Principal Safety Engineer

General Dynamics UK Limited; Oakdale; Hybrid; GBP 59,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Nine-day fortnight

Flexible benefits

Career development plan

Hybrid working

Disability confident employer

Job summary

General Dynamics Mission Systems UK is seeking an experienced Principal Safety Engineer to lead and deliver safety engineering activities across complex defence programmes, product development initiatives, and customer-funded projects.

This is a senior technical leadership role focused on applying safety engineering principles across military land, maritime and air domains, managing Safety Management Programmes, and developing robust Safety Cases to meet regulatory and customer requirements.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading safety engineering on complex, safety-critical systems.
• Ability to lead and develop a Safety Engineering capability across multiple programmes.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory, customer and company safety requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead safety engineering activities across defence programmes and customer-funded projects.
• Develop robust Safety Cases and Safety & Environmental Cases.
• Provide expert guidance to programmes and stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and company requirements.

Skills

Safety Engineering

Technical Leadership

Safety Case Development

FTA/ETA/HAZOP

GSN & modular safety

Standards knowledge

Communication skills

Regulatory compliance

Systems thinking

AI/ML awareness

Job description

General Dynamics Mission Systems engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of more than 13,000 top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defence and scientific arenas. In the UK, we are leading the way in avionics and communication systems. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency.

General Dynamics Mission Systems engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of more than 13,000 top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defence and scientific arenas. In the UK, we are leading the way in avionics and communication systems. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency.

Job Description

General Dynamics Mission Systems UK is looking for an experienced Principal Safety Engineer to lead and deliver safety engineering activities across complex defence programmes, product development initiatives, and customer-funded projects.

This is a senior technical leadership role, responsible for ensuring the effective application of safety engineering principles across military land, maritime and air domains. You will manage Safety Management Programmes, develop robust Safety Cases, and provide expert guidance to programmes and stakeholders, ensuring compliance with regulatory, customer and company requirements.

You will bring extensive experience in safety-critical environments, a strategic mindset, and the ability to influence both programme delivery and the continued growth of the organisation's safety capability.

Qualifications

You will be an experienced Safety Engineering professional with a proven track record of leading safety engineering activities within large-scale, complex or safety-critical systems. You will be comfortable operating at a strategic level while remaining technically hands‑on, providing expert guidance and leadership across multiple projects and programmes.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Demonstrable experience in Safety Engineering for product based large-scale systems.
• Proven ability to lead and develop a Safety Engineering capability.
• Strong experience developing and managing:
  • System and Product Safety Case Plans and Reports.
  • Safety Cases and Safety & Environmental Cases.
  • Software Safety programmes.
• Strong working knowledge of:
  • Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
  • Event Tree Analysis (ETA)
  • HAZOP Studies
  • Common Cause Analysis (CCA)
  • Occupational Health Hazard Assessment (OHHA/OSHA)
  • COSHH and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
  • Environmental Management principles
  • Safety Integrity Levels (SILs)
  • Modular Safety Cases and Goal Structuring Notation (GSN)
• Knowledge of relevant standards and frameworks including:
  • Def Stan 00-051, 00-055 and 00-056
  • IEC 61508
  • DSA02.DLSR.LSSR
  • DO-254
  • DO-178B/C
• Strong understanding of current and emerging safety and environmental legislation.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and relationship‑building skills.
• Strong analytical, organisational and decision‑making abilities.
• A systems‑thinking approach with the ability to innovate and solve complex problems.
• Commitment to continuous learning and professional development.
• Experience working with or familiarity with AI/ML models is preferred.

Additional Information

Salary for this position is £59,000 to £85,000, depending on experience plus our excellent flexible benefits package.

We offer hybrid working - for this role we expect a minimum of 2 days per week on site, averaged over a month period.

We pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose, offering impressive benefits:

• A compressed nine‑day fortnight and compressed hours - which means every other Friday off.
• A personalized career development plan, alongside regular progress reviews - supporting and valuing your progression within the Company.
• A flexible working environment where your contributions are recognized and rewarded with flexible benefits

We believe in maintaining a diverse workplace - inclusive of beliefs, cultural background, job experiences, thoughts and ideas. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we welcome you to join our inclusive team!

Our success is fuelled by our colleagues and the wide variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills they bring to the Company.

We are a Disability Confident Employer, as such we offer an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. Please email disabilityconfident@gd‑ms.uk if you would like your application to be considered under the DC Scheme.

All successful/appointed applicants must be able to obtain a level of UK Security clearance that is appropriate for the role and undertake suitable Right to work checks

Every application matters to us. We want you to know that each application we receive is reviewed by a real person—not just an algorithm. Our screening questions are also carefully considered to help us understand your experience and fit for the role.

We appreciate the time you take to apply.