Director of Risk Management

The Director of Risk Management is responsible for administering the Town's comprehensive risk management and self-insurance programs, with primary emphasis on workers' compensation, general liability, property, automobile, and related insurance coverages. This position serves as the Town's lead coordinator with insurance brokers, third-party administrators, claims adjusters, legal counsel, and loss-control consultants to ensure effective management of claims, insurance renewals, coverage analysis, and risk financing strategies. The position also oversees the Town's occupational safety and loss prevention programs, promoting a culture of safety and accountability throughout all departments future exposure. Duties include, but are not limited to: Administers the Town's self-insured and commercially insured risk management programs, including workers' compensation, general liability, property, automobile, cyber liability, and other related insurance coverages. Serves as the primary liaison with insurance brokers, carriers, third-party administrators, claims adjusters, legal counsel, actuaries, and loss-control consultants. Coordinates annual insurance renewals, applications, underwriting submissions, exposure schedules, and policy reviews. Provides recommendations regarding alternative risk financing strategies, including self-funding, captive arrangements, and deductible optimization. Oversees all workers' compensation, liability, and property claims from initial reporting through final resolution. Coordinates with Human Resources on occupational injuries, return-to-work programs, light-duty assignments, and workers' compensation administration. Collaborates with legal counsel and claims professionals on litigation, settlements, and claim strategy. Investigates incidents involving employee injuries, vehicle accidents, property damage, and potential liability exposures. Develops and implements loss prevention strategies to mitigate operational and financial risks. Promotes a proactive safety culture through coaching, communication, and department-specific training initiatives. Conducts job hazard analyses and operational risk assessments for all departments. Performs safety audits and inspections of facilities, vehicles, equipment, and work practices. Ensures compliance with applicable occupational safety regulations, including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and industry best practices. Provides highly responsible and complex staff assistance and subject matter expertise to the Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, and executive leadership team. Develops risk management policies, procedures, and operational standards. Participates in budget preparation and monitoring for insurance premiums, self-insurance reserves, and safety initiatives. Serves on safety, accident review, and loss prevention committees as assigned. Coordinates risk management activities across all Town departments. Conducts job hazard assessments for each role within all departments and ensures employee best safety practices and compliance with employee PPE requirements and environmental and worksite safety. Audits and inspects the safety of buildings and vehicles to reduce hazards, accidents and losses and reports conditions that need review to department heads. Serves as a member of all crash and related department committees. Provides highly responsible and complex reporting and subject matter expertise staff assistance to executive management. Workers closely with HR for work related injury reviews, worker's compensation coordination and related. Completes administrative duties to include attending meetings, reviewing reports, completing various reports, participating in budget planning and reviews, approving invoices, answering inquiries, etc., as needed.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

This position will supervise those employees in the risk management division.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty according to the requirements of the organization. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties and responsibilities.

Town-related Competencies:

To perform this job successfully, all employees working in the Town should demonstrate the following competencies: Teamwork and Collaboration

• Gets along with and maintains positive relationships with coworkers.

Is willing to help with all types of work, no matter how big or small the task. Asks for and listens to coworkers' feedback; incorporates feedback into revised processes. Positively reinforces team members for their contributions and accomplishments. Admits mistakes when they occur, learns from them, and enables others to do the same. Service to Citizens

• Always represents the Town of Plainfield well; maintains personal accountability and ownership for customer service.

Lets customers know that he/she is willing to work with them to meet their needs. Follows up to ensure that requests and concerns are resolved. Understands customer problems and needs; quickly and effectively solves customer problems. Does more than what is normally required to resolve customer concerns. Professionalism

• Demonstrates professionalism in appearance and actions.

Maintains timely, personable, and effective communications with citizens and the general public, and local or intergovernmental contacts and neighboring community leaders. Demonstrates flexibility and a positive attitude when change occurs. Does not participate in conversations or actions that are disrespectful to others. Uses Town resources and assets wisely, efficiently, and according to Town policy. Dependability

• Attends work as scheduled; follows the attendance policy and informs his/her manager of absences in advance.

