EHS & Sustainability Recruiters
Manufacturing Headhunters recruits manufacturing professionals nationwide.
This is what we do all day: recruit manufacturing professionals.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
An EHS search is rarely a request for a safety person. It is a request for someone who can stand in front of a line supervisor at six in the morning, after a recordable, and be believed. Plants that call us have usually seen one of three things: an incident that exposed how thin the program was, an agency inspection that went badly, or growth that outran a coordinator who was never meant to run the whole site. This family covers the EHS director, the EHS manager, the safety manager and specialist, the environmental manager and engineer, the process safety manager, the industrial hygienist, the sustainability lead, the EHS engineer and the permitting specialist. The titles overlap constantly, so we start with what the person will actually own on your property, then match that to people who have owned it somewhere comparable. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Manufacturing only
- We reach people who aren't on job boards
- Replacement guarantee on standard searches
Positions we recruit in EHS & Sustainability
- EHS ManagerCheck OSHA recordkeeping and TRIR/DART trend.
- EHS DirectorCheck Multi-site programs.
- Safety ManagerCheck LOTO, machine guarding, PIT.
- Environmental ManagerCheck Title V air permits.
- Process Safety ManagerCheck OSHA PSM and EPA RMP.
- Safety Specialist / CoordinatorOwns floor-level safety work and follow-through on identified hazards.
- Environmental EngineerOwns engineering analysis behind plant environmental controls and compliance.
- Industrial HygienistOwns exposure assessment and controls for manufacturing work.
- Sustainability Manager / DirectorOwns operational sustainability priorities that plant teams can act on.
- EHS EngineerOwns engineering controls connecting equipment design with EHS requirements.
- Environmental Permitting SpecialistOwns permit applications and conditions affected by plant changes.
- Senior EHS ManagerOwns a demanding plant EHS remit with difficult operating and compliance decisions.
- EHS CoordinatorOwns day-to-day environmental and safety coordination across plant activities.
Combined ehs & sustainability titles share a page where the work is the same; each link opens the relevant hiring brief.
Matching the responsibility, not only the title
Safety program or safety paperwork
A candidate can describe a lockout program in detail and still never have changed how maintenance behaves. We ask what they rebuilt, who resisted, and what the floor did differently afterward. Machine guarding, powered industrial truck control and incident investigation should come with stories about specific equipment, not policy numbers.
Environmental depth that matches your permits
A plant with a Title V air permit, a wastewater discharge permit or hazardous waste generator status needs someone who has signed those reports. Stormwater and TRI reporting alone is a different job. We confirm which permits the person has personally managed and whether they dealt with the agency directly.
Process safety is its own discipline
Where you handle ammonia refrigeration, combustible dust or reactive chemistry, process hazard analysis and management of change are daily work. A general safety manager who has only heard of PSM and RMP will struggle. We screen for facilitation experience and for having closed out actions rather than just logging them.
Level of authority
A director sets strategy across sites and holds relationships with regulators. A site manager lives inside one plant and its production pressure. A coordinator supports someone else. We separate these honestly, because hiring a coordinator-level person into a director seat fails slowly and visibly.
Credentials in context
CSP, ASP, CHMM, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 matter, but they are not the test. A certificate tells you what someone studied. We ask what they did with it in a plant like yours, including the unionized or high-turnover environments where adoption is hardest.
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Where we find this experience
EHS searches rarely succeed by posting. The people worth hiring are usually employed, respected and not browsing. We work from sitting safety and environmental leaders at plants whose hazard profile resembles yours: forging and casting operations for heat and noise, food and cold storage sites for ammonia, chemical and coatings plants for process safety, and heavy fabrication shops for crane and hot work exposure.
We also look at consultants who have spent years inside client plants and want a seat with ownership, military safety specialists who have run large hazard programs, and environmental staff at regulated utilities or waste operators. Corporate EHS teams at multi-site manufacturers are a strong pool for directors, particularly people who have built a program and want to run a single site where their work shows.
How this manufacturing search runs
We begin with a conversation about your recordable history, your last agency visit and what leadership expects from this hire. From that we write a plain scope, agree which permits and hazards are non-negotiable, and decide how senior the seat truly is.
Then we contact people directly and privately. You see a short list of candidates whose experience we have tested against your hazards. We prepare you for the interview, including questions that expose depth, and we stay involved through offer and resignation.
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Questions about EHS & Sustainability searches
How do you charge?
Our fee is a percentage of the first-year base salary, and the percentage is agreed in writing before we start. There is no upfront fee, no retainer and no charge for the search itself.
When do we pay?
You pay only if you hire someone we introduced. If you interview people and hire none of them, or hire someone we never presented, you owe us nothing.
