulatory requirements, ensuring consistency and rigor across the organization.
• Lead the adoption of leading safety practices, frameworks, and technologies, continuously benchmarking against industry leaders to elevate Safaricom’s safety maturity. 
• Design and implement proactive risk identification and mitigation mechanisms, including predictive analytics, early warning systems, and regular safety assessments to prevent incidents before they occur.
• Build organizational safety capability by embedding safety awareness, training, and behavioural programs that empower employees to take ownership of safety in their day-to-day work.
• Partner with business leaders to ensure adequate resource allocation (people, tools, budget) for safety initiatives, ensuring safety is not compromised in pursuit of commercial or operational objectives.
• Monitor, measure, and report on safety performance and maturity through clear metrics and insights, driving continuous improvement and reinforcing a culture of accountability and learning.

Safety Governance, Risk & Compliance 

• Own and enforce enterprise safety governance frameworks, ensuring consistency across all sites and operations.
• Lead identification, assessment and mitigation of safety risks across physical and hybrid environments.
• Ensure full compliance with regulatory, statutory and internal safety requirements.
• Establish robust incident management, reporting and investigation frameworks.
• Drive proactive risk management using data, analytics and predictive insights. 
• Embed safety assurance processes into business operations and decision-making.
• Oversee audits, inspections and compliance reviews across all locations.
• Strengthen crisis preparedness and response capabilities for safety-related incidents.
• Ensure alignment of safety governance across subsidiaries with Group standards Workplace Experience & Environment.
• Lead the design and delivery of end-to-end workplace experiences across physical and hybrid environments.
• Ensure workplace environments enable productivity, collaboration and employee experience.
• Align workplace design to business needs, customer outcomes and ways of working.
• Embed employee-centric design principles into workplace planning and delivery.
• Drive continuous improvement of workplace experience through feedback and data insights.
• Ensure consistency in workplace standards across all locations and subsidiaries. 
• Partner with business leaders to align workplace environments with team performance needs.
• Integrate safety and wellbeing into workplace experience design.
• Enable environments that support innovation, cross-functional collaboration and engagement.

Future Workplace & Hybrid Strategy 

• Define and implement future workplace strategy aligned to Agile, AI-first and hybrid ways of working.
• Re-imagine workplace models to support flow-to work, squad-based and cross-functional delivery. 
• Align physical spaces with evolving workforce needs and digital collaboration tools.
• Drive workplace innovation to support agility, speed and enterprise productivity.
• Enable seamless integration of physical and digital work environments.
• Partner with Technology to embed smart workplace solutions and digital collaboration platforms.
• Ensure workplace strategy supports talent attraction, retention and engagement.
• Continuously assess and evolve workplace models based on business and workforce trends.
• Position workplace as a strategic enabler of G4G transformation.

Workplace Transformation & Operations 

• Lead execution of workplace transformation initiatives across Safaricom.
• Drive operational excellence in workplace services, facilities and property management.
• Ensure seamless delivery of workplace services across all locations.
• Integrate digital tools and systems to enhance workplace operations and efficiency.
• Optimize service delivery models to align with hybrid working and business needs.
• Manage vendors and partners to ensure quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness.
• Drive continuous improvement in workplace operations using data and insights.
• Ensure operational resilience and continuity across all workplace environments.
• Align workplace operations to enterprise priorities and performance outcomes.

Employee Wellbeing & Medical Scheme Management 

• Lead enterprise wellbeing strategy, embedding wellbeing as a driver of performance and productivity.
• Oversee medical schemes, ensuring access, quality of care and cost efficiency.
• Embed intelligent care models using AI and data to enhance employee health outcomes.
• Drive hyper-personalization of medical and wellbeing offerings based on employee segments.
• Leverage data and analytics to optimize medical costs and improve utilization.
• Integrate wellbeing into employee experience, engagement and performance agendas.
• Partner with providers to enhance healthcare delivery and service quality.
• Drive preventive health programs and early intervention strategies.
• Ensure alignment of wellbeing programs with business priorities and workforce needs.

Value Management 

• Lead value optimization across workplace, safety and wellbeing investments, ensuring cost efficiency and value for money.
• Drive data-driven decision-making on workspace utilization, medical schemes and wellbeing programs.
• Optimize property footprint and workplace costs while maintaining high standards of employee experience and safety. 
• Embed cost discipline and financial governance across safety, workplace and wellbeing initiatives.
• Partner with Finance to align investments with enterprise cost and productivity targets.
• Leverage analytics and AI to identify cost drivers, inefficiencies and opportunities for optimization.
• Balance cost efficiency with employee experience, ensuring sustainable and impactful investments.
• Continuously benchmark against industry best practices to drive efficiency and effectiveness.
• Deliver measurable ROI on workplace, safety and wellbeing programs aligned to business outcomes.

Property Portfolio & Cost Optimization 

• Oversee management and optimization of Safaricom’s property portfolio.
• Drive efficient utilization of workspace aligned to hybrid working models. 
• Ensure cost discipline and optimization across property and workplace spend. 
• Align property strategy with business growth and transformation priorities.
• Lead space planning and footprint optimization initiatives. 
• Drive value realization from property investments and assets. 
• Partner with Finance to ensure cost efficiency and budget alignment.
• Continuously assess and optimize property performance and utilization. 
• Ensure sustainability and environmental considerations in property management.

