Safety-Critical Verification Engineer

DCS Recruitment; England; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Professional development

Competitive salary

Job summary

DCS Recruitment in Oxfordshire is seeking a Safety-Critical Verification Engineer to join a cutting-edge engineering business delivering safety and assurance technologies for autonomous and AI-enabled systems in highly regulated environments.

The role focuses on verification, validation and certification across safety-critical software and hardware, collaborating with software, systems and safety engineers to meet programme objectives and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• Strong background in safety-critical verification and validation.
• Experience operating within regulated engineering environments.
• Understanding of software development lifecycles and verification processes.
• Experience with requirements-based testing and traceability.
• Knowledge of embedded systems and real-time software.
• Experience generating certification evidence and compliance documentation.
• Understanding of advanced testing methodologies such as automated testing and simulation-based verification.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute verification and validation strategies for safety-critical software and systems.
• Develop verification plans, test frameworks and certification evidence.
• Support software verification activities against recognised aviation and safety-critical standards.
• Perform requirements-based testing, verification and validation.
• Maintain requirements traceability and compliance throughout the development lifecycle.
• Generate certification artefacts and compliance documentation.
• Conduct integration, qualification and system-level testing.
• Work with software, systems and safety engineers to ensure programme objectives are achieved.
• Support development of assurance frameworks and verification processes.
• Contribute to certification, airworthiness and regulatory approval activities.
• Support runtime safety monitoring and fail-safe architectures for autonomous platforms.

Skills

Safety-critical V&V

Regulated environments

Requirements-based testing

Embedded systems

Real-time software

Certification evidence

Analytical problem-solving

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Safety-Critical Verification Engineer

Oxfordshire, UK

Hybrid (3 days a week onsite)

Permanent

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join an innovative engineering business developing advanced safety and assurance technologies for autonomous and AI-enabled systems operating within highly regulated environments.

As autonomous technologies become increasingly utilised across aviation, defence and mission-critical applications, organisations require robust verification, certification and safety monitoring capabilities to enable safe deployment at scale. This company is developing solutions that provide an independent layer of assurance across autonomous platforms, ensuring compliance, reliability and operational safety in environments where failure is not an option.

Working alongside leading organisations across aerospace, autonomy and defence, you will join a highly specialised engineering team focused on developing technologies that support the safe deployment of next-generation autonomous systems. This is an opportunity to contribute to cutting‑edge programmes that will help shape the future of autonomous aviation and safety‑critical AI systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute verification and validation strategies for safety-critical software and systems
• Develop verification plans, test frameworks and certification evidence
• Support software verification activities against recognised aviation and safety-critical standards
• Perform requirements-based testing, verification and validation
• Maintain requirements traceability and compliance throughout the development lifecycle
• Generate certification artefacts and compliance documentation
• Conduct integration, qualification and system-level testing
• Work closely with software, systems and safety engineers to ensure programme objectives are achieved
• Support the continual development of assurance frameworks and verification processes
• Contribute to certification, airworthiness and regulatory approval activities
• Support the development of runtime safety monitoring and fail-safe architectures for autonomous platforms

Key Skills

• Strong background in safety-critical verification and validation
• Experience operating within regulated engineering environments
• Understanding of software development lifecycles and verification processes
• Experience with requirements-based testing and traceability
• Knowledge of embedded systems and real-time software
• Experience generating certification evidence and compliance documentation
• Understanding of advanced testing methodologies such as automated testing, simulation-based verification, fault injection, fuzz testing or similar techniques
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capabilities
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills

Desirable Skills

• Experience working to DO-178C or equivalent safety-critical software standards
• Aerospace, defence or autonomous systems experience
• Exposure to DAL A or DAL B programmes
• Knowledge of ISO 26262, IEC 61508 or other functional safety standards
• Experience with SIL, HIL or SIH verification environments
• Formal methods or static analysis experience
• Verification of flight control systems, avionics or other mission-critical systems
• Knowledge of aviation certification frameworks, airworthiness requirements or operational safety assessments
• Experience supporting UAV, UAS, eVTOL or autonomous vehicle programmes
• Exposure to mathematically verified software, runtime assurance architectures or advanced safety frameworks

What You Get In Return

• Flexible hybrid working (3 days per week onsite)
• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge autonomous and AI-enabled technology
• Exposure to advanced verification, certification and assurance methodologies
• Professional development within a highly specialised engineering environment
• Opportunity to work alongside some of the industry’s leading experts in autonomy and safety-critical systems
• Involvement in technology that will support the future deployment of autonomous aircraft, defence systems and intelligent platforms
• The chance to play a key role in solving one of the biggest challenges facing autonomous technology: trust, safety and assurance

DCS Recruitment and all associated companies are committed to creating a working environment where diversity is celebrated and everyone is treated fairly, regardless of gender, gender identity, disability, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital or transgender status, age, or nationality