Staff Functional Safety Engineer

Ford; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 146,520 - 276,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Paid time off

Tuition assistance

Job summary

Ford's Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is seeking a Staff Functional Safety Engineer to lead safety for complex E/E systems in autonomous and advanced projects. You will drive the full safety lifecycle from concept to production, ensuring ISO 26262 compliance and driving a culture of safety across cross-functional teams.

You will define safety architecture, guide design decisions, and develop robust safety cases while mentoring peers and ensuring program readiness through

Qualifications

• 4+ years of functional safety engineering experience in safety-critical systems.
• - Deep expertise with ISO 26262:2018 and familiarity with ISO 21448 (SOTIF).
• - Experience leading safety analyses (HARA, FMEA, FTA, DFA, STPA) for autonomous or complex E/E systems.
• - Embedded control system development, embedded software, and V&V processes.
• - Proven leadership and project management in cross-functional environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end functional safety analyses (HARA, FMEA, FTA) across autonomous systems.
• Define and manage functional safety requirements and safety concepts.
• Develop and assess safety cases for ASIL A–D products from concept to production.
• Collaborate with system and hardware engineers on safety requirements and ECU-level decompositions.
• Derive and verify safety concepts and hardware metrics (PMHF, SPFM, LFM) per ISO 26262.
• Oversee safety readiness metrics and program health across the lifecycle.
• Serve as safety expert in design reviews and cross-functional discussions to meet safety goals.
• Mentor peers and promote a robust safety culture across the organization.

Skills

Functional safety

ISO 26262

Embedded systems

Leadership

V&V processes

Data science

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physical Sciences

Job description

We are the movers of the world and the makers of the future. We get up every day, roll up our sleeves and build a better world -- together. At Ford, we’re all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves?

Ford’s Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company’s vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer-obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data-driven and is dedicated to delivering industry-leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You’ll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams.

In this position...

As a Staff Functional Safety Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring the safety of complex electronic control features. You will lead the end-to-end safety lifecycle from initial concept through production, ensuring full compliance with ISO 26262. This role requires a unique blend of deep hardware-level analytical rigor, system-level architectural thinking, and the leadership presence to drive a robust safety culture across cross-functional engineering teams. You will be responsible for defining the safety architecture, steering technical design decisions, and ensuring program readiness through rigorous quantitative risk assessment and the implementation of advanced fail-operational strategies.

What you'll do...

• Lead and execute end-to-end functional safety analyses, including HARA, FMEA, and FTA, to identify potential hazards and quantitatively assess safety risks across the autonomous system.
• Define and manage the comprehensive set of functional safety requirements and safety concepts that govern system architecture and design choices.
• Lead the development and assessment of full safety cases for ASIL A- D products, managing the lifecycle from initial concept to production.
• Collaborate with system and hardware design engineers to develop and document hardware-level functional safety requirements and decompose module-level requirements into ECU-level requirements.
• Derive and verify technical safety concepts and hardware metrics, including PMHF (Probability Metric for Hardware Failure), SPFM, and LFM, to meet ISO 26262 Part 5 and Part 11 requirements.
• Oversee and optimize the program safety readiness process and metrics.
• Serve as a core safety expert in cross‑functional design reviews and technical discussions, ensuring safety goals are met effectively throughout the development lifecycle.
• Champion and promote a robust safety culture and the continuous improvement of the safety program across the engineering organization.
• Identify and provide training, coaching, and mentoring to peers and junior engineers to establish technical best practices.

You'll have...

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physical Sciences, or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• Minimum of 4+ years of functional safety engineering experience in safety-critical systems within the automotive, aerospace, or industrial sectors.
• Deep expertise in the application and assessment of ISO 26262:2018 and familiarity with ISO 21448 (SOTIF).
• Extensive experience leading and performing complex safety analyses (HARA, FMEA, FTA, DFA, STPA) for autonomous or highly complex E/E systems.
• Strong understanding of failure mode analysis for complex electrical designs, ASICs, and advanced electrical circuits.
• Demonstrated technical project management skills with the ability to manage multiple parallel, cross‑functional safety‑critical projects.
• Deep understanding of embedded control system development, embedded software, and verification and validation (V&V) processes.
• Background in data science and statistics with a focus on analyzing performance for quantitative risk reduction and safety assessment.
• Proven leadership experience working with external partners, suppliers, and regulatory bodies or auditors.
• Excellent communication skills with a track record of leading technical meetings with leadership teams and providing mentorship to engineering peers.

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder...or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back‑up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is a leadership level 6 and ranges from $146,520-276,600.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/LL6

Visa sponsorship is available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid. Candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location may be required to be onsite four or more days per week. #LI-Hybrid #LI-BB1 #UEV