Operations Safety Lead

Top Echelon Software, LLC; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Top Echelon Software, LLC is seeking an Operations Safety Lead to standardize safety, compliance, and assurance across autonomous vehicle, trucking, and industrial programs. You will build a company-wide framework for procedures, incident taxonomy, readiness reviews, and safety documentation, ensuring audit-ready records across programs.

The role suits an experienced professional in regulated environments, with demonstrated ability to scale safety frameworks across multiple teams, sites, or

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in operational compliance, transportation safety, program management, or related field.
• 3+ years in a safety-critical or regulated environment.
• Proven experience owning and building compliance programs.
• Experience standardizing processes across multiple programs, sites, or business units.

Responsibilities

• Establish a unified operational safety framework across automotive, trucking, and industrial programs.
• Create and maintain SOPs, readiness checklists, incident taxonomies, and operational standards.
• Define safety ownership, responsibilities, gaps, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Develop safety-driven operating procedures with Systems Engineering and Program Management.
• Represent Operations in change-control and deployment-readiness reviews.
• Own operational compliance requirements, including permits, authorizations, customer obligations, audits, and regulatory changes.
• Ensure fleet compliance requirements are documented and maintained.
• Oversee inspection, maintenance, safety-critical parts, defect containment, and applicable drug/alcohol testing requirements.
• Own incident management from classification and response through root-cause analysis, CAPA, and verified closure.
• Analyze cross-program incident and safety trends and ensure lessons learned are shared across field teams.
• Maintain operational safety evidence and support safety cases and customer assurance activities.
• Report safety performance, risks, and trends to leadership.
• Build and maintain audit-ready documentation and recordkeeping systems.

Skills

Operational compliance

Transportation safety

Root cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Documentation management

Executive-level summaries

Job description

Job Overview

We are hiring an Operations Safety Lead to own and standardize operational safety, compliance, and assurance practices across autonomous vehicle, trucking, and industrial programs.

This role is responsible for building the company-wide framework for procedures, incident classification, compliance obligations, readiness reviews, and safety documentation. You will work across multiple programs to ensure teams are operating against consistent standards and can demonstrate that through clear, audit-ready records.

This is a strong fit for someone with deep experience in operational compliance, transportation safety, regulated environments, or safety-critical program management who has built scalable frameworks across multiple teams, sites, or business units.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish a unified operational safety framework across automotive, trucking, and industrial programs
• Create and maintain SOPs, readiness checklists, incident taxonomies, and operational standards
• Define safety ownership, responsibilities, gaps, and cross-functional dependencies
• Develop safety-driven operating procedures with Systems Engineering and Program Management
• Represent Operations in change-control and deployment-readiness reviews
• Own operational compliance requirements, including permits, authorizations, customer obligations, audits, and regulatory changes
• Ensure fleet compliance requirements are documented and maintained
• Oversee inspection, maintenance, safety-critical parts, defect containment, and applicable drug/alcohol testing requirements
• Own incident management from classification and response through root-cause analysis, CAPA, and verified closure
• Analyze cross-program incident and safety trends and ensure lessons learned are shared across field teams
• Maintain operational safety evidence and support safety cases and customer assurance activities
• Report safety performance, risks, and trends to leadership
• Build and maintain audit-ready documentation and recordkeeping systems

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in operational compliance, transportation safety, program management, or a related field
• 3+ years of experience in a safety-critical or regulated environment
• Proven experience owning and building compliance programs
• Experience standardizing processes across multiple programs, sites, or business units
• Strong root-cause analysis and CAPA experience through verified closure
• Experience creating and maintaining audit-ready records and documentation systems
• Strong written communication skills
• Ability to create clear operator procedures and concise executive-level summaries
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in autonomous vehicles, trucking, mining, aviation, rail, or another safety-critical regulated industry
• Experience supporting multiple operating domains or customer programs
• Working knowledge of DOT, FMCSA, OSHA, or MSHA requirements
• Familiarity with state autonomous vehicle permitting requirements
• Familiarity with ISO 26262, SOTIF, UL 4600, or similar safety methodologies
• Relevant safety certification such as CSP, OSHA 500/501, or MSHA Part 46/48
• Experience supporting customer programs with different contractual, regulatory, or safety requirements

Work Environment

• Primarily onsite in Sunnyvale, CA
• Full-time employees are generally expected to work from the office five days per week
• Some schedule flexibility and occasional remote work may be available based on business needs