Lead Robotics Safety Engineer — Strategy & Compliance

Showcify; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

In-office 4 days a week

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a Lead Robotics Safety Engineer in San Francisco to define and lead the product safety strategy for our robotics program. You will work with leadership, engineering, research, legal, and policy teams to ensure safety is integrated from development through deployment.

This role blends product safety, regulatory strategy, systems engineering, and risk management. You will shape safety thinking, influence architecture, and align with current and emerging regulatory expectations.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in product safety, functional safety, systems safety, robotics safety, or related disciplines.
• Experience working with safety and regulatory frameworks such as ISO 10218, ISO 13849, IEC 61508, ISO 12100, ANSI/RIA standards, or comparable safety standards.
• Experience developing hazard analyses, risk assessments, safety cases, or certification strategies for complex electromechanical systems.
• Familiarity with robotics, autonomous systems, industrial equipment, consumer products, medical devices, automotive systems, aerospace systems, or other safety-critical technologies.
• Experience working with regulators, standards organizations, certification bodies, or industry working groups.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the product safety strategy for robotic systems across the development lifecycle.
• Monitor and influence emerging regulatory frameworks, industry standards, and policy developments relevant to robotics and autonomous systems.
• Partner with engineering teams to translate safety requirements into product architecture, design decisions, and engineering requirements.
• Develop and maintain system-level hazard analyses, risk assessments, and safety cases for robotic products.
• Establish safety requirements, verification strategies, and evidence-generation plans to support product development and future certification activities.
• Collaborate with legal, policy, and leadership teams to assess regulatory risks and inform long-term product strategy.
• Partner with hardware, software, controls, and research teams to identify hazards and develop mitigations throughout the development process.
• Lead system-level hazard analyses, HARA activities, FMEAs, and other structured risk assessment processes to identify hazards, evaluate risks, and drive mitigation strategies throughout product development.
• Represent the company in discussions with standards bodies, industry groups, regulators, and external safety experts when appropriate.
• Help build and scale the safety engineering function as the robotics organization grows.

Skills

Product safety

Functional safety

Systems safety

Robotics safety

Regulatory knowledge

Job description

OpenAI is seeking a Lead Robotics Safety Engineer in San Francisco to define and lead the product safety strategy for our robotics program. You will work with leadership, engineering, research, legal, and policy teams to ensure safety is integrated from development through deployment.

This role blends product safety, regulatory strategy, systems engineering, and risk management. You will shape safety thinking, influence architecture, and align with current and emerging regulatory expectations.