Safety Engineer

Matchtech; Maidenhead; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Matchtech is seeking an experienced Safety Engineer to join a growing engineering team delivering cutting-edge technologies within the UK defence sector. You will work across complex, safety-critical programmes, embedding safety principles into design decisions and supporting mission-critical projects.

You will identify and manage safety risks across the product lifecycle, produce safety documentation and safety cases, and mentor junior engineers while liaising with regulators and assurance

Qualifications

• Experience in safety-critical or highly regulated environments such as Defence, Aerospace, Nuclear, Rail, Automotive, or similar sectors.
• Strong knowledge of safety engineering principles and methodologies.
• Proven experience conducting FMEA, FMECA, hazard analysis, safety assessments, and risk management activities.
• Experience developing and maintaining safety cases.
• Knowledge of standards such as Def Stan 00-056, MIL-STD-1629, MIL-HDBK-217F, ARP4761, and ARP4754.
• Strong understanding of risk assessment, mitigation, and acceptance processes.
• Ability to influence design decisions and communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent analytical, organisational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple activities and work autonomously.
• Experience with systems engineering tools such as DOORS and Enterprise Architect.
• Knowledge of digital electronics and hardware failure modes.
• Experience within defence or military equipment programmes.
• Familiarity with secure or high-assurance systems.
• Exposure to DevSecOps, Continuous Integration, and automated testing environments.

Responsibilities

• Conduct hazard identification, hazard analysis, and safety assessments throughout the development lifecycle.
• Perform reliability and safety analyses including FMEA, FMECA, FTA, FHA, and PHA.
• Develop and maintain hazard logs, ensuring hazards and mitigations are tracked.
• Define and derive safety requirements and ensure traceability through implementation and verification.
• Produce safety documentation, safety cases, compliance evidence, and technical reports.
• Facilitate safety reviews, workshops, and risk assessment activities with cross-functional teams.
• Support design reviews and influence engineering decisions to ensure safety requirements are integrated.
• Assess impact of design changes on system safety and support change management.
• Work with customers, regulators, and assurance bodies to support audits and certification activities.
• Mentor junior engineers and champion best practice across the engineering community.

Skills

Safety engineering

FMEA/FMECA

Hazard analysis

Safety cases

Regulatory standards

Risk assessment

Stakeholder communication

Defence sector experience

DevSecOps familiarity

Systems thinking

Tools

DOORS

Enterprise Architect

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Safety Engineer to join a growing engineering team delivering cutting-edge technologies within the UK defence sector.

Working across complex and safety-critical programmes, you will play a key role in ensuring products are designed, developed, and delivered with safety and reliability at the forefront. This position offers the chance to influence system design, support mission-critical projects, and work alongside multidisciplinary teams developing advanced electronic and software-based solutions.

The Role

As a Safety Engineer, you will be responsible for identifying, assessing, and managing safety risks throughout the product lifecycle. Acting as a subject matter expert, you will support engineering teams by embedding safety principles into design decisions and ensuring compliance with relevant industry and defence standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct hazard identification, hazard analysis, and safety assessments throughout the development lifecycle.
• Perform reliability and safety analyses including FMEA, FMECA, Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Functional Hazard Analysis (FHA), and Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA).
• Develop and maintain hazard logs, ensuring hazards and mitigations are appropriately tracked and managed.
• Define and derive safety requirements and ensure traceability through implementation and verification.
• Produce safety documentation, safety cases, compliance evidence, and technical reports.
• Facilitate safety reviews, workshops, and risk assessment activities with cross-functional teams.
• Support design reviews and influence engineering decisions to ensure safety requirements are fully integrated.
• Assess the impact of design changes on system safety and support change management activities.
• Work with customers, regulators, and assurance bodies to support audits and certification activities.
• Mentor junior engineers and champion best practice across the wider engineering community.

Skills & Experience

• Experience working in a safety-critical or highly regulated environment such as Defence, Aerospace, Nuclear, Rail, Automotive, or similar sectors.
• Strong knowledge of safety engineering principles and methodologies.
• Proven experience conducting FMEA, FMECA, hazard analysis, safety assessments, and risk management activities.
• Experience developing and maintaining safety cases.
• Knowledge of standards such as Def Stan 00-056, MIL-STD-1629, MIL-HDBK-217F, ARP4761, and ARP4754.
• Strong understanding of risk assessment, mitigation, and acceptance processes.
• Ability to influence design decisions and communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent analytical, organisational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple activities and work autonomously.
• Experience with systems engineering tools such as DOORS and Enterprise Architect.
• Knowledge of digital electronics and hardware failure modes.
• Experience within defence or military equipment programmes.
• Familiarity with secure or high-assurance systems.
• Exposure to DevSecOps, Continuous Integration, and automated testing environments.

Security Requirements

Due to the nature of the work, candidates must be willing and eligible to obtain and maintain Developed Vetting (DV) Security Clearance.