Senior Software Safety Engineer

AeroVect; Farmville (VA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

AeroVect is redefining autonomous ground handling with safety-focused software and hardware integration in Farmville, VA. The Senior SW Safety Engineer will drive hazard analyses and safety cases for autonomous platforms deployed with major airlines and service partners.

You will derive SSRs, conduct FMEA/FTA, and collaborate across systems, software, robotics, and hardware teams to ensure robust safety across perception, planning, and control modules.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on safety engineering in autonomous vehicles or related domains.
• Background with autonomous driving systems or mobile robotics.
• Experience working under mentorship in a high-velocity agile team.
• Degree in CS/EE/Systems/Robotics or related field.
• 5+ years of software development or SW safety in C++, Python, or ROS/ROS2.
• Deep understanding of software safety lifecycles and ASIL decomposition.
• Hands-on experience analyzing autonomous vehicle software pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Conduct software hazard and safety analyses on perception, motion planning, localization, and vehicle control modules per ISO 26262-6 and SOTIF.
• Execute software FMEA/FTA, freedom-from-interference analysis, and code-level hazard evaluations.
• Derive Software Safety Requirements and define monitoring/fail-safe mechanisms in multi-core/Linux-RTOS environments.
• Review safety-critical C++/Python code and robotics middleware with teams to ensure standards are met.
• Develop Safety Performance Indicators to measure safety performance over time.

Skills

ISO 26262

SOTIF (ISO 21448)

Hazard Analysis

C++

Python

ROS/ROS2

Software Safety Lifecycle

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics, or related

Tools

Linux/RTOS

Job description

Who We Are

AeroVect is transforming ground handling with autonomy, redefining how airlines and ground service providers around the globe run day-to-day operations. We are a Series A company backed by top-tier venture capital investors in aviation and autonomous driving. Our customers include some of the world’s largest airlines and ground handling providers. For more information, visit www.aerovect.com.

Working under the close guidance and supervision of the Head of Safety, the Senior SW Safety Engineer will execute core safety lifecycle tasks across AeroVect’s software and hardware platforms:

• System Safety Analysis: Perform hazard identification and risk assessments (HARA, FMEA, FTA, STPA) on the autonomous software architecture and vehicle operation concepts.


• Requirements Derivation: Derive, specify, and trace functional and technical safety requirements (FSRs / TSRs) for both supervised autonomy (safety driver present) and SDO unsupervised autonomy (driverless).


• Cross-Functional Execution: Collaborate directly with systems, software, robotics, hardware, and test teams to ensure safety requirements are integrated, testable, and verified.


• Safety Case Support: Assist in building safety case artifacts and verification evidence required for airport commercial deployment.

You Will

• Conduct software hazard and safety analyses on perception, motion planning, localization, and vehicle control modules per ISO 26262-6 and SOTIF (ISO 21448).


• Execute software FMEA/FTA, freedom-from-interference (FFI) analysis, and code-level hazard evaluations.


• Derive Software Safety Requirements (SSRs) and define monitoring/fail-safe mechanisms within multi-core and Linux/RTOS software environments.


• Review safety-critical C++/Python code and robotics middleware with development teams to ensure software safety standards are met.


• Develop Safety Performance Indicators to measure safety performance over time.

You Have

• 5+ years of hands-on safety engineering experience in autonomous vehicles, automotive (ISO 26262), aerospace (DO-178C/DO-254), or industrial safety (IEC 61508).


• Prior background working with autonomous driving systems or mobile robotics.


• Proven ability to work under the technical mentorship of a Principal Safety Engineer in a high-velocity agile engineering team.


• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics, or a related discipline.


• 5+ years of software development or SW safety experience in C++, Python, or ROS/ROS2 environments.


• Deep understanding of software safety lifecycles, ASIL decomposition for software, unit/integration test strategies, and static analysis tools.


• Hands-on experience analyzing autonomous vehicle software pipelines (perception, planning, fail-safe state machines).

Compensation Range: $160K - $180K