SAFETY MANAGER - CORPORATE

About Us: Uwajimaya is more than just a grocery store — we’re a vibrant cultural destination with a rich history rooted in family, community, and food. Since 1928, we’ve grown into the Pacific Northwest’s premier Asian retailer, known for our wide selection, welcoming atmosphere, and commitment to sharing the diverse traditions of Asian cultures. We take pride in creating a one-of-a-kind experience for customers and employees alike — one that’s centered around food, culture, and people.

Why Join Uwajimaya?

At Uwajimaya, we believe in nurturing growth — in our communities, our customers, and our team members. We foster an environment built on collaboration, curiosity, and care. Whether you're starting your career or bringing years of experience, you'll find opportunities to make a meaningful impact in a workplace that values tradition, innovation, and connection.

Who We're Looking For
We’re looking for team members who are collaborative, thoughtful, and passionate about making a difference. Whether you’re serving customers, supporting operations, or leading a team, you bring a people-first mindset and a strong work ethic. If you thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment and believe in the power of inclusion, community, and connection — you’ll feel right at home here.

To thrive at Uwajimaya, you should embody our core competencies:

• Functional/Technical Skills: You possess the necessary functional and technical knowledge to perform your job at a high level.

• Customer Focus: You are dedicated to meeting customer expectations and requirements, using feedback for improvements, and building effective relationships based on trust and respect.

• Action Oriented: You enjoy working hard, are full of energy for challenging tasks, and seize opportunities with minimal planning.

• Peer Relationships: You can find common ground with peers, solve problems collaboratively, and are seen as a cooperative team player who encourages collaboration.

• Self-Development: You are committed to continuous self-improvement, adapt to different situations, and work to develop your strengths while addressing weaknesses.

We offer:

• A flexible, inclusive, and friendly work culture

• Competitive starting wages

• Paid holidays from day one

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision benefits

• A generous retirement plan

• Paid time off, long-term disability, and life insurance

• Employee discounts on food and gift items

• Supplemental insurance options

• Opportunities for growth and advancement

Position Summary:

The Safety Manager at Uwajimaya is a key leadership role responsible for developing, implementing, and continuously improving Environmental, Health, Safety, and Food Safety programs across a complex, multi-site operation. This role provides enterprise-wide EHS leadership supporting grocery retail stores, corporate office, a wholesale warehouse with delivery fleet, and a central kitchen/food production facility.

The Safety Manager operates with a high degree of independence and accountability, serving as both a strategic partner and hands-on practitioner. This role ensures regulatory compliance, drives a proactive safety culture, reduces risk, and integrates safety into daily operations. This position requires strict adherence to confidentiality and serves as a critical partner and support to staff, vendors and leadership. As the program matures, this position may lead and develop direct reports focused on specialized safety disciplines.

Position’s Key Responsibilities:

EHS & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure full compliance with all applicable OSHA, EPA, DOT, FDA, USDA, DHS, and local/state regulations.

• Serve as the primary corporate contact and coordinator for all regulatory inspections, audits, and agency interactions.

• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve EHS policies, procedures, and documentation across all business units. Monitor regulatory changes and proactively communicate requirements to leadership and field operations.

Food Safety & Sanitation

• Lead company-wide food safety programs in alignment with local Health Departments, FDA, USDA, and HACCP principles.

• Oversee internal and external food safety audits across retail, wholesale, and central kitchen operations.

• Partner with Operations, Central Kitchen, Merchandising, and Quality teams to ensure food safety is embedded in daily execution.

• Support Ready-to-Eat, perishable foods, fresh produce handling, and manufacturing-style environments.

Safety Culture & Training

• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to schedule, support and facilitate mandatory EH&S related training and development activities.

• Build and sustain a strong EH&S culture that promotes safe behaviors, accountability, and employee engagement.

• Design and deliver safety training programs tailored to retail, warehouse, fleet, and production environments. Customize training content for different audiences, including hourly associates, supervisors, and leadership.

• Partner with Safety Committees, volunteer teams, and employee-led initiatives to drive engagement and ownership.

Incident Prevention & Workers’ Compensation

• Lead a proactive, continuous-improvement approach to incident prevention and risk reduction.

• Oversee all aspects of Workers’ Compensation, including claims management, return-to-work programs, and trend analysis. Partner internally to ensure program alignment and consistency.

• Conduct or oversee incident investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective action implementation.

• Generate, track and report safety metrics, trends, and leading indicators to leadership.

Industrial Hygiene, Fleet & Ergonomics

• Implement and oversee industrial hygiene programs, hazard assessments, emergency and exposure control plans.

• Support DOT compliance, fleet safety programs, and driver safety initiatives for wholesale delivery operations.

• Partner on ergonomic assessments and workplace design improvements across all sites.

• Participate in cross-functional project teams related to facility design, equipment, and process improvements.

• Manage company equipment and wearables programs to meet safety requirements.

Leadership & Program Growth

• Act as an internal consultant to Operations, HR, Facilities, and Leadership teams.

• Manage the EHS budget, prioritizing investments that reduce risk and improve safety outcomes.

• As the organization grows, lead, coach, and develop direct reports, which may include roles focused on:

  • Food Safety & Sanitation

  • Warehouse, Fleet & DOT Safety

  • Retail Store Safety & Training

  • Workers’ Compensation & Claims Administration

Starting Pay: $86,137 annually, Depending on Experience Bonus Opportunities
Salary Range: $86,137 – $129,217

Uwajimaya participates in E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility. Please review the E-Verify Participation Poster and Right to Work Poster before proceeding with your application

IER Right to Work Poster (English/Spanish) (PDF, 322.73 KB)

E-Verify Participation Poster (English/Spanish) (PDF, 259.92 KB)

Uwajimaya is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required; minimum of five (5) years of progressive EHS experience, including at least two (2) years in a leadership or program ownership role, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Professional safety certifications (e.g., CSP, ASP, CHST, CIH, OSHA 30 or ergonomic certifications) strongly preferred.

• Deep working knowledge of OSHA, EPA, DOT, FDA, and USDA regulations.

• Experience interpreting and applying local, state, and federal environmental and safety standards.

• Prior experience in grocery retail, food manufacturing, wholesale distribution, warehouse operations, or food service strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience supporting Ready-to-Eat, perishable foods, fresh produce, and sanitation programs.

• Proven ability to integrate EHS into operational processes rather than treating safety as a standalone function.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.

• Fluent in English; knowledge of Asian languages is a plus.

• Ability to travel to all Uwajimaya locations approximately 25% of the time.

• Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation required.

Salary : $86,137 - $129,217