Director, Health, Safety, and Security
Posted
Description
Director of Health, Safety and Security
Gunnison Copper | Johnson Camp Mine | Near Dragoon, Arizona
Full-Time • Site-Based • Reports to the Chief Operating Officer
Full-Time • Site-Based • Reports to the Chief Operating Officer
Lead from the field. Shape how we work safely.
Gunnison Copper is seeking an experienced Director of Health, Safety and Security to lead occupational health, safety, emergency preparedness, and physical security at Johnson Camp Mine and support assigned Gunnison Project activities in southeastern Arizona.
Reporting directly to the COO, you will combine strategic leadership with a consistent, visible presence in the field. You will work alongside operating leaders, employees, and contractors to identify significant risks, verify critical controls, and build the capability and accountability needed for safe, responsible copper production.
Your scope will span open-pit mining and contractor interfaces, heap leaching, innovative Nuton bioleaching technology, solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW), maintenance, and supporting facilities. You will lead the Safety Manager and Senior Safety Specialist and oversee contracted security services.
We are looking for a leader who earns trust, exercises sound judgment, and translates safety expectations into practical actions where the work happens.
What You’ll Lead
- Field leadership and critical-risk management: Maintain meaningful engagement with crews and contractors, strengthen hazard recognition, and verify controls for high-consequence risks.
- Safety strategy and execution: Establish departmental priorities, annual plans, budgets, and performance expectations aligned with operational needs.
- Team development: Coach safety professionals and help supervisors build confidence in work planning, safety conversations, risk assessment, and incident response.
- Regulatory compliance: Oversee applicable MSHA and Arizona mine safety requirements, inspection readiness, training systems, records, and corrective-action follow-through.
- Occupational health: Direct risk-based exposure assessments and controls addressing dust, noise, heat, chemicals, and other relevant workplace hazards.
- Incident investigation and learning: Lead or sponsor investigations, identify underlying causes, and verify that corrective actions reduce risk.
- Emergency preparedness: Strengthen response plans, drills, communications, equipment readiness, and coordination with external emergency resources.
- Physical security: Oversee contracted security coverage, access controls, site vulnerability assessments, and response to significant security concerns.
- Contractor and project safety: Integrate safety expectations into construction, commissioning, shutdowns, maintenance, and operational changes.
- Executive advice and continuous improvement: Give leadership clear assessments of material risks, emerging trends, resource needs, and improvement priorities.
You will reinforce Life-Saving Rules and stop-work authority while encouraging open reporting of hazards, injuries, and near misses. Success means effective controls, capable leaders, and sustained improvement in how work is performed.
What You Bring
- Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety and Health, Safety Management, Industrial Hygiene, Mining Engineering, or a related technical field. An equivalent combination of relevant education, professional training, and substantial mining safety leadership experience may be considered.
- At least 10 years of progressively responsible health and safety experience in mining, mineral processing, or similarly hazardous heavy industry.
- At least five years leading safety professionals, programs, or a department.
- Direct experience in an MSHA-regulated operating environment.
- Strong working knowledge of critical-risk management, incident investigation, contractor safety, industrial hygiene principles, emergency preparedness, and safety training systems.
- The ability to evaluate physical security risks and oversee qualified security service providers.
- Demonstrated ability to influence operating leaders, develop technical personnel, manage budgets and contractors, and communicate clearly with executives.
- A practical, collaborative leadership style and the confidence to intervene when work is unsafe.
- A valid driver’s license.
Experience That Will Set You Apart
- Twelve to fifteen years of relevant experience, including leadership at an operating open-pit copper mine or comparable mineral-processing facility.
- Experience with heap-leach, bioleach, or SX/EW operations.
- CSP, CMSP, CIH, or a comparable relevant professional credential; an advanced degree is beneficial.
- Experience overseeing 24/7 contracted security services and coordinating emergency response with public agencies.
- Experience supporting construction, commissioning, expansion, or major operational change.
- A record of strengthening critical-control verification, supervisor capability, and employee confidence in reporting concerns.
Why Gunnison Copper?
This role offers direct access to executive leadership and meaningful influence over the decisions that protect people and support reliable operations. You will lead a broad function, develop a focused team, and help shape health, safety, and security practices as the operation develops.
For a leader who values time in the field, practical problem-solving, and close partnerships with operating teams, this is an opportunity to make a visible and lasting contribution.
Work Environment
This is a full-time, site-based position at Johnson Camp Mine near Dragoon in Cochise County, Arizona. Frequent field presence is essential, including time in active mine areas, process facilities, maintenance shops, and security locations.
The role involves exposure to heat, dust, noise, uneven terrain, moving equipment, and controlled industrial chemical hazards. Essential duties include walking, standing, climbing stairs, and safely accessing operating areas, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Extended hours, off-shift or weekend presence, emergency availability, and occasional travel may be required. This position is designated safety-sensitive and requires applicable MSHA training and compliance with company fitness-for-duty, personal protective equipment, and site safety requirements.
Apply
Apply through our Careers page with your résumé highlighting your mining safety leadership, field experience, and accomplishments in strengthening risk controls, developing teams, and improving operational safety.
Gunnison Copper—Excelsior Mining of Arizona, Inc.—is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants and employees in accordance with applicable law.