Director Global Transportation & Distribution Safety

In your future role as a Director, Global T&DS, you will

Nouryon operates a global specialty chemicals supply chain that moves hazardous, dangerous goods (DG), and temperature-sensitive materials across more than 100 countries. The Director, Global Transportation & Distribution Safety is accountable for leading and continuously improving the company's end-to-end Transportation & Distribution Safety (T&DS) program - ensuring safe, legal, and secure movement of Nouryon materials worldwide, and serving as the senior technical authority on transport safety across the enterprise.

The T&DS program scope covers all transport and storage of Nouryon goods outside the manufacturing footprint, whether owned or contracted. T&DS holds a Lead role where Nouryon manages transportation, and an Assist role where the customer or supplier manages transportation. This role owns the global T&DS program strategy, drives consistency across regions and functions, provides global guidance, and serves as the T&DS focal point across business lines.

The T&DS Director partners closely with:

• VP Global Logistics - strategic sponsor and direct manager
• Global Logistics Leaders
• HSE&S - for EHS policy and incident management alignment
• PSRA / Global Product Safety - for SDS, labels, and shipping document alignment on product changes affecting transport compliance
• Logistics Procurement - for embedding T&DS qualification requirements into LSP contracts and pre-qualification processes
• Palantir Sentinel AI platform team - for digital integration of safety programs, incident analytics, and near-miss tracking
• Legal - for regulatory enforcement matters, contract audit rights, and compliance obligations
• Industry associations and regulatory agencies - COSTHA, CHEMTREC, CEFIC, ACC, and relevant port/customs authorities.

Global T&DS Program Design & Governance:

• Own the global T&DS Program Policy - setting strategic objectives, governance structure, corporate alignment, and operating guardrails for the function worldwide.
• Lead the global T&DS Management System, with periodic review cycles that keep the program current and consistent across all regions.
• Maintain the RACI for T&DS key responsibilities - clarifying accountabilities across T&DS, Site HSE&S, Logistics Procurement, and business lines, and using it as an active stakeholder education tool.
• Govern the centralized T&DS document control structure on SharePoint, ensuring a single global source of truth across teams.
• Operate Management of Change (MOC) framework for logistics changes with T&DS safety implications - covering carrier changes, lane modifications, depot procedure updates, and DG classification changes.
• Chair modal- and site-level T&DS forums that enable global learning, best-practice sharing, and issue resolution, complementing the monthly DG cadence.

LSP Qualification, Auditing & Risk Management:

• Own the global Logistics Standard for LSP transportation and distribution safety assessments - covering both pre-qualification and periodic operational audits - with global procedures aligned to the global standard.
• Partner with Logistics Procurement to embed T&DS qualification requirements into LSP pre-qualification for all hazardous product categories and for inbound purchased materials where Nouryon manages transportation.
• Champion standard LSP contract language granting Nouryon the right to periodically audit LSP operations for safety and compliance.
• Run the route risk assessment process for highly hazardous products, in collaboration with LSPs before route confirmation.
• Maintain a formal engagement process with the PSRA / Global Product Safety team so T&DS experts are engaged during product changes affecting SDS, labels, and shipping documents, with appropriate transition periods.
• Own IMO cargo acceptance governance, including pre-shipment DG review processes and documentation completeness checks.

Emergency Response & Incident Management:

• Own the global Logistics Emergency Response Plan - maintained in partnership with Logistics teams - covering incident management, reporting, escalation, investigation, role responsibilities, and plan testing requirements.
• Govern the Global Transportation Incident Management Standard.
• Lead routine emergency response plan testing across all regions, coordinating drills with LSPs, manufacturing sites, and first responders.
• Maintain the Logistics Unplanned Event Response Plan, incorporating T&DS requirements for events that affect transportation safety without triggering a full emergency response (e.g., geopolitical disruptions, sudden regulatory changes).

Training, Education & Organizational Capability:

• Own the global training matrix for all roles involved in transportation safety and security - covering T&DS team certifications, general DG training, product-line hazard training, LSP training, and emergency response training.
• Lead the training platform that supports role-specific assignment, compliance tracking, and audit readiness.
• Run T&DS role-specific onboarding programs that build consistent capability as the global team scales.

Regulatory Interface & Industry Advocacy:

• Serve as Nouryon's senior technical authority on T&DS safety regulations globally
• Represent Nouryon in regulatory agency, port authority, and customs body interactions on T&DS compliance matters and enforcement actions.
• Lead Nouryon's Logistics Industry Advocacy approach, aligned with the Government Affairs process - with global guidance and execution - to positively influence industry standards and regulations.
• Maintain representation in relevant industry bodies and leverage those relationships to anticipate regulatory change and benchmark program effectiveness.

People Leadership:

• Lead and develop a global team of T&DS Safety Managers, providing coaching, performance management, and career development.
• Build team capability systematically and foster a safety-first culture across the global logistics network, embedding T&DS principles into operational routines, procurement decisions, and change management processes.

We believe you bring

• Bachelor's degree required - preferred fields: Supply Chain / Logistics, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Health & Safety, or closely related discipline.
• Master's degree or MBA preferred, particularly for candidates with an engineering or EHS undergraduate background.
• Professional certifications strongly preferred:
  • IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) certification
  • IMDG / US DOT 49 CFR HazMat proficiency
  • ADR/RID certification
  • Certified Safety Professional (CSP), or equivalent HSE&S credential
• 15+ years of progressive experience in logistics, supply chain, EHS, or transportation - with a minimum of 10 years in a T&DS, DG compliance, or chemical logistics safety-focused role.
• Demonstrated experience leading or significantly expanding a global transportation safety program in a specialty chemicals, petrochemical, or industrial manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience designing and scaling program policy infrastructure - policies, management systems, RACIs, and document control - at a global enterprise.
• Proven experience managing teams across geographies, with direct people leadership of functional managers.
• Deep expertise in dangerous goods regulations across multiple modes (road, ocean, rail, air) and jurisdictions (US, EU, Asia-Pacific minimum).
• Track record of leading T&DS incident investigations, regulatory engagements, and corrective action programs at enterprise scale.
• Demonstrated experience designing and operating LSP qualification and audit programs- with global standards - across the full hazardous product portfolio.
• Familiarity with digital logistics platforms, TMS/ERP environments (SAP preferred), and EHS analytics tools including Enablon or equivalent; comfort with AI-enabled operations a differentiator.

Great if you have

• Executive presence - able to communicate T&DS risk, program status, and forward priorities clearly to VP-level and above.
• Systems thinking - sees the full logistics safety landscape and designs programs that scale across diverse geographies and operating models.
• Influence without authority - effective at driving safety standards through 3PL partners, carrier networks, Logistics Procurement, and business-line teams who do not report to this role.
• Crisis leadership - steady under pressure; experienced managing multi-party emergency response situations with regulatory and reputational stakes.
• Data fluency - uses incident data, near-miss trends, carrier performance metrics, and network analytics to drive risk-informed decisions and build the business case for investment.
• Fluency in English required; additional language capability (Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin) is an advantage given the global scope.

Good to know

Please apply via our online recruitment system. We will not accept applications via e-mail. Once it's with us, we will review to see if we have a match between your skills and the role! For more information about our hiring process, visit: nouryon.com/careers/how-we-hire/

We look forward to receiving your application!

We encourage you as a valued Nouryon employee to share talents from your network to help us to bring in new talent through our new Employee Referral Program! Bringing new, skilled people with a great mindset is beneficial for both you and Nouryon. All info you need to make a referral is here. Join us in growing Nouryon!