Lead Safety systems Engineer

AIM; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

AIM is building safety-critical autonomous machinery for rugged, real-world job sites. The Lead Safety Systems Engineer will define system safety architecture and the validation framework for AIM’s autonomous machines, working with engineering and operations to ensure safety is designed, validated, and continuously improved across the entire autonomy stack and deployed fleet.

You will own the safety strategy, drive degradation and failure-mode planning, and ensure real-world safety through

Qualifications

• Experience designing and validating safety-critical systems, ideally in robotics, autonomy, industrial machinery, aerospace, or automotive systems.
• Ability to work across robotics, perception, controls, hardware, operations, and product disciplines to propagate safety requirements.
• Think in terms of failure modes, hazard mitigation, and safe system behavior under uncertainty.

Responsibilities

• Lead System Safety Architecture across hardware, software, and control systems.
• Develop and maintain the structured system safety case with traceability from hazards to validation evidence.
• Ensure safety requirements translate into real system behavior and operational procedures across the autonomy stack and deployed fleet.
• Collaborate with operators, field engineers, and cross-functional teams to embed safety into engineering culture and design.

Skills

Systems thinking

Safety-critical design

Hazard analysis

Safety architectures

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Failure mode analysis

Ownership of outcomes

Job description

AIM builds autonomy for the real world - robots that move mountains. Our systems fuse software, hardware, robotics, and mission-critical infrastructure into ruggedized, safety-critical machinery operating on jobsites across the world. We replace decades of manual, error-prone, high-risk work with intelligent machines that reshape how earthmoving is done. Autonomous heavy machinery introduces safety challenges that do not exist in traditional robotics or automotive autonomy. AIM machines operate in dynamic environments where terrain is constantly changing, multiple machines operate in close proximity, and human workers interact directly with robotic equipment. Safety is therefore not a single subsystem - it is a system-level property that must be designed into every layer of the autonomy stack and operational workflow. We’re building the safety systems, architectures, and validation frameworks that allow autonomous machines to operate reliably around people, equipment, and critical infrastructure. We’re growing fast, scaling globally, and building the engineering foundation that will define the next century of construction.

About you

You are a systems thinker who understands that safety emerges from the interaction of hardware, software, human behavior, and operational environments.

You have experience designing and validating safety-critical systems, ideally in robotics, autonomy, industrial machinery, aerospace, or automotive systems.

You are comfortable working across disciplines - robotics, perception, controls, hardware, operations, and product - ensuring that safety requirements propagate correctly through the entire system.

You think in terms of failure modes, hazard mitigation, and safe system behavior under uncertainty.

You are equally comfortable:

• analyzing hazards
• defining safety architectures
• working with operators and field engineers to ensure real-world safety

You take ownership of system outcomes, not just analysis documents. You ensure safety requirements translate into real system behavior and operational procedures.

Most importantly, you help organizations build safety into engineering culture and system design, not bolt it on afterward.

About us together

AIM machines operate in environments that introduce safety challenges rarely seen in traditional autonomy domains:

• machines interacting directly with human workers
• continuously changing terrain and jobsite layouts
• dust, vibration, and harsh environmental conditions
• dynamic interactions between multiple machines
• safety-critical operations involving heavy loads and moving equipment
• real-time control systems operating on ruggedized edge compute

Safety must therefore be addressed at multiple layers:

• autonomy behavior
• human-machine interaction
• operational procedures
• fleet-level monitoring and learning

We will design safety systems that allow autonomous machines to operate predictably, fail safely, and continuously improve through operational learning.

If that excites you - you’re the kind of Safety Systems Engineer who will thrive here.

What you will own

As the Lead Safety Systems Engineer, you will define and implement the system safety architecture and validation framework for AIM’s autonomous machines.

You will work across engineering and operations teams to ensure that safety is designed, validated, and continuously improved across the entire autonomy stack and deployed fleet.

Lead System Safety Architecture

• Define system-level safety architectures across hardware, software, and control systems.
• Design safety layers including redundancy, fault detection, and safe-state transitions.
• Define degraded operating modes and fail-safe behaviors for autonomous machines.
• Specify safety mechanisms such as safety controllers, watchdog systems, and emergency stop architectures.

Develop and Maintain the Safety Case

• Develop and maintain the structured system safety case demonstrating that AIM machines are safe for deployment.
• Maintain traceability between hazards, safety requirements, mitigation strategies, and validation evidence.