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Head of Health & Safety

US - East Coast Region

Company Introduction

WorldStrides is the global leader in educational travel and experiential learning. The company was founded in 1967 to provide middle school travel programs to Washington, D.C. and has grown to provide a wide range of programs for more than half a million students annually to over 100 countries around the world. WorldStrides offers experiential learning programs in educational travel, performing arts, language immersion, career exploration, service-learning, study abroad, and sports. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world – and themselves – in new ways.

Position Summary

The Head of Health & Safety is an enterprise leader responsible for shaping and advancing a global, forward-looking approach to risk management, traveler safety, and crisis response. This role goes beyond traditional compliance to proactively identify emerging risks, enable business growth in complex environments, and safeguard the organization’s people, operations, and reputation.

Serving as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, this role integrates real-time global intelligence, cross-functional coordination, and decisive crisis leadership to ensure the organization operates confidently and responsibly worldwide. Given the size of the team, this role operates as a hands-on leader who actively engages in incident response, directly supports escalated situations, and works alongside the team during high-impact events.

Key Responsibilities

  1. Global Risk Intelligence & Destination Strategy
    • Lead a proactive, intelligence-driven approach to global risk monitoring across geopolitical, environmental, health, and security domains
    • Translate complex global developments into actionable insights and recommendations for executive leadership
    • Establish enterprise-wide risk thresholds, decision frameworks, and escalation protocols
    • Oversee approval processes for higher-risk travel and chair the Travel Review Committee
    • Partner with product and operations teams to enable responsible expansion into new destinations
    • Leverage third-party intelligence providers and internal data to continuously enhance situational awareness

  2. Crisis Leadership, Incident Response & Business Continuity
    • Own and evolve the enterprise crisis management and business continuity framework
    • Serve as the executive incident leader during high-impact global events, personally engaging in real-time incident management and escalation handling
    • Lead real-time decision-making in ambiguous, high-pressure situations
    • Work directly alongside team members during active incidents, providing hands-on leadership and support
    • Coordinate cross-functional crisis response across operations, legal, HR, and communications
    • Review, triage, and support escalated incidents as needed
    • Drive post-incident recovery, including traveler support and business continuity planning
    • Conduct after-action reviews and strengthen organizational resilience

  3. Emergency Communications & Stakeholder Engagement
    • Oversee emergency communications strategy across stakeholders
    • Ensure timely, clear, and consistent messaging during crises
    • Partner with communications teams on high-visibility situations
    • Strengthen communication tools and preparedness
    • Support development of emergency manuals and safety materials
    • Draft or review critical communications during high-priority incidents

  4. Policy, Governance & Duty of Care
    • Establish and maintain global health and safety policies aligned with industry standards
    • Embed a culture of safety and accountability across the organization
    • Partner with Legal and HR on compliance and risk mitigation
    • Ensure alignment with insurance programs and duty-of-care expectations
    • Collaborate on inclusion, accessibility, and responsible travel initiatives
    • Track and report key safety and risk metrics
    • Apply policies in real-time scenarios and resolve complex safety situations

Leadership & Operational Oversight

  • Lead, coach, and develop the Health & Safety team in a player-coach capacity
    • Remain actively engaged in frontline activities and escalated issues
    • Oversee departmental budget and resources
    • Manage external vendor relationships
    • Represent the organization externally as needed
    • Participate in on-call rotation and real-time incident response

Qualifications

Required:
• 10–15+ years (Sr. Director) or 15+ years (VP) experience in global safety, risk, or crisis management
• Demonstrated experience leading global incident response
• Strong business acumen and executive stakeholder engagement
• Deep understanding of global risk and duty-of-care responsibilities

Preferred:
• Experience in travel, education, or global mobility
• Familiarity with risk intelligence platforms
• Experience with ESG or enterprise risk frameworks

Leveling Distinction

Sr. Director:
• Leads execution of strategy with strong operational ownership
• Growing enterprise influence

VP:
• Sets enterprise-wide vision and strategy
• Acts as executive advisor and external thought leader
• Shapes business decisions related to global expansion and risk

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

California Salary Range

$120,000 - $150,000 USD

 

 

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

 

 

Maryland Salary Range

$120,000 - $150,000 USD

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

New York Salary Range

$120,000 - $150,000 USD

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount WorldStrides is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

Massachusetts Salary Range

$120,000 - $150,000 USD

 

WorldStrides, a global organization, is committed to educate and serve communities worldwide. Our commitment is fueled by the passion of our team members and partners to make experiential learning accessible, while also being socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. Together, we accomplish this by investing in initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, WorldStrides is committed to building a diverse workforce, supported by an environment that promotes inclusion and belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

WorldStrides will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. This is not a position for which sponsorship will be provided. Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1, J-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J or TN, or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible for hire. Select seasonal roles may consider students on J-1 or F-1 visas. 

 

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