Job Description

Position Title: 

Empowering Safe Work Lead Trainer 

Pay Rate: 

$120,000 – $150,000 (PL based on experience, skills & abilities)

Multiple factors, including Individual experience, skills and abilities will determine where an employee is ultimately placed in the pay range.

Category/Shift: 

Salaried Full-Time 

Physical Location: 

Remote 

The Empowering Safe Work Lead Trainer is responsible for building and sustaining International Paper’s internal capability to deliver Empowering Safe Work (ESW) training. This role is critical to building strong, consistent Empowering Safe Work trainers at the site level and directly supports the Safety Excellence journey.

The Lead Trainer serves as a subject-matter expert in ESW content, effective facilitation and in-field application. The role develops and certifies new International Paper ESW trainers, supports existing ESW trainers, and helps ensure consistent, high-quality training delivery. This role partners closely with the Safety Excellence Project Management Office (PMO), Health and Safety leaders, site trainers, and site leadership teams to maintain training quality, strengthen trainer capability, and continuously improve the learning experience. This role requires approximately up to 75% travel.  

The Job You Will Perform: 

Trainer Development and Certification

• Lead the internal development and certification of new Empowering Safe Work trainers, using the approved ESW Train-the-Trainer process for all five learning modules.
  • Seeing
  • Thinking
  • Doing
  • Moving
  • Teaming
• Prepare new trainers to facilitate ESW content effectively with frontline employees across different operations, work environments, and experience levels.
• Evaluate trainer readiness through practice facilitation, observation, coaching, and demonstrated understanding of ESW concepts and intent. 
• Provide practical feedback and targeted development to prepare trainers for successful delivery.
• Make objective certification recommendations, including retraining or targeted development when additional preparation is needed.
• Maintain strong working knowledge of all ESW modules, facilitation materials, activities, supporting tools and intended learning outcomes.

Trainer Coaching and Capability Building

• Observe ESW trainers during workshops and provide practical coaching on facilitation quality, participant engagement, content accuracy, and connection to real work.
• Support new or developing trainers through practice, co-delivery, peer learning, and Community of Practice sessions.
• Help trainers respond effectively to participants’ questions, resistance, and challenging training situations.
• Model strong safety leadership behaviors, curiosity, and credibility in every interaction.

Partnership and Continuous Improvement

• Build productive working relationships with Safety Excellence PMO, site trainers, Health and Safety teams, and site leadership.
• Develop site trainers’ observation, coaching and feedback skills to help frontline teams and supervisors apply ESW strategies in daily work.
• Oversee assurance processes to confirm ESW training is contributing to observable changes in workplace decisions, conversations, and behaviors.
• Partner with site leaders and site trainers to use insights from ESW training, trainer observations, and employee feedback to identify and address barriers to safe work.
• Build site capability to sustain ESW by transferring knowledge, tools, and coaching practices to trainers, supervisors, and leaders.
• Capture and share lessons from ESW implementation to strengthen training, leader reinforcement, and application across International Paper.
• Deliver or co-deliver ESW training when needed to support vacancies, deployment surges, or special circumstances. 

Program Coordination and Feedback

• Coordinate closely with the Safety Excellence PMO on schedules, logistics, and training execution.
• Provide timely feedback to the PMO and pillar leads on participant engagement, common challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
• Identify trends, barriers, or gaps observed in the field and elevate them for discussion and action.
• Support continuous improvement of training delivery through lessons learned and field insights.

Alignment and Governance

• Ensure all training delivery aligns with International Paper’s Safety Excellence strategy, cultural attributes, and leadership expectations.
• Adhere to all intellectual property, confidentiality, and delivery standards associated with Empowering Safe Work content.
• Represent Safety Excellence professionally and consistently across all locations.

The Skills You Will Bring: 

• Bachelor’s degree preferred
• 10+ years of experience in safety, operations, HR or organizational transformation.
• This position builds on IP’s reputation for excellence, innovation and leadership in HSE management. The position will be recognized and rewarded for delivering solutions that sustain and improve current levels of HSE performance in more effective and efficient manner.
• The position will require travel up to 75%, primarily domestic, including frequent multi-day site visits plus ability to work flexible hours to align with site schedules and training needs
• Demonstrated experience developing, coaching, and preparing facilitators or trainers, including assessing readiness and providing clear developmental feedback
• Strong facilitation capability and high credibility with frontline team members and operational leaders
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder influence skills
• Ability to connect complex concepts to real-world work and exposure
• Strong organizational skills and comfort working in a highly mobile, field-based role

About Us

The Benefits You Will Enjoy:

International Paper offers a benefits package that includes health, welfare and retirement plans including Medical, Dental, Life insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Short-term and Long-term Disability, 401(k), Company-funded retirement contributions, Paid Time Off, Education & Development (including Tuition Reimbursement), Student Loan Repayment Assistance, and Voluntary Benefits including insurance for home, auto, vision and pets

The Career You Will Build:

Leadership training, promotional opportunities

The Impact You Will Make:

We continue to build a better future for people, the planet, and our company! IP has been a good steward of sustainable practices across communities around the world for more than 125 years. Join our team and you’ll see why our team members say they’re Proud to be IP.

The Culture You Will Experience:

International Paper promotes employee well-being by providing safe, caring and inclusive workplaces. We have team members all around the world with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. These are our strengths. We are committed to creating a culture where all individuals are respected, valued, engaged and have an opportunity to do their best work every day. We invite you to bring your uniqueness, creativity, talents, experiences, and safety mindset to be a part of our increasingly inclusive and diverse culture. 

The Company You Will Join:

International Paper (NYSE: IP; LSE: IPC) creates sustainable packaging solutions that enable our customers, teammates and shareowners to thrive in an ever-changing world. We are a leader in corrugated packaging, partnering with customers across industries to protect what matters most, strengthen supply chains and create lasting value. Learn more at internationalpaper.com.

International Paper is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.  International Paper complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact reasonable.accommodations@ipaper.com or (877) 973-3919.