System Analysis Engineer

Draper; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 156,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Workplace flexibility

Employee clubs and events

Health and finance workshops

Job summary

Draper is seeking a System Safety Engineer for its High Availability Architecture Group, located in Cambridge, MA. This pivotal role focuses on guiding safety processes and analyses for complex systems like missile defense and autonomous vehicles. Candidates must have a bachelor's degree in engineering and 5-10 years of relevant experience.

The position offers a salary range of $75,000 - $156,000 and emphasizes work-life balance through flexible work options and various employee programs.

Qualifications

• 5-10 years’ experience in System Safety Engineering or a relevant position.
• Experience in system safety processes and standards required.
• Ability to solve complex engineering problems in a multi-disciplinary environment.

Responsibilities

• Conduct System Safety Analyses across the Systems Engineering lifecycle.
• Deliver System Safety work packages including Hazard Analysis Traceability.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to promote System Safety best practices.

Skills

FMECA

Fault Tree Analysis

Threat Modeling

Curiosity-driven problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Model-based System Engineering toolkits

Cameo/MagicDraw

DOORs/DoorsNG

Jama Connect

Job description

Overview

Draper is an independent, nonprofit research and development company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The 2,000+ employees of Draper tackle important national challenges with a promise of delivering successful and usable solutions. From military defense and space exploration to biomedical engineering, lives often depend on the solutions we provide. Our multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists work in a collaborative environment that inspires the cross‑fertilization of ideas necessary for true innovation. For more information about Draper, visit www.draper.com.

Job Description Summary

The High Availability Architecture Group within the Systems Engineering directorate is seeking a System Safety Engineer to guide and facilitate concept development, mission‑system analysis, and requirement derivation, verification, & certification; of complex strategic deterrence, missile defense, hypersonic, space, precision guided munition, autonomous air/sea vehicle, and biotechnology systems.

This handpicked candidate must possess a unified System Safety, Personnel Safety, Range Safety, Environmental Safety, and Nuclear Weapon Safety Surety (NWSS) expertise that can expand Draper’s insight to address hazards which remain prevalent throughout critical enterprises, infrastructure, systems, and operations. A successful candidate will be equipped to propose modern solutions embedded with safety awareness, that adhere to FOD, OSHA, MIL-STD-882, NAS 411, Navy, NASA, FAA, and other DoD standards, to proactively mitigate unacceptable loss and unrecoverable downtime throughout their lifecycle.

The multidisciplinary proficiencies supporting this initiative are System Safety Concepts & Design Principles, Mission Assurance & Reliability, Resilient System Architecture, Fault & Contingency Management.

Specific Responsibilities

• Conducting System Safety Analyses that inform one another across the Systems Engineering lifecycle including STPA, FHAs, FMECAs/HAZOPs, FTAs, Component Criticality Analyses (CCAs), and Human Error Assessments
• On‑time delivery and maturation of System Safety work packages such as: Hazard Analysis Traceability | Safety Requirements | Safety Architecture | Off‑Nominal & Contingency scenarios | Anomaly Management policies
• Socializing and demystifying System Safety, NWSS, Range Safety, Environmental Safety, and Personnel Safety best practices and techniques to internal cross‑disciplinary stakeholders such as: System Architecture | Avionics | Software | Hardware design teams
• Advocating for System Safety best practices, to internal and external stakeholders & customers to maintain a healthy safety culture
• Assessing technical data packages for compliance with System Safety processes and strategies
• Quick turn application of critical thinking for problem framing, analyzing, and synthesizing complex problems qualitatively and quantitatively
• Documenting insights, findings, lessons learned, and maintaining a knowledge base of contributions within Draper’s collaborative Digital Engineering tool suite

Additional Responsibilities

• Develop, execute and track the performance of security & safety measures to protect mission critical embedded systems across diverse business areas.
• Define and mature System Safety artifacts to inform system requirements and disambiguate criticality
• Identify, define and document system security requirements and recommend solutions to management.
• Monitor systems for irregular behavior and set up preventive and responsive measures.
• Plan, develop, implement and update System Safety campaign
• Educate and train staff on System Safety design principles and best practices.
• Take ownership of assignments and guide others as needed; successfully lead tasks while tracking priorities, scope, cost and schedule.
• Derive plans and approaches to solving complex problems across a program lifecycle, capturing all assumptions and adapting appropriately to changes with limited direction.
• Independently contribute high quality content for technical reports and presentations which shows an understanding of their task and an awareness of the intended audience. Demonstrates both confidence and success when presenting technical information during meetings with internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify program/system‑level technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies for them.
• Actively mentor less experienced engineers and provide thoughtful, constructive feedback

Skills and Abilities

• FMECA | Fault Tree | Attack Surface Modeling | Threat Modeling | Vulnerability Remediation | Criticality Analysis for embedded systems
• Curiosity‑driven approach to solving complex, industry and customer‑driven problems as part of a multi‑disciplinary team.
• Collaborate and communicate effectively and openly with multi‑disciplinary program team members. program leadership, and non‑technical personnel
• Team player able to work in a fast‑paced environment.
• Ability to balance multiple competing tasks and demands.

Education

• Requires a bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree requires 5‑10 years’ experience of working on System Safety Engineer or other relevant position.
• Master’s degree requires 3‑5 years’ experience of working on System Safety Engineer or other relevant position.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experienced Systems Engineer
• Proficiency applying System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) to industry challenge problems
• Proficiency with Model‑based System Engineering toolkits, such as Cameo/MagicDraw, DOORs/DoorsNG, Jama Connect for the purposes of hazard & causal modeling and rapid impact & gap analysis for validation
• An astute understanding of Software Safety and the application of the DoD Joint Software Systems Safety Engineering Handbook (JSSSEH) for flight software qualification and certification
• Experience documenting compliance towards parent specifications and standards (i.e.: MIL-STD-882, JSSSEH, FOD Policy, NWSS Safety Critical Functions, Range Safety, FAA, SP‑2014‑612 V1.0 NASA System Safety Handbook, and ISO 14620‑1:2018 Space Systems Safety Requirements)
• Proficiency in requirement derivation, definition, and analysis for System Safety, Range Safety, Personnel Safety, Environmental Safety, and Nuclear Weapons Safety Surety needs
• Experience integrating vulnerability remediation, risk mitigation, and incident response, failure review, and corrective action within the Systems Engineering process.
• Experience drafting innovative R&D proposals to commercial and government sponsors

Security Clearance Requirements

• Applicants selected for this position will be required to obtain and maintain a government security clearance which requires proof of US citizenship.
• Current in‑scope Secret security clearance is required, Top Secret preferred.

Job Location

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139‑3563

Salary Range

US base salary range for this full‑time position is $75,000.00 - $156,000.00.

Benefits / Work‑Life Balance

Our work is very important to us, but so is our life outside of work. Draper supports many programs to improve work‑life balance including workplace flexibility, employee clubs ranging from photography to yoga, health and finance workshops, off site social events and discounts to local museums and cultural activities.

EEO Statement

Draper is committed to creating an inclusive environment. We understand the value of inclusivity and its impact on a high‑performance culture. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. Draper is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation, please contact [e-mail].