This position is remote, applicants located in the United States are preferred, but it is open to applicants located in any of our European program locations.

This critical role, the Director of Health and Safety, holds comprehensive responsibility for ensuring the holistic well-being, security, and safety of Verto's entire international operational scope. This encompasses all Verto-sponsored programs, planned activities, and individual independent travelers navigating their international experiences.

Key Responsibilities

Policy Development and Management

• Develop and implement comprehensive international health and safety policies, standards, expectations, and guidelines.
• Regularly evaluate and revise policies and procedures to effectively mitigate international health, safety, and security risks.
• Manage Verto's student health and travel insurance policy review and renewals, including managing relationships with brokers and partners.
• Oversee compliance with relevant international laws and regulations (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA, Clery Act, Title IX), in coordination with the Dean of Students and other organizational leaders.
• Lead the creation, deployment, and training on consistent international health, safety, and compliance processes.
• Drive continuous improvement by collaborating with stakeholders to identify needs, build consensus, and implement enhancements.

Proactive Risk Assessment and Mitigation

• Review and update Verto’s Emergency Response Protocols and Action Plans, ensuring relevant staff are informed and trained each semester.
• Conduct location-specific risk assessments to inform Verto’s travel warnings and restrictions.
• Monitor and manage travel, including reviewing, approving, denying, or recommending adjustments for high-risk travel.
• Establish and maintain a planning and pre-approval process for new programming in Travel Warning or Travel Restriction destinations, along with key metrics.
• Monitor global health, safety, and security events and trends, advising on their potential impact on Verto's interests abroad.
• Perform in-depth, region-specific risk forecasting as needed.
• Conduct on-site risk assessment visits abroad for vendors and facilities, or to manage incidents requiring in-person coordination.
• Provide expert consultation to colleagues on destination-specific risk assessments, safety planning, and program design.
• Monitor and revise the pre-departure health form and associated processes as necessary.

Emergency and Crisis Response

• Oversee and participate in the operation of the 24/7/365 international emergency response protocols, including maintaining and training the on-call phone rotation.
• Coordinate Verto’s response to international events impacting students, including wellness checks, post-event support, and managing political, natural disaster, or medical evacuations.
• Develop general and specific emergency and communications plans between leadership and departments, as well as site-specific emergency and evacuation plans.
• Create a system, protocol, or App for on-site staff to communicate safety alerts and provide instant access to safety resources.
• Offer training on responding to international incidents to the Verto community, especially teams communicating with students and families.
• Liaise with Verto's travel abroad health insurance provider to coordinate medical care and/or evacuations.
• Manage internal and external communications during and after an emergency, coordinating with the Marketing team for any external media communications.
• Manage a Verto-wide system for health and safety-related incident case reporting and follow-up.
• In collaboration with the Dean of Students, serve as a liaison to student emergency contacts in the case of a health and safety-related incident.
• Act as the primary liaison with onsite staff for all escalated physical and mental health cases in collaboration with onsite physical and mental health resources.
• Conduct after-action reviews following major incidents.
• Serve as Verto's primary representative for external health, safety, and risk management professional organizations and peer institutional networks (e.g., NAFSA, The Forum on Education Abroad, OSAC, PULSE).

Health and Safety Resource Development and Support

• Develop, manage, and coordinate communications and outreach to promote international safety initiatives and practices across the organization, including creating and delivering presentations.
• Collaborate with colleagues in Student Success and Global Program Operations on presenting regular Health & Safety webinars to incoming students and families.
• Create and disseminate tools and resources, such as pre-departure orientation templates, on-site orientation checklists, and emergency protocols, in collaboration with Program Directors and the Student Success and Global Program Operations teams.
• Develop effective partnerships with key education abroad program providers, security assistance providers, NGOs, corporations, and government agencies focused on international health and safety.
• Partner with Student Success on development and implementation of global programming wellness initiatives.
• Establish and maintain a reliable network of support and shared resources among institutional peers.

• Ensure that all marketing, the vertoeducation.org website, and outward-facing partner resources related to health and safety are reviewed and kept current.
• Provide communication and talking points for enrollment staff related to any ongoing health and safety risks in Verto program locations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Degree: Graduate or professional degree in a relevant field such as higher education, international affairs, public policy, area studies, or law.

Technology: Prior experience with salesforce, google suite, asana, and slack

• Global Experience: Required experience living, working, or studying abroad, along with a strong personal commitment to global engagement.
• International Safety Expertise: Proven experience in managing international programs and partnerships, conducting global safety risk assessments, and coordinating emergency response.
• Communication Skills: The ability to communicate effectively with a diverse global audience, including faculty, staff, students, and external collaborators.
• Organizational Change and Technology: Familiarity with change management in complex organizations and the capacity to use information technology to streamline processes and policy implementation.
• Higher Education Context: Working knowledge of the U.S. higher education system as it relates to the organization's mission.
• Personal Attributes: Must possess flexibility, a positive attitude, and a sense of humor when facing challenges.

Work Hours and Travel

The Director of Health and Safety should expect significant travel of 1-2 months per year to spend time onsite, to build relationships with the Student Success teams onsite and ensure that regular training workshops are run onsite and that Health & Safety guidelines are 100% implemented.

In the event of a serious emergency, the Director is expected to provide crisis management outside of standard business hours and may be required to travel internationally on short notice to offer in-country support.