EHS Manager, Explosives Specialty

About the role

Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Manager

Leander, TX | Onsite | Full-Time

General Qualifications (All Roles)

• America matters. The mission matters. You must believe deeply in both.
• High-agency self-starter who moves fast and delivers without waiting for instructions.
• Extreme ownership. No excuses. No "that's not my job."
• Strong judgment and a relentless bias for action.
• Comfortable operating without a playbook, solving hard problems, and adapting as priorities change.
• Low ego, high standards, and committed to winning as a team.
• ITAR Requirement: To conform with U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), refugee, asylee, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorization from the U.S. Department of State.

The Role

Wild West Systems is seeking an EHS Manager to lead safety, compliance, and risk management for operations involving ammunition, explosives, energetic materials, and associated transportation and handling activities.

This role will own site-level safety programs, regulatory compliance, training, inspections, incident response, and coordination with internal teams, regulators, and government customers. The position is responsible for ensuring operations align with U.S. DoD contract safety and security requirements, OSHA standards, and U.S. DOT hazardous materials transportation requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and maintain the company's ammunition and explosives safety program in accordance with DoD Manual 4145.26, DESR 6055.09, and 27 CFR Part 555 (ATF).
• Ensure compliance with OSHA requirements applicable to explosives and blasting agents, including hazard identification, safe work practices, training, and controlled handling procedures.
• Manage hazardous materials transportation compliance under 49 CFR, including packaging, marking, labeling, shipping documentation, segregation, and carrier coordination for Class 1 materials.
• Conduct safety reviews, inspections, audits, and corrective action tracking for manufacturing, storage, test, and transport operations.
• Support site hazard analysis, risk assessments, emergency response planning, and incident investigation.
• Interface with DCMA, government quality, safety, and security representatives, and customer auditors during inspections, program reviews, and corrective action closure.
• Maintain records, training documentation, SOPs, permits, and compliance artifacts required for regulated munitions activities.
• Advise engineering, operations, logistics, and program management on safe design, storage, handling, and movement of energetic materials.
• Lead or support root-cause analysis for safety events, near misses, and nonconformances.
• Monitor changes in applicable federal, state, and local requirements and update company procedures accordingly.

Success Measures

• Zero preventable safety incidents involving munitions or hazardous materials.
• Timely completion of audits, training, inspections, and corrective actions.
• Annual reviews and approval cycles of safety documentation.
• Annual training of all personnel regarding company AE safety policies.
• Audit readiness for DCMA and customer reviews.
• Clear, usable safety procedures that support operational speed without sacrificing compliance.
• Cross-functional adoption of safe work practices across the business.

Required Qualifications

• Hard requirement: hands-on expertise (not familiarity) applying DoD 4145.26 (Contractor's Safety Manual for Ammunition and Explosives), or an equivalent ATF / 27 CFR Part 555 commercial explosives safety program. Applicants without one of these explosives specialties will not be considered.
• 5+ years of experience in explosives safety, ammunition operations, munitions compliance, industrial safety, or a related regulated environment.
• Familiarity with OSHA 29 CFR standards relevant to hazardous materials, explosives, and general industrial safety. OSHA-only industrial safety experience, without an explosives specialty, does not meet the requirements for this role.
• Working knowledge of 49 CFR hazardous materials transportation requirements, especially Class 1 explosive materials.
• Working knowledge of 27 CFR Part 555 (ATF).
• Experience supporting or interacting with DCMA government oversight functions.
• Experience developing AE SOPs, training programs, inspection checklists, and corrective action systems.
• Experience generating, implementing, and reviewing ESSP (Explosives Safety Site Plan) for multiple sites.
• ITAR eligibility as outlined above.
• Bachelor's degree in occupational safety, engineering, chemistry, environmental health, or related field/equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in munitions manufacturing.
• Experience in munitions test range operations.
• CSP, ASP, CHMM, or similar safety certification.
• Experience with ISO-style quality systems, contractor safety programs, or military customer audits.
• Experience working in a startup and fast-paced environment.

Why Wild West

• Build the whole thing. Own your work from first principles through design, prototype, test, iteration, and production. What you build will leave the screen and enter the real world.
• Build where the hardware gets built. Engineering, fabrication, manufacturing, and testing happen under one roof, so ideas move fast.
• Make an impact from day one. Your decisions will shape the product, the roadmap, and the company itself.
• Move at mission speed. Work with urgency, solve hard problems, and turn ambitious ideas into field-ready systems.
• Share in what you build. Every employee has the opportunity to own stock options and participate in the company's success.
• Work with exceptional people. Join a team defined by high standards, low ego, direct communication, and relentless execution.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation
• Equity: Stock options included with every offer
• Medical: 100% of employee premiums covered, 90% for spouse/family
• Dental & vision: 100% of premiums covered
• 401(k): Company plan with match
• Unlimited PTO
• Relocation support: Available for candidates relocating to the Austin area

Location and Eligibility

This is a full-time, onsite role at our facility in Leander, Texas, approximately 30 minutes from downtown Austin.

Itar

Eligibility: To conform with U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), refugee, asylee, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorization from the U.S. Department of State.

• Wild West Systems uses E-Verify to confirm employment authorization.
• Direct applicants only. We do not work with staffing companies for this role.