Health Safety Environment Specialist (on-site in Cape Town)

About the company****Utopia is an ultra-luxury hospitality and lifestyle brand creating a global ecosystem of properties and experiences.

We develop private villa retreats in beautiful locations around the world, each with high-end service. Utopia also offers a wider ecosystem of leisure experiences and services available both to those staying on property and to external visitors.

Utopia designs and builds its properties in-house. Our team works across the full journey: from concept and architecture to construction, interiors, landscape, guest experience, and long-term operation. For architects and designers, this means working on properties from the ground up, with the ability to influence how each place is planned, built, and experienced. For hospitality professionals, it means joining a brand where service is personal, attentive, and built around each guest’s stay.

We’re a young, ambitious team with high standards and a hands-on approach. We value strong ideas, practical thinking, attention to detail, and people who are ready to take responsibility for their part of the work. If you’re interested in architecture, design, hospitality, or guest experience, we invite you to grow with Utopia.

About the role We're looking for a Construction HSE Officer to provide hands-on safety oversight across our active construction site, ensuring risks are identified before work begins and unsafe conditions are corrected without delay. You'll work closely with project management, site engineers and contractors to build a proactive, practical safety culture grounded in prevention and accountability.

Location & Collaboration Format

• This is an on-site role based in Cape Town, South Africa.
• We collaborate directly with the project and contractor teams on site, daily.

Responsibilities* Conduct daily site inspections, identifying unsafe conditions, behaviours and practices before they escalate.

• Verify that Method Statements, Risk Assessments and permits are approved and in place before high-risk activities begin.
• Monitor high-risk activities including excavation, lifting, work at height, hot works, temporary works and confined-space entry.
• Issue safety observations and corrective actions, and follow them through to closure.
• Stop work immediately where an unacceptable risk is identified.
• Investigate incidents, near misses and property damage, and maintain clear documentary evidence.
• Prepare weekly HSE reports and lead formal weekly inspections with project and contractor teams.
• Compile monthly HSE statistics, conduct contractor compliance audits and contribute to contractor scorecards.

Requirements* Recognised qualification in Occupational Health and Safety, Construction Safety, Engineering or a related discipline.

• Valid Construction Health and Safety Officer (CHSO) registration with SACPCMP, in good standing.
• Minimum 5 years' HSE experience, including at least 3 years in active construction environments.
• Practical experience supervising building, civil, structural and MEP construction activities.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing risk assessments, method statements and permit-to-work documentation.
• Strong written reporting, record-keeping and action-tracking skills.
• Confident communicator, able to challenge unsafe practices professionally and stop work when required.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

Nice to Have

• Experience developing HSE procedures, templates, registers and dashboards.
• Experience evaluating contractor HSE performance and contributing to scorecards.
• First-aid, fire-safety or emergency-response certification.
• Temporary-works, scaffolding, lifting or confined-space training.

What we offer* Global project exposure — work on luxury hospitality projects across Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

• A truly international team — collaborate across cultures, disciplines, and time zones with people bringing diverse perspectives and expertise.
• High ownership environment — we value initiative, independent thinking, and people who are ready to take responsibility for meaningful work.
• Growth opportunities — as we scale rapidly, we create new opportunities internally and support team members in expanding their scope and responsibilities.
• Be part of building landmark hospitality properties — contribute to high-end projects designed for long-term global recognition.

By submitting this application, I agree that my personal data will be collected, processed, and retained by the company solely for the purposes of managing and assessing my candidacy.

Notice: This is a remote position based in South Africa.