Functional Safety Manager

Role overview

Own functional safety governance for certified subsystems that other manufacturers incorporate into machinery. You’ll determine which safety requirements apply, set and enforce lifecycle review gates, and ensure the evidence, manuals, and certification materials support customers’ own safety cases. The role carries independent authority to challenge technical work and report directly to executive technical leadership, without managing a team.

Responsibilities

- Map applicable functional safety standards and sector requirements to products, deciding what evidence is needed at the clause level. - Maintain the safety plan, lifecycle phases, gate criteria, competence records, and overall safety case. - Review evidence at each lifecycle gate and identify when it is incomplete or insufficiently independent. - Prepare safety manuals and subsystem data packs, including failure probability, architecture, and assumptions-of-use information for integrators. - Lead certification body engagement from scoping and submissions through findings and ongoing surveillance; present the safety argument to assessors. - Monitor regulatory and standards changes, including machinery regulation readiness, and assess implications for roadmaps and customer compliance files. - Feed field modifications and safety anomalies back into impact analyses and the safety case.

Requirements

- Seven or more years of hands-on functional safety engineering in a regulated or safety-critical industry. - Experience taking at least one product through third-party certification, with substantial personal ownership of its safety argument and assessor discussions. - Strong command of IEC 61508 Parts 1–3, including safety manual expectations and systematic capability arguments. - Working knowledge of ISO 13849 and IEC 62061 from a subsystem supplier’s perspective. - Sound judgment reviewing safety analyses, including diagnostic coverage, failure-rate sources, and fault models. - Engineering degree or equivalent experience, and the ability to influence through technical governance rather than direct authority.

Nice to have

- TÜV Rheinland FS Engineer or Exida CFSE/CFSP certification; machinery, agricultural, AGV, or AMR experience; work on compliant items or safety elements; machinery regulation readiness; autonomy or SOTIF exposure; or experience as an assessor.

Benefits and work setup

Base salary is $150,000–$200,000, depending on experience and location. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, unlimited paid time off, stock options, a 3% 401(k) match, paid holidays, and parental leave.