Operational Safety & EHS Lead

Employer description

Join the team bringing advanced autonomy to the built worldAt Bedrock, we’re moving AI out of the lab and into the real world. Our team includes veterans who helped launch Waymo, scaled Segment to a $3.2B acquisition, and grew Uber Freight to $5B in revenue. Today, we’re deploying autonomous systems on heavy construction equipment across the country, improving safety on job sites and accelerating schedules on critical infrastructure projects.

We’re not here debating the future of AI. We’re deploying it in the real world. In just two years, we’ve raised $350M and achieved the first fully autonomous excavator deployments in construction.

This is where algorithms meet steel-toed boots. You’ll work alongside construction veterans and world-class engineers to solve physical-world problems that simulations can’t touch. If you’re ready to do meaningful work on hard problems, we’d love to have you join us.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking an Operational Safety & EHS Program Manager to own the programs that keep Bedrock’s people, our partners’ crews, and the public safe wherever our machines work. Over the next twelve months, we will rapidly scale our machine count, partners, and sites while also adding net-new machine types and a next-generation platform — each new product line and machine brings new operational, retrofit and commissioning, and partner site considerations.

This role will build and runs our inaugural EHS and Operational Safety programs, spanning human–autonomy interaction in the field, retrofit and maintenance work, test sites, and partner job sites. You’ll own EHS compliance across a growing multi-state footprint and play a central role in incident management, investigation, and corrective action.

The Operational Safety & EHS Program Manager reports to the VP of Operations and partners closely with Fleet and Field Operations, Autonomy and System Safety Engineering, Hardware, Commercial, and People teams to make operational safety a critical input to deployment decisions.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Operational Safety for Autonomous Field Operations

Own the operational safety program for autonomous and remotely supervised machine operations, including exclusion zones, e-stop and remote-stop protocols, safety observer roles, and human–machine interaction rules on active job sites

Develop and run pre-deployment site safety assessments and go / no-go readiness gates with Fleet, Deployment Operations, and System Safety Engineering

Lead job hazard analyses (JHA / JSA) and operational risk assessments for testing, commissioning, retrofit, and new-site launches

Own management of change as new machine types, hardware, and autonomy capabilities are introduced

Review partner Site Safety Plans and prepare Site Safety Plans for Bedrock deployments

Translate field learnings and safety-relevant events into feedback and requirements for Engineering

EHS Program & Regulatory Compliance

Build and maintain Bedrock’s written EHS programs (e.g., IIPP, lockout / tagout, heavy equipment operation, fall protection, crane & rigging, high-voltage battery safety, hazard communication, heat illness, emergency action)

Ensure compliance with OSHA (29 CFR 1910 and 1926), Cal/OSHA, and state-plan requirements across 15+ states, including injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting

Own environmental compliance for field and facility operations, including fuel and fluids handling, spill prevention and response, and waste management

Monitor evolving regulations and industry practice for autonomous heavy equipment and advise leadership on implications

Incident Management & Investigation

Own the incident, near-miss, and safety-observation reporting process, including triage, escalation, and communication to leadership and partners

Lead root cause analyses for significant events and drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to verified closure

Partner with Autonomy Safety and Engineering to investigate autonomy-related events using machine data and logs, and trend events across the fleet

Stand up and run a recurring safety review forum covering key incidents, trends, and open risks

Training, Culture & Partner Safety

Own the safety training matrix and onboarding for field technicians, operators, and remote supervisors

Support partner and general contractor safety requirements, including site-specific safety plans, prequalification (e.g., ISNetworld, Avetta), and site orientations

Build a visible, field-first safety culture: stop-work authority, routine site walks, and recognition of proactive reporting

Set safety expectations for contractors, vendors, and partners who work on or around Bedrock machines

Safety Metrics, Audits & Reporting

Define and track leading and lagging safety metrics (e.g., TRIR, DART, near-miss and observation rates, corrective action closure)

Run a field and facility audit program and drive accountability for findings across Operations

Deliver regular safety reporting to the VP of Operations, the executive team, and the Board as needed

Select and implement stage-appropriate EHS tooling for reporting, inspections, training records, and incident tracking

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Safe deployments as the fleet scales to new states, sites, and machine types

A documented, field-tested safety management system that scales with the business

Clean, audit-ready OSHA and environmental compliance across every state we operate in

Incidents and near-misses reported early, investigated rigorously, and closed out with verified corrective actions

Field teams and partner crews who know the rules, feel empowered to stop work, and report proactively

Operational safety data that leadership uses to make deployment decisions

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Required

8+ years in EHS, operational safety, or safety program management, including 3+ years in heavy equipment, construction, heavy civil, mining, or industrial robotics / automation environments

Working knowledge of OSHA 29 CFR 1926 and 1910, with experience managing compliance across multiple sites and states

Experience building safety programs from the ground up in a fast-growing organization and scaling them across distributed field teams

Track record leading incident investigations and root cause analysis, and driving corrective actions to closure with cross-functional partners

Ability to influence engineers, operators, and senior leaders; comfortable making and defending stop-work and go / no-go calls

Strong written and verbal communication with field crews, partners, executives, and regulators

Strong analytical skills; able to use safety and operational data to identify trends and prioritize risk

Willingness to travel 30–40% to active job sites

Located in or near San Francisco preferred

Preferred

Experience with autonomy, autonomous vehicles, or robotics safety — particularly autonomous or remotely operated heavy machinery

Familiarity with machine and autonomy safety standards such as ISO 17757, ISO 12100, ISO 13849, ISO 21448 (SOTIF), and UL 4600

Experience implementing a Safety Management System (SMS) or similar framework

Professional certification such as CSP, ASP, or CHST

Experience with general contractor safety prequalification and multi-employer job site coordination

Continuous improvement / Lean / Six Sigma experience

OSHA 30-Hour Construction (or equivalent)

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

Safety is the foundation of everything we deploy. As Bedrock scales to more machines, more states, and more machine types, this role ensures our growth never outpaces our ability to protect the people on and around our job sites — and makes operational safety a core input to how and where we deploy.

Bedrock Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic. Reasonable Accommodations: We want our hiring process to be accessible to everyone. If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please let your recruiter know so we can support you.

Bedrock Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic.

Reasonable Accommodations

We want our hiring process to be accessible to everyone. If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please let your recruiter know so we can support you.