Accepts assignments willingly and can be counted on to complete tasks on time. Completes tasks accurately and thoroughly, eliminating the need for close review. Timely follow-through on tasks and projects issued by the Department Head, Town Manager, or Town Council. Does what he/she commits to doing. Interpersonal Communications

• Communicates clearly, accurately, and respectfully with coworkers and customers.

Keeps the Town Council well-informed of any incidents or issues, especially regarding offsite incidents. Keeps sensitive and confidential matters private. Listens to others and seeks to understand others' perspectives. Willingly accepts feedback and incorporates it into work activities and interactions. Job Knowledge and Work Habits

• Takes pride in work and coworkers; performs work with a positive attitude that enables others to perform well.

Is willing to ask questions when the job or task is not fully understood. Willingly participates in training to maintain or enhance current knowledge of principles, procedures, methods, and/or technology. Maintains an optimistic outlook when faced with difficulty or change and makes an effort to overcome obstacles. Retains the expected job knowledge; helps others by sharing knowledge. Job-related Competencies

• To perform this job successfully, employees in this job should demonstrate the following competencies: Leadership
• Exhibits confidence in self and others; Inspires and motivates others to perform well; Effectively influences actions and opinions of others; Accepts feedback from others; Gives appropriate recognition to others. Delegation
• Delegates work assignments; matches the responsibility to the person; Gives authority to work independently; Sets expectations and monitors delegated activities; Provides recognition for results. Cost Consciousness
• Works within approved budget; Develops and implements cost saving measures; Conserves organizational resources. Safety and Security
• Observes safety and security procedures; Determines appropriate action beyond guidelines; Reports potentially unsafe conditions; Uses equipment and materials properly.

Education and/or

Experience:

Bachelor's degree (B.A. /B.S.) from a four-year college or university or equivalent; in Business, Risk Management, Safety or related and four years related risk management and safety experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience required. Master's degree desired. Previous experience in a safety role is required.

Other Skills and Abilities:

The following skills and abilities are either required or desired. An expert level of understanding OSHA, comprehensive risk management programs and workplace safety guidelines Extensive understanding employee personal protective equipment and work duty hazard assessments. The ability to understand, explain, and apply ordinances, state statues, federal worker safety laws and other employee safety regulations is required. Ability to communicate complex information to diverse audiences in a meaningful and understandable manner is required. Extensive understanding of liability insurance, loss control and workers compensation knowledge required. Excellent project management skills and ability to contribute as part of a project team. Computer software skills consist of Microsoft Office suite including understanding of Excel and other financial software programs required. The ability to make sound and rational decisions including exercising independent judgment within established protocols and guidelines is required. The ability to enforce rules and follow all established protocols and guidelines is required. The ability to maintain and cultivate positive relationships with residents, vendors and other Town departments is required. The ability to resolve conflicts between employees and between employees and residents is required. The ability to remain current with all required licenses, certifications and in-service requirements is required. The ability to operate a computer, printer, copy machine, scanner, fax machine, and other office equipment is required. The ability to speak, read and write in English is required. Spanish is desired.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties and responsibilities. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; talk or hear; and taste or smell. The employee is occasionally required to stand; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee is frequently required to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision (clear vision at 20 inches or less), distance vision (clear vision at 20 feet or more), color vision (ability to identify and distinguish colors), peripheral vision (ability to observe an area that can be seen up and down or to the left and right while eyes are fixed on a given point), depth perception (three-dimensional vision, ability to judge distances and spatial relationships), and the ability to adjust focus (ability to adjust the eye to bring an object into sharp focus).

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties and responsibilities. While performing the duties of this job, the employee frequently is exposed to working in outdoor weather conditions. The employee is occasionally exposed to wet or humid conditions (non-weather): working near moving mechanical parts; working in high, precarious places; fumes or airborne particles; toxic or caustic chemicals; extreme cold (non-weather), extreme heat (non-weather); risk of electrical shock; and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud. While the offices of the Town of Plainfield are usually open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, this position may require work beyond these hours and on the weekends. It also requires the ability to drive a Town vehicle. Thus, a valid driver's license is required.