Senior Staff Product Safety Engineer, Robotics & AI

Boston Dynamics, Inc.; Waltham (MA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 167,000; Full time

Job summary

Boston Dynamics is seeking a Senior Staff, Product Safety Engineer to join our product safety and compliance team. You will lead independent safety assurance for legged robotic systems across the product lifecycle and develop safety strategies, safety cases, and objective evidence spanning hardware, software, firmware, AI/ML, and HRI.

You will collaborate with product, systems engineering, hardware, software, and legal teams to translate standards into practical processes and ensure robust

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics, or related discipline
• 6+ years in product safety, systems safety, functional safety, safety assurance, verification & validation (V&V), robotics, autonomous systems, automotive, aerospace, medical devices or another safety-critical field
• Understanding of AI/ML safety implications and AI-enabled system V&V
• Demonstrated V&V expertise, including test strategy, methodology, acceptance criteria, coverage, and objective safety evidence
• Strong systems engineering understanding across hardware, software, firmware, controls, sensors, actuators, cyber-physical systems
• Experience with safety-critical software development, software release processes, software quality assurance, configuration management, or safety-related change management, hazard analysis, FMEA/FMECA, STPA, STAMP, risk assessment, or equivalent methodologies
• Familiarity with IEC 61508, ISO 21448/SOTIF, ISO 13849, IEC 62061, ISO 42001, ISO/IEC TS 22440, EU AI Act and/or applicable robotics safety standards
• Experience with safety certification, regulatory submissions, audits or external safety assessments in autonomous/mobile/industrial/humanoid/robotic systems is preferred
• Ability to independently challenge technical assumptions and assess residual risk
• Strong written and verbal skills
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams without relying on organizational authority.

Responsibilities

• Provide safety assurance across the full technical stack (hardware through AI/ML) and support readiness reviews and safety gate sign-off for new capabilities (e.g., autonomous navigation, dynamic locomotion, manipulation, human-robot interaction -HRI, AI-enabled behaviors)
• Develop and evaluate V&V strategies, acceptance criteria, test coverage, and objective safety evidence ensuring safety requirements and risk controls perform as intended
• Prepare recommendations and evaluate safety analyses, claims, mitigations, and readiness evidence across perception, planning, controls, locomotion, actuation, and HRI to determine if claims are adequately supported
• Evaluate safety implications of releases, firmware updates, model changes, configuration changes, and hardware revisions – including drive-by-wire actuation, fault detection, and safe-state behavior – as part of change impact assessments
• Support incident investigations, corrective actions, post-market monitoring, and incorporation of field learning into safety assurance
• Collaborate with engineering teams and Safety Case owners to ensure consistency in safety processes, evidence quality, rigor, maturity across products and platforms
• Translate global and domestic regulations, standards, and certification expectations into internal safety policy and procedures and support continuous improvement of the Safety.

Skills

V&V expertise

Safety assurance

Cross-functional collaboration

AI/ML safety

Hazard analysis

Regulatory standards familiarity

Technical communication

Influence without authority

Education

Engineering degree (B.S./M.S.) in Electrical/Computer/Mechanical/Systems/Robotics

Job description

Boston Dynamics is seeking a Senior Staff, Product Safety Engineer to join our product safety and compliance team. You will lead independent safety assurance for legged robotic systems across the product lifecycle and develop safety strategies, safety cases, and objective evidence spanning hardware, software, firmware, AI/ML, and HRI.

You will collaborate with product, systems engineering, hardware, software, and legal teams to translate standards into practical processes and ensure robust