Systems Safety Engineer

Roboticsconnected

Oxnard (CA)

On-site

USD 140,000 - 200,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Equity in high-growth defense tech

Competitive base salary

Medical, dental, vision

PTO and paid sick leave

Wellness stipend

Daily catered lunch

Parental leave

Impact on national security mission

World-class team

Job summary

Swarm Aero is seeking a System Safety Engineer to embed safety into the design of autonomous swarming aircraft. You will lead SSA, FHA, FTA analyses and drive safety requirements across avionics, control, and power systems.

The role requires coordinating DAL allocations, safety inputs for reviews, and collaboration with systems engineering on critical architecture decisions. You will apply ARP4761/ARP4754 and DO-178/DO-254 standards, ensuring readiness for flight and airworthiness processes,

Qualifications

7+ years of system safety experience on aerospace/defense/UAS programs.
Strong foundation in systems engineering principles and practices.
Hands-on SSA, FHA, FTA on flight-critical systems.
Understanding of failure mode classification and DALs.
Experience applying safety objectives to software development.
Experience with ARP4761 and ARP4754.
Experience with MIL-STD-882 and JSSSEH.

Responsibilities

Lead aircraft and system safety analysis (SSA), FHA, FTA, CCA, CMA.
Develop safety requirements and work with subsystems to create mitigations across avionics, flight control, propulsion, and power systems.
Define and justify development assurance level (DAL) allocations to mitigate software design errors.
Support design, test readiness, and flight readiness reviews with safety inputs.
Collaborate with systems engineering on architecture decisions with safety implications (e.g., automatic takeoff/landing, DAA, signal loss).
Develop safety inputs for flight authorization packages; coordinate with airworthiness stakeholders.
Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for safety issues found during analysis, simulation, integration, or test.

Skills

System safety

Aerospace/defense experience

SSA/FHA/FTA

DAL allocations

Software safety (DO-178/DO-254)

ARP4761/ARP4754

MIL-STD-882/JSSSEH

Safety architecture

Clear communication

Tools

DO-178/DO-254 tooling

Job description

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

Swarm Aero is building large, autonomous, swarming UAS for operations at scale in contested environments. Safety isn't a checkbox for us - it's a design input. We need a System Safety Engineer who can architect safety into the design, someone who can work directly with engineering teams to mitigate hazards and ensure our aircraft fail gracefully when things go wrong.

What You'll Do

Lead aircraft and system safety analysis (SSA), functional hazard assessment (FHA), fault tree analysis (FTA), common cause analysis (CCA), common mode analysis (CMA)
Derive safety requirements and work with subsystem teams to develop appropriate architectural mitigations, failure containment, redundancy, and detection across avionics, flight control, propulsion, and power systems
Define and justify development assurance level (DAL) allocations to mitigate software design errors
Support design reviews, test readiness reviews, and flight readiness reviews with safety inputs and findings
Collaborate with systems engineering on architecture decisions that have safety implications including automatic takeoff/landing, airborne detect and avoid (DAA), and signal loss behaviors for navigation and communications
Develop safety-related inputs to flight authorization packages and coordinate with airworthiness stakeholders as needed
Lead root-cause identification and corrective action planning on safety-related issues discovered during analysis, simulation, integration, or test

What We’re Looking For

7+ years of system safety experience on aerospace, defense, or UAS programs
Strong foundation in systems engineering principles and practices
Hands‑on experience with SSA, FHA, FTA on flight‑critical systems
Strong understanding of failure mode classification, development assurance levels (DALs), and safety architecture principles
Experience applying safety objectives to software development
Experience with ARP4761 and ARP4754
Experience with military safety standards and handbooks (e.g. MIL-STD-882, JSSSEH)
Experience with civil software development standards (e.g. DO-178, DO-254)
Ability to communicate safety findings clearly to engineering, test, and program leadership
US person status required

Nice to Have

Familiarity with System‑Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) and System‑Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA)
Experience analyzing degraded‑mode behaviors and the safety implications of signal loss or adversarial conditions
Active security clearance

ITAR requirement

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.

What We Offer