Can the search stay confidential?
Yes: An EHS opening often signals a problem, so we do not name your plant to candidates until they have agreed to a confidential conversation and fit the scope. If you are replacing someone currently in the seat, we plan around that.
Do you only talk to people who are looking?
No: Most strong EHS leaders are working and not applying anywhere. We approach them directly, explain the opportunity honestly and let them decide whether it is worth a conversation.
How do you handle location and relocation?
We tell candidates the location and the plant type up front. Safety and environmental people are often rooted in a region because of agency relationships, so we tell you early whether the search should stay regional or open to relocation support.
Will you consider adjacent titles, such as an environmental engineer or industrial hygienist moving into management?
Often, yes. Sometimes the best EHS manager is a hygienist or environmental engineer who has been leading informally. We assess whether their authority, communication and shop floor credibility fit the seat, then explain the gap and how to close it.
What replacement guarantee applies?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Start your EHS & Sustainability search
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Related role families
- Executive & General Management
- Plant & Production Management
- Manufacturing, Process & Industrial Engineering
- Automation, Controls & Electrical
- Product Design, R&D & Program Management
- Quality, Food Safety & Regulatory
- Maintenance, Reliability & Facilities
- Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
- Supply Chain, Procurement & Planning
- Logistics, Distribution & Warehouse
- Technical Sales, Applications & Field Service
- Manufacturing Finance & Accounting
- Machining & Toolroom
- Welding, Fabrication & Metal Finishing
- Industrial Maintenance & Plant Technicians
- Production Operators, Setup & Line Leads
- Assembly, Electronics & Composites
- Process Operators & Process Technicians
- Quality Inspection, Metrology & Lab Technicians
- Packaging Line & Sanitation Technicians
- Warehouse, Materials & Shipping
Open jobs
Executive-search discipline, on every assignment
What do you get from the Six-Step Search?
Plant leaders, engineers and skilled technicians receive the same care in defining the work, researching relevant backgrounds and understanding the individual. Pulling a list and sending messages is not the hard part. The value is doing the research and qualification well enough to support a sound hiring decision.
Calibrate the work and the decision
We start with the operating problem, what the hire must improve and the decisions they will own. We agree what experience matters, who supports the role and what you can realistically offer. A maintenance leader inheriting reactive breakdowns needs a different brief from one building a reliability program.
Research relevant plants and people
We research manufacturing environments where people have handled comparable work. Process, equipment and decision authority matter more than a matching title. We look for relevant professionals, including people who are not applying, rather than treating an exported list as a completed search.
Make respectful, targeted contact
We explain why the work may be relevant and invite a conversation without pressure. We agree what information may be shared on a confidential search. Contact is the start of qualification, not evidence that someone wants the job or fits it.
Discuss the work they personally performed
Our conversations separate an individual's decisions and responsibilities from the team's results. We explore judgment under pressure, reasons for considering a move and practical expectations. For technicians, that includes equipment background, shift, commute and the support available. Candidate accounts are identified as such; a conversation is not a technical certification.
Write down fit, gaps and open questions
You receive a written candidate brief connecting the person's background to your operating problem. It explains motivation and practical fit, the gaps we have identified and what remains to assess. We distinguish candidate-reported information from supporting evidence rather than presenting every statement as independently verified.
Stay involved through interviews and offers
We use your interview feedback to clarify gaps and keep both sides informed about the work and expectations. We help address offer questions, counteroffers and practical concerns without promising an acceptance. Your team makes the hiring decision and assesses technical capability and site-specific requirements. A shortlist is an output of this work, not the whole service.
Ready to start? Tell us the seat.
Questions before starting a search
When do you pay a recruiting fee?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. The signed recruiting agreement sets the fee basis and payment terms. Sending an opening does not itself commit you to a fee or an exclusive arrangement.
How long does it take to see a short list?
We discuss the search conditions before describing a realistic next step. Shift, location, equipment match and the candidate's reasons for moving all matter. We do not promise a shortlist date before understanding the opening.
How do you handle counteroffers?
We ask what is driving the move before introducing a candidate. We discuss what might change if the current employer offers more money or a different job. Your team still decides whether that person's motivation fits the opening.
What replacement terms apply?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What do you not do?
We do not bill hourly for a standard permanent search, repost a job-board ad as a search, or supply high-volume general labor. Retainers are not the default. Any different arrangement must be agreed in writing.
Read the contingency fee terms · Review EHS & Sustainability
What did the last empty seat cost you?
How long did your last search take? How much did the empty seat cost while you waited?
Put your own cover costs and lost production into the Cost-of-Vacancy calculator. It uses your numbers, not a claim about what another plant loses.