Safety-Critical Verification Engineer

DCS Recruitment; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working (3 days onsite)

Cutting-edge autonomy technologies

Professional development

Job summary

DCS Recruitment is seeking a Safety-Critical Verification Engineer in Oxfordshire, UK. The role is hybrid (3 days on-site) and permanent, focusing on verification and safety assurance for autonomous AI-enabled systems in regulated environments.

You will work with aerospace, defence and autonomy teams to develop verification strategies, create certification artefacts and ensure lifecycle compliance throughout development.

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, simulation-based verification, fault injection, fuzz testing or similar techniques.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

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.

Skills

Safety-critical verification

Regulated environments

Lifecycle verification

Requirements-based testing

Embedded systems

Certification evidence

Automation testing

Analytical thinking

Stakeholder communication

Tools

SIL/HIL environments

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