Sr. Software Systems Safety Engineer

Description

The company builds AI-powered, human-centered robots. Its main product is a humanoid robot designed to work alongside people, first in manufacturing and logistics, with later use in healthcare, homes and other settings.

The team is taking this humanoid robot to market at scale and working through safety, commercialization and mass production challenges.

This role covers the safety of the software and AI that run the robots, from reviewing the architecture through checking that test evidence backs up the safety claims. You will apply IEC 61508-3, ISO/IEC TS 22440 and hands-on experience with safety-critical software.

Responsibilities

• Help run system-level risk assessments, assign risk reduction measures to software and AI elements, and take ownership of breaking software safety requirements down into subsystem and element requirements.
• Define the software safety architecture, covering partitioning and freedom from interference, watchdogs, diagnostics, plausibility and timing checks, communication integrity, startup and shutdown behavior, and fault handling.
• Lead software safety analyses, including software FMEA, fault tree analysis, dependent and common-cause failure analysis, and timing and resource analysis.
• Specify safety-related software behavior such as monitors, diagnostics and safe-state logic, and review software team designs against IEC 61508-3 for the target SIL or SC.
• Write the IEC 61508-3 software safety plan and lifecycle, and check team conformance through reviews and audits, including in-house, open-source and third-party libraries, RTOS and middleware.
• Judge software systematic capability and review verification evidence, including coverage, static analysis, fault injection, and software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop results, against the safety claims.
• Apply the ISO/IEC TS 22440 AI safety lifecycle to AI/ML functions, designing the safety architecture around them, including keeping safety functions independent of learned components and the mechanisms that monitor those components.
• Assess AI/ML safety evidence across data and model assurance, performance limits and operational design domain.
• Maintain software requirements traceability and the software part of the safety case, including gap assessments against standards.
• Support the product safety and compliance teams in certification and in showing conformity to standards.

Requirements

• Proven experience assuring safety-critical software architectures, including software safety analysis and building safety cases.
• Practical use of the IEC 61508-3 or ISO 26262-6 software lifecycle, with depth in software safety activities and qualifying existing software and tools. Experience with IEC 62061, ISO 13849, ISO 10218, ANSI/A3 R15.06 or ISO 25785-1 is needed where relevant.
• Solid understanding of embedded software architecture, including RTOS, mixed-criticality partitioning, watchdogs, communication buses and diagnostics.
• Hands-on work with FMEA/FMEDA, FTA and dependent failure analysis, plus reviewing verification evidence such as fault injection, SIL and HIL testing, and test coverage.
• Working knowledge of safety for AI/ML systems, such as ISO/IEC TS 22440. Familiarity with ISO/PAS 8800, UL 4600 or SOTIF is preferred.
• Experience with requirements and traceability tools such as JAMA. Familiarity with Git, CI/CD and static analysis is expected. Certification or third-party assessment experience is preferred.
• Able to work across functions and make sound, risk-based engineering decisions.
• Experience with product development and lifecycle processes such as Agile, CMMI and Waterfall, helping teams hit organizational milestones.
• A bachelor's degree in systems engineering, computer, electrical or software engineering, computer science, robotics or a related field, or equivalent experience. A master's degree is preferred.
• 8+ years of relevant engineering experience, with substantial responsibility for safety assurance or analysis of safety-critical software in complex electromechanical products.

Conditions

Annual base salary of $200,000 to $240,000.

Direct hire only. Agency submissions are not accepted.

Much of the work is desk-based, with long stretches sitting at a computer.

Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times.

Must be able to read printed material and computer screens, and communicate by hearing and speech.