Staff Functional Safety Engineer — Automotive, Hybrid

Ford Motor Company; Long Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 147,000 - 277,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Parental leave

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Job summary

Ford Motor Company is seeking a Staff Functional Safety Engineer to lead the end-to-end safety lifecycle for automotive electronic control features. You will drive safety architecture, perform rigorous analyses, and ensure program readiness across cross-functional teams.

Requirements include a Bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering, 4+ years in functional safety, and deep ISO 26262 experience. This is a hybrid role with significant leadership responsibilities and opportunities to mentor

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physical Sciences, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 4+ years of functional safety engineering experience in safety-critical systems.
• Deep expertise in ISO 26262:2018 and familiarity with ISO 21448 (SOTIF).
• Extensive experience leading safety analyses (HARA, FMEA, FTA, DFA, STPA) for autonomous or complex E/E systems.
• Strong understanding of failure mode analysis for electrical designs, ASICs, and advanced circuits.
• Demonstrated technical project management skills across multiple cross-functional safety projects.
• Deep understanding of embedded control system development, embedded software, and V&V processes.
• Background in data science and statistics for quantitative risk reduction and safety assessment.
• Proven leadership working with external partners, suppliers, and auditors.
• Excellent communication and mentorship capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end functional safety analyses (HARA, FMEA, FTA) to identify hazards and assess safety risks for autonomous systems.
• Define and manage functional safety requirements and safety concepts governing system architecture and designs.
• Develop and assess full safety cases for ASIL A–D products from concept to production.
• Collaborate with system and hardware engineers to decompose requirements to ECU level.
• Derive and verify technical safety concepts and hardware metrics (PMHF, SPFM, LFM) per ISO 26262 Parts 5 & 11.
• Oversee the program safety readiness process and metrics.
• Act as a core safety expert in design reviews and cross-functional discussions.
• Promote a robust safety culture and continuous improvement of the safety program.
• Provide training, coaching, and mentoring to engineers.

Skills

Functional Safety

ISO 26262

HARA

FMEA

FTA

DFA/STPA

Technical Leadership

V&V processes

Project Management

Embedded systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (or equivalent)

Job description

Ford Motor Company is seeking a Staff Functional Safety Engineer to lead the end-to-end safety lifecycle for automotive electronic control features. You will drive safety architecture, perform rigorous analyses, and ensure program readiness across cross-functional teams.

Requirements include a Bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering, 4+ years in functional safety, and deep ISO 26262 experience. This is a hybrid role with significant leadership responsibilities and opportunities to mentor