Safety Learning Lead - Internal only

Safety Learning Lead - Internal only

Internal vacancy

The RNLI actively promotes continuous development within the organisation and is only seeking applications from current RNLI employees and volunteers at this time. If this position is not filled internally it may be re-advertised openly. #LI-DNI

About us

We are the charity that saves lives at sea. We can only do that if we keep our people safe too. That requires us to learn from what goes well and what doesn’t. Learning is vital and there is a brilliant opportunity help us with that by joining our safety learning team. As a Safety Learning Lead you will become a vital part of the RNLI safety team and a key person in helping us to improve how we operate safely and continuously improve. The safety team leads the way in which the RNLI learns as an organisation and implements its safety lessons to ensure a safe, compliant and sustainable environment for our volunteers and staff.

Delivering across the UK and Ireland the team continue to develop a proactive and just approach to learning from incidents both afloat and ashore. Recognising the importance of human factors in improving safety performance, it’s our role to put learning and continual improvement at the heart of our operations and activities to keep our people safe – whether that’s while fundraising, educating members of the public, building lifeboats, lifeguarding a beach or saving lives at sea.

The RNLI is a charity that provides a 24-hour search and rescue service in the UK and Ireland. Volunteers make up 95% of our organisation; supported by expert staff, all working together to help communities at home and abroad save lives.

Your role

Be a driving force behind transformational safety learning at the RNLI.

As a Safety Learning Lead you will sit as a core member of the Safety Learning Team, reporting into the Safety Learning Manager. You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping how we learn from safety-related occurrences and successes. By uncovering deep insights into our processes, people, equipment and systems, you’ll help create a safer environment for everyone—whether they’re at sea, onshore, or in our communities. Through engaging storytelling, collaborative problem-solving, and innovative thinking, you’ll lead the charge in embedding a culture of organisational learning that drives real change.

You’ll lead meaningful safety learning reviews, working closely with operational teams, volunteers, and partners to explore the bigger picture—beyond cause-and-effect. By identifying system vulnerabilities and understanding adaptive capacity, your work will directly impact how we operate and most importantly, how we save lives safely. With the chance to deliver training, coach others, and foster a progressive approach to keeping people safe, this is your opportunity to inspire, influence and inform – to make your mark on the future of safety learning.

About you

To be considered for the role of Safety Learning Lead, you will need to demonstrate:

• Proven experience in operational leadership, safety management, incident investigation, or safety learning in a dynamic, high-hazard or complex environment.
• A strong understanding of safety behaviours and cultural influences and how learning from ‘work as done’ can drive continuous improvement.
• Possess and apply emotional intelligence and sound judgement in sometimes sensitive and traumatic environments.
• Excellent communication, analysis, facilitation and report writing skills, with the ability to translate complex safety insights into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Ability to quickly establish rapport, gain trust and build relationships with volunteers, operational managers, senior leaders and external partners to influence positive change.
• Have a professional background in maritime operations, search & rescue, engineering, human performance or similar.

Additional Information

This role will require short notice travel and deployment to RNLI locations with overnight stays. This role requires a valid driving licence.

Interviews will take place w/c 16th March - please outline in your application any non-availability between 16th and 26th March

If you would like to discuss the role further, please contact recruitment@rnli.org.uk

Safeguarding

The RNLI is committed to safeguarding; protecting a person’s health, wellbeing, and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment and have a zero-tolerance approach. The suitability of all prospective employees and volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment. This will include relevant criminal record checks being carried out dependent on the eligibility of the role. (England & Wales; DBS check, Scotland; Disclosure Scotland PVG, Northern Ireland; Access NI, Republic of Ireland; Garda Vetting; International, International Child Protection Certificate process).

Diversity at the RNLI

Our staff and volunteers have been saving lives at sea without prejudice for 200 years. We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams, and consider it essential to help us deliver a world-class lifesaving service. We are an inclusive organisation and welcome applications from everyone. In addition to having the skills needed for the role, we also look for applicants who share our commitment to living our RNLI values (trustworthy, courageous, selfless, and dependable), and helping us work towards Our Vision: To save Every One.