Head of Product Safety

AIM; Washington; On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

AIM seeks a results-driven leader to own the product safety function for autonomous earthmoving machines. You will define safety frameworks, drive regulatory certification, and guide cross‑functional teams through safety concepts and documentation.

This role focuses on turning safety theory into practical development and certification outcomes. You will build end‑to‑end safety programs, collaborate with product, hardware, and software teams, and engage third‑party evaluators to ensure compliant,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, Robotics, or a related field.
• 10+ years of safety engineering experience in robotics or complex electro-mechanical systems including ownership of a full product safety certification cycle.
• 5+ years building the product safety team.
• Expertise in ISO 17757, ISO 19014, ISO 13849, IEC 61508, ISO 26262, or SOTIF.
• Solution oriented with strong problem solving, able to guide teams to a working outcome.
• Experience leading and building safety teams and retaining talent.

Responsibilities

• Build the product safety roadmap end-to-end and deliver executable safety requirements for development.
• Develop safety requirements and concepts with product, hardware & software teams.
• Develop system-level safety architectures across AI, hardware, software, autonomy, HMI, and controls.
• Own safety plans and analyses (HARA, SFMEA, FTA, DFMEA) across the product portfolio.
• Partner with certification agencies and lead safety & compliance certifications.
• Integrate safety design using a simulation-first framework for verification.
• Generate safety documentation including plans, risk analyses, gaps, and reports.
• Lead analysis of incidents, near misses, and fleet telemetry to identify risks.

Skills

Safety leadership

Problem solving

Systems thinking

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, Robotics

Tools

HARA

SFMEA

FTA

DFMEA

Job description

AIM builds autonomy for the real world — robots that move mountains. Our systems combine software, hardware, robotics, and mission-critical infrastructure into ruggedized autonomous machines operating on jobsites around the world. Safety is a system-level property that must be designed across the autonomy stack, machine controls, hardware, operator interfaces, and operational workflows. We are building the safety architectures and validation frameworks that allow autonomous heavy machinery to operate reliably around people, equipment, and critical infrastructure.

About you

You have taken an autonomous product through commercialization by creating an executable product safety roadmap and built the team to drive the execution. You will lead AIM's product safety function for autonomous earthmoving machines by defining safety framework, safety concepts, articulating requirements, and guiding regulatory certification to scale commercialization. You have demonstrated experience in launching safety-critical robotics solutions with close partnerships with the end customers.

What you will own

• Build the AIM’s product safety roadmap end-to-end and deliver executable product safety requirements to drive product development.
• Develop and document safety requirements and technical safety concepts, collaborating closely with product, hardware & software engineering, and verification teams.
• Develop system-level safety architectures across AI, hardware, software, autonomy, HMI, and controls.
• Develop and own the safety plan for safety-critical functions, including HARA, SFMEA, FTA, and DFMEA across AIM’s product portfolio.
• Partner with 3rd party certification agencies and lead the process of securing safety & compliance certifications.
• Build the process to integrate and drive safety-critical-design in a pragmatic manner based on a simulation-first framework to drive product safety verification.
• Generate product safety documentation including safety plans, risk analyses assessments, gap analysis and compliance reports.
• Lead the analysis of safety critical incidents, near misses, and fleet telemetry to proactively identify emerging safety risks.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, Robotics, or a related field.
• 10+ years of safety engineering experience in robotics or complex electro-mechanical systems including demonstrated ownership of a full product safety certification cycle.
• 5+ years building the product safety team
• Expertise in distilling standards such as ISO 17757, ISO 19014, ISO 13849, IEC 61508, ISO 26262, or SOTIF.
• Solution oriented individual with strong problem solving skills who is able to evaluate complex problems and guide teams to a working outcome.
• Experience leading and building safety teams, with the ability to attract, develop, and retain strong safety engineering talent.

Preferred Qualifications

• TÜV or equivalent functional safety certification
• Experience building safety-critical systems for autonomous earthmoving machines.
• Experience with simulation-first framework, HIL/SIL testing, fault injection, fleet telemetry, or field validation.

How you’ll stand out

You think at the product level, understand how multiple subsystems can interact to create unsafe behavior, and can translate safety theory into practical product development processes and prioritization. You are comfortable balancing the ideal long-term safety solution with the pragmatic mitigation needed to safely move a product forward today working in close partnership with end customers.