Hyper-Personalization of Medical Scheme

• Lead the design and delivery of an AI-enabled, hyper-personalized medical scheme that tailors healthcare solutions to diverse employee segments.
• Leverage real-time data, predictive analytics and AI to anticipate health risks, optimize interventions and improve employee health outcomes.
• Shift medical scheme management from reactive claims-based models to proactive, preventive and intelligence-led care.
• Segment the workforce based on health needs, demographics and risk profiles to deliver targeted, personalized healthcare solutions.
• Partner with medical providers, insurers and digital health platforms to embed intelligent care pathways and digital-first health services.
• Drive cost optimization through data-driven utilization management, fraud detection, preventive care and early intervention strategies.
• Integrate wellbeing programs (mental, physical, financial) with medical schemes to deliver a holistic, employee-centric care model. 
• Enable employees to access personalized health insights, recommendations and services through digital platforms and AI-enabled tools.
• Track and optimize scheme performance through advanced analytics, ensuring improved health outcomes, employee experience and cost efficiency.

Agile Ways of Working within People 

• Enable adoption and maturity of agile ways of working within the Safety, Workspace and Wellbeing function.
• Embed agile principles into operating models, including prioritization, sprint-based delivery and continuous improvement.
• Design and implement fit-for-purpose structures, roles and governance to support speed and cross functional delivery.
• Enable the function to operate as a responsive, service-oriented and business-aligned capability. 
• Drive collaboration across HR, Technology, Facilities and business teams to deliver integrated workplace solutions.
• Build capability within the function to operate effectively in agile and hybrid environments.
• Embed performance management practices that reinforce accountability, delivery and outcomes.
• Leverage agile methodologies to continuously improve workplace, safety and wellbeing services. 
• Track and improve delivery effectiveness using agile metrics and insights.

Policy, Standards & Compliance Frameworks 

• Define and govern enterprise policies across safety, workplace and wellbeing. 
• Ensure consistency and alignment of policies across business units and subsidiaries.
• Drive compliance with internal standards and external regulatory requirements.
• Regularly review and update policies to reflect evolving business and regulatory needs.
• Embed policies into day-to-day operations and decision-making.
• Drive awareness and adoption of policies across the organization.
• Establish monitoring and enforcement mechanisms for policy compliance.
• Align policies with global best practices and industry standards. 
• Support audits and governance reviews through robust policy frameworks.

Subsidiary Oversight, Governance & Enablement 

• Provide strategic oversight of safety, workplace and wellbeing across subsidiaries.
• Ensure alignment to Group standards, frameworks and governance requirements.
• Support subsidiaries in building capability across SHW and workplace management.
• Drive consistency in safety, workplace and wellbeing practices across markets. 
• Monitor subsidiary performance through governance forums and reporting structures.
• Share best practices and drive continuous improvement across subsidiaries.
• Provide advisory support on complex safety, workplace and wellbeing matters.
• Ensure subsidiaries are equipped to meet regulatory and compliance requirements. 
• Strengthen Group-wide capability and maturity in SHW and workplace practices.

Core competencies, knowledge and experience:

Customer Obsession 

• Deepen team connection to our customers and communities. 
• Foster authentic relationships with customers and partners that build trust. 
• Explicitly take customer-centric decisions and take personal ownership to achieve results. 
• Simplify processes through digitalization and promote a digital mindset and digital first customer experience. 
• Stay focused on the big priorities, know when to make meaningful trade-offs and demonstrate brilliant execution.

Purpose 

• Create an inspiring vision for your team to drive strategy and performance. 
• Show ambition and courage, empowering others to go beyond the plan. 
• Bold and challenge teams to reimagine how things are done. 
• Prompt new thinking and ideas by asking “what if” questions. 
• Use knowledge of the external environment (customers, partners, competition, external bodies) to identify and act on opportunities for growth at pace.

Innovation 

• Create psychological safety so everyone can have an impact. 
• Fuel innovative ideas from others and test them to enable growth. 
• Explore successes and failures with curiosity and resilience; fearlessly recognizing lessons learned. 
• Share your ongoing learning and personal purpose with others. 
• Learn fast from digital adoption, using learnings to drive simplicity, scale and efficiency

Collaboration 

• Articulate your team’s role in making our strategy happen, prioritizing and aligning resources with current and future needs.
• Actively collaborate to break silos and hold your team accountable to do the same. 
• Develop others to make the most of their talents and coach them to take ownership to get things done.
• Create an inclusive environment ensuring the safety and wellbeing of others. Live our Purpose and demonstrate the highest Standard of integrity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Health, Engineering, Facilities Management, Business Administration or a related field 
• Master’s degree in Occupational Health & Safety, Business Administration or a related discipline is an added advantage 
• Professional certification in Health & Safety (e.g. NEBOSH, IOSH or equivalent) is required
• Demonstrated experience in leading enterprise-wide safety, health and workplace functions within a large, complex organization 
• Strong expertise in safety governance, risk management and regulatory compliance frameworks 
• Proven experience in workplace and facilities management, including property portfolio oversight and vendor management 
• Experience in designing and delivering workplace strategies, including hybrid and future-of-work models 
• Strong understanding of occupational health, employee wellbeing programs and medical scheme management 
• Experience managing medical insurance providers, benefits design and healthcare cost optimization
• Proven experience in policy development, governance and compliance management 
• Strong financial acumen with experience in budget management, cost optimization and property-related financial planning
• Experience working across multiple locations or subsidiaries, ensuring consistency of standards and practices 
• Strong analytical capability with ability to interpret safety, cost and workplace data to drive decision-making 
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders across HR, Finance, Technology and Operations
• Knowledge of local regulatory requirements related to workplace safety, health and environmental standards
• Relevant certifications in facilities management or workplace strategy (e.g. IFMA) are an added advantage