Design & Startup Program Manager, WHS, WHS DCS

Amazon is hiring a Design & Startup Program Manager, WHS, WHS DCS in Arlington, United States. It pays $104k-$155k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
Tools and skills the posting cites include safety management, risk assessment and compliance.
Level classifies it as a mid-level role.
Level lists 21,000+ other open roles at Amazon.
The role was posted within the past week.

AI in this role

Manage workplace health and safety compliance, risk assessments, and start-up plans for new Amazon facilities.

safety-managementrisk-assessmentcomplianceproject-managementchange-management

The New Construction & Launch Workplace Health and Safety Program Manager (WHS PM) will be responsible for partnering with the Launch and Engineering teams to manage the safety deliverables required when opening new sites. They will execute the new site safety start-up plan to help ensure the site successfully implements our company safety procedures and all applicable local and regional regulations. The New Construction & Launch WHS PM will coordinate safety start-up functions.

Key job responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
Manage and monitor the WHS start-up plan for new facilities.
Deep Dive trends and design improvements to develop proposed action plans to Sr. Leadership
Maintain organizational safety engineering risk assessment methodology including risk tolerances and make recommendations to senior management.
Support new launches by performing suitable risk assessments when appropriate.
Identify gaps/opportunities in or between regions, processes, and organizations (e.g., workflows, risk assessments, controls, etc.) to enable high standards and consistency in application.
Support the development of solutions that meet Amazon high standards for safety, risk reduction, customer satisfaction, efficiency, scalable, simplicity, and operational excellence.
Possess technical knowledge and the ability to engage with cross functional teams, transforming this knowledge into sound, compliant processes.
Validate vendor proposed technical safety solutions and work in partnership with internal engineering and reliability maintenance teams to ensure right first time, legally compliant safety standards for equipment.
Support business change by effectively influencing change management processes within operations.
Support complex risk programs where the organization or business problem and risks strategy are not defined, or where endemic problems surface.
Provide functional working links with other critical functional teams including; Engineering, Reliability and Maintenance Engineering, Procurement, New Build Safety and Real Estate teams.
Generate regular technical updates for stakeholders.
Provide monthly reports on upcoming projects and current in -process schemes with clear analytical measures of status and risk.
Serve as a WHS mentor and subject matter expert for all launching sites for both WHS site leadership and Operations.
Review processes, including liaison with other critical support functions such as Engineering, Reliability and Maintenance Engineering, Procurement, and New Build/Real Estate teams to effectively deliver machinery and system safety standards.
Perform risk assessments on all equipment to include Factory Acceptance Testing of new technologies.
Provide guidance and design standards to ensure compliance to all applicable local/state/federal regulatory standards and Amazon Safety Policies and Procedures.
Possess strong understanding of Ergonomics and the ability to use these principles in the review and design of equipment/processes.
Review and interpret data and use this information to develop improvement plans within new processes.
Conduct safety reviews of all new processes and equipment. Develop safety punch list items with all applicable business partners identifying, in detail, all safety issues and recommendations on how such opportunities can be addressed both short and long-term.
Perform Design Reviews with Worldwide Engineering and Ops Engineering in AutoCAD to design in Safety features to the building/processes.

A day in the life
Amazon offers a full range of benefits that support you and eligible family members, including domestic partners and their children. Benefits can vary by location, the number of regularly scheduled hours you work, length of employment, and job status such as seasonal or temporary employment. The benefits that generally apply to regular, full-time employees include:
1. Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
2. Maternity and Parental Leave Options
3. Paid Time Off (PTO)
4. 401(k) Plan

If you are not sure that every qualification on the list above describes you exactly, we'd still love to hear from you! At Amazon, we value people with unique backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. If you’re passionate about this role and want to make an impact on a global scale, please apply!

About the team
Role consists of reading blueprints to interpret building template design to ensure it meets regulatory requirements, all safety requirements, aligns with current Amazon Policies and Procedures, and Federal/State/Local jurisdiction requirements. Provide guidance to design teams and launch stakeholders on compliance requirements, supported by risk assessments, regulatory compliance and Amazon Policies and Procedures. Senior Manager will also be responsible for traveling sites to perform risk assessments, Factory Acceptance Testing, Site Acceptance Testing, as well as validation of WHS DCS program managers commissioning of equipment/building/modules/safety supplies. The role requires communication across multiple stakeholders, analyzing incident trends as it relates to design, and designing out risk to operations. Post launch lessons learned, design changes and improvements, and module updates/changes will be documented and actioned. Collaboration with stakeholders to align changes/improvements of design including risk assessments and risk reduction.

Basic qualifications

- 7+ years of program or project management experience
- Experience using data and metrics to determine and drive improvements
- Experience owning program strategy, end to end delivery, and communicating results to senior leadership
- 7+ years of working cross functionally with tech and non-tech teams experience
- 7+ years of cross functional project delivery experience
- 7+ years of program or project management experience
- Bachelor's degree in safety, engineering or environmental
- Experience owning program strategy, end to end delivery, and communicating results to senior leadership

Preferred qualifications

- 2+ years of driving process improvements experience
- Master's degree, or MBA in business, operations, human resources, adult education, organizational development, instructional design or related field
- Knowledge of general AI tools
- Experience designing, implementing, and scaling upskilling, apprenticeship, or workforce development programs across large-scale operations or corporate environments, including forecasting workforce needs and leveraging analytics to drive program decisions

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, TN, Nashville - 104,100.00 - 155,400.00 USD annually
USA, VA, Arlington - 115,600.00 - 160,000.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 115,600.00 - 160,000.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Design & Startup Program Manager, WHS, WHS DCS at Amazon rates 0 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Design & Startup Program Manager, WHS, WHS DCS is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $104k-$155k a year.
The role is based in US, VA, Arlington.
The job was posted on October 21, 2026.
Seniority: mid.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Safety ManagementRisk AssessmentComplianceProject ManagementChange Management

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where safety management was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where risk assessment was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where compliance was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where project management was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where change management was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Safety Management, Risk Assessment, Compliance, Project Management, and Change Management. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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