Lead Engineer, System Safety

Colonial Group; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Colonial Group in Irvine, CA is seeking a Lead Engineer, System Safety to own safety engineering across the aircraft lifecycle, defining strategy, governance, and direction. You will ensure safety assessments meet ARP4754A/ARP4761, FAA/EASA requirements, and coordinate with multiple engineering disciplines.

The role requires strong leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and experience with certification processes.

Qualifications

• Requires eight or more years of aerospace safety engineering experience.
• Proven ability to plan and deliver multiple safety analyses to aggressive schedules.
• Strong knowledge of FAA/EASA certification processes.
• Experience with ARP4754A/ARP4761 and DO-178B/C or DO-254 is preferred.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Own the System Safety function for assigned aircraft programs across the lifecycle.
• Serve as technical authority and primary decision-maker for system safety matters.
• Lead planning, coordination, and execution of system safety activities across disciplines.
• Represent the safety organization at executive reviews and communicate risks clearly.
• Influence decisions balancing safety, certification, performance, cost, schedule.
• Lead supplier and partner engagements related to safety analyses and risk management.
• Provide leadership for safety compliance activities supporting aircraft certification and milestones.

Skills

System Safety

Safety Engineering

ARP4754A/ARP4761

DO-178/DO-254

Certification

Leadership

Hazard Analysis

Risk Assessment

Stakeholder Mgmt

Cross-functional Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, electrical, mechanical engineering, or related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) Tools

Safety Analysis Software

Job description

What we do:

As our Lead Engineer, System Safety, you will take ownership of safety engineering across the full aircraft lifecycle. You will be accountable for the overall safety strategy, governance, technical direction, and successful execution of the system safety function across the program. This role provides organizational leadership, drives safety-related decision making, and is ultimately responsible for achieving program-level safety objectives. In this role, you will operate at aircraft level, with responsibility not only for ensuring the delivery of core aircraft and systems safety assessments, but also for driving a coherent systems safety process across all engineering domains.

This position requires an experienced professional with expertise in definition and application of processes and procedures in alignment with SAE ARP4754B and SAE 4761A, safety requirements definition, management & performance measurement within an agile product development environment. You will work with different engineering disciplines and will liaise closely with the Strategy Team to ensure requirements meet our customer & business case needs.

What you can do:

• Own the System Safety function for assigned aircraft programs, ensuring the development and execution of the overall safety strategy throughout the product lifecycle


• Serve as the technical authority and primary decision-maker for system safety matters, providing direction, prioritization, and risk disposition recommendations


• Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of system safety activities across engineering disciplines, suppliers, and external partners


• Represent the safety organization in executive reviews and provide clear communication of program safety status, risks, and recommendations


• Influence technical and program decisions by balancing safety, certification, performance, cost, schedule, and operational considerations


• Lead supplier and partner engagements related to safety analyses, compliance activities, and risk management


• Provide leadership for safety compliance activities supporting aircraft certification and regulatory approval and program milestones


• Act as a primary interface with certification authorities, designated representatives, and external stakeholders on safety-related topics


• Plan, lead, and review all system safety analyses (FHA, PSSA, SSA, CMA, PRA, ZSA, etc.) across the aircraft and define and verify system safety requirements and safety analysis artifacts to ensure design integrity and safety


• Develop and uphold a structured, auditable and proactive safety process, aligned with SAE ARP4754A/ARP4761 and PL.2510


• Ensure effective cross-functional integration of safety requirements and risk mitigations with design, test, flight operations and compliance teams


• Provide technical expertise and guidance to the Engineering team and cross-disciplinary research & development teams working on the development & certification of passenger carrying eVTOL aircraft


• Mentor, coach and provide technical leadership to safety engineers and cross-functional engineering teams in all aspects of Safety System Engineering industry best practices


• Applies safety engineering principles to support investigation, analysis, planning, design, development, testing, evaluation, and implementation of eVTOL systems


• Reviews and prepares safety engineering and technical analysis reports, and other technical documentation


• Applies safety engineering principles to facilitate functions such as system integration, configuration management, and testing


• Drive consistency, quality, and continuous improvement of safety processes, methods, tools, and standards across the organization


• Influencing aircraft design to improve system safety features and design

What you can contribute:

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, electrical, mechanical engineering, or related field is required; advanced degree preferred


• A minimum of eight (8) years of aerospace experience leading safety engineering activities at the aircraft or system-of-systems level


• Proven ability to plan and deliver multiple safety analyses and workstreams to aggressive schedules


• Strong experience across the safety lifecycle delivering various functional safety analyses (AFHAs, PASAs, PRAs, ZSAs, ASA etc.)


• Prior experience with complete OEM aircraft development programs doing systems safety and reliability from the initial design until industrialization


• Experience with Flight Controls and electric propulsion (preferred)


• Experience with safety aspects of RTCA DO-178B/C and RTCA DO-254 (preferred)


• Excellent understanding of FAA/EASA certification processes for the aircraft and subcomponents


• Strong working knowledge of SAE ARP4754A and ARP4761, and regulatory frameworks including PL.2510 and 23.1309


• A minimum of three (3) years of experience with at least one (1) of the following 14 CFR Airworthiness Standards: Part 23, 25, 27, 29, 33, 34 or 35


• Capable of setting a positive tone, managing ambiguity and driving accountability across teams


• Excellent abstraction and communication skills


• Experience working on novel air vehicles (eVTOL, rotorcraft, multi-rotors, or UAS).


• Experience with 2X.1309 and PL.2510 and relevant regulations and guidance materials.


• Experience conducting Particular Risk, Zonal Safety, Common Mode and / or Reliability analyses.


• Awareness of the interrelationship between Cyber Security and Safety


• Understanding and experience using fault tree / failure analysis software and analysis tools for safety systems


• Sense of urgency, proactive delivery of communication and follow-up


• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail


• Ability to independently prioritize and accomplish work within time constraints


• Self-motivated and growth-oriented personality


• Critical thinker, adept at relationship building and leading through influence