Manager, Safety Certification & Standards

FORT Robotics, Inc.; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Fort Robotics, Inc. seeks a Functional Safety Manager to own safety standards and lifecycle evidence across products certified as safety-critical subsystems. The role bridges IEC 61508 processes with multiple customer safety arguments and regulatory certificates.

You will manage safety cases, gate criteria, and safety manuals while coordinating with certification bodies and the CTO to ensure conformance across markets and EU readiness for 2027 regulations.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in functional safety as a practising engineer in regulated domains.
• Led at least one product through third-party certification end-to-end.
• Deep knowledge of IEC 61508 and related annexes.
• Working knowledge of ISO 13849 and IEC 62061 from supplier side.

Responsibilities

• Own standards across IEC 61508, ISO 13849, IEC 62061 and sector standards (e.g., ISO 3691-4, ISO 25119, UL 4600, ISO 21448).
• Serve as named Functional Safety Manager: safety plan, lifecycle phases, gate criteria, and safety case.
• Hold gates and determine adequacy of evidence at each lifecycle phase.
• Author safety manuals and subsystem data packs (IEC 61508-2/3 Annex D, PFHD, architecture data).
• Manage certification body relationships end-to-end: scope, submission, findings, surveillance.
• Monitor EU Machinery Regulation readiness and standard revisions for roadmap alignment.
• Incorporate field feedback into the safety argument.

Skills

Functional safety

IEC 61508

ISO 13849

IEC 62061

Safety analysis

Governance

Engineering background

Certification process

Education

Bachelor's or higher in engineering

Job description

In today's dynamic worksites, seamless collaboration between people and machines is essential. FORT's platform ensures safe, secure, and dynamic control that surpasses legacy systems and next-generation AI capabilities.

While autonomous machines offer significant advantages, they also introduce new safety challenges. FORT addresses these concerns by providing solutions such as the Wireless E-Stop, which allows operators to instantly stop any machine from a safe distance, enhancing safety during emergencies.

Additionally, FORT's Safe Remote Control enables operators to manage heavy machinery remotely, reducing the risk of accidents and improving visibility.

By ensuring communications integrity across any network, FORT empowers customers to protect their most valuable assets -people, data, and machines -ensuring they remain safe and secure.

We're looking for a Functional Safety Manager to own every standard and regulatory requirement that touches our products and to serve as the named Functional Safety Manager accountable for the lifecycle that proves we meet them. Our products are certified subsystems that other companies build into the machines they place on the market. That makes this role the bridge between one IEC 61508 safety lifecycle and the many certificates, data packs, and safety manuals our customers' own safety arguments depend on.

What You'll Do

• Own the standards picture across our products and markets IEC 61508, ISO 13849 and IEC 62061, and the sector standards our customers build to (ISO 3691-4, ISO 25119, UL 4600, ISO 21448) deciding at clause level what applies and what evidence satisfies it
• Serve as our named Functional Safety Manager: own the safety plan, the lifecycle phases and their gate criteria, competence records, and the safety case itself
• Hold the gates. You will be accountable at every lifecycle phase for whether our evidence is adequate and independent enough to say when it is not
• Author the safety manuals and subsystem data packs our customers depend on: IEC 61508-2/-3 Annex D content, PFHD and architecture data for ISO 13849 and IEC 62061 integrators, and the assumptions of use that make our capability claims valid
• Own our certification body relationships end-to-end: scope, submission, findings, and surveillance, and represent our safety argument to third-party assessors
• Run the regulatory watch: EU Machinery Regulation readiness ahead of January 2027, standards revisions, and what each one means for our roadmap and for our customers’ conformity files
• Close the loop from the field modification impact analysis and safety anomalies from real installations, fed back into the safety argument

What You'll Bring

• 7+ years in functional safety as a practising engineer embedded, systems, hardware, or safety-critical software in industrial, automotive, aerospace, medical, or similar regulated domains
• At least one product taken through third-party certification end-to-end, where you personally owned a substantial part of the safety argument and defended it to an assessor
• Deep fluency in IEC 61508 parts 1-3, including what Annex D actually requires of a safety manual and how systematic capability is argued
• Working knowledge of ISO 13849 and IEC 62061 from the supplier side: what an integrator needs from a certified subsystem, and why
• The judgement to review safety analysis critically: to challenge a diagnostic coverage claim, a failure-rate source, or a fault model with a gap in it. In this role, you accept other people’s technical work rather than producing it
• Comfort with influence rather than line authority. This role has no direct reports; its authority comes from the safety plan, the gate, and a direct line to the CTO, deliberately outside the engineering delivery line
• A collaborative, questioning mindset willing to challenge teammates and be challenged in return, because safety depends on it
• B.S. or higher in an engineering discipline, or equivalent experience

Nice to have: TÜV Rheinland FS Engineer or Exida CFSE/CFSP certification; machinery and off-highway experience (AGV and AMR under ISO 3691-4, agricultural machinery under ISO 25119); safety-element-out-of-context or compliant-item work; EU Machinery Regulation readiness programs; autonomy and SOTIF exposure (UL 4600, ISO 21448); or time on the other side of an assessment, at a certification body or as a contracted assessor.

Base Compensation can range from $150,000-$200,000 based on experience & location.