Lead Safety Engineer

Lead Safety Engineer

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Bristol, UK

Reporting To: Ben Derrick

Compensation: GBP 55,000 - GBP 70,000 / year

Description

We're building the next UK-headquartered engineering powerhouse. There is a gulf between the needs of mission-focused organisations and the development and delivery of the critical technology they rely on. The consequences of this are felt acutely by underserved frontline operators, demanding a new breed of engineering enterprise to bridge this divide.

Rowden exists to meet this need. We design and build systems, infrastructure, and applications to deliver mission advantage to those working to protect the security of the UK and its allies. Rowden is setting a new standard in government technology provision: hyper-efficient engineering, better customer relationships, and rapid assimilation of commercial technology.

As part of our new Certification and Development Assurance team, we are seeking a motivated and technically adept Lead Safety Engineer to set the standard for safety across our latest systems. Working with pioneering technologies that range from software-centric soldier systems and emerging fields like AI and ML, you'll ensure our systems meet the highest standards of safety and reliability across dynamic and evolving projects. You'll drive safety initiatives end-to-end, working on diverse problems while also commissioning and managing specialist sub-contract work as required.

This role is an excellent opportunity for a mid- to senior-level engineer who's ready to step into a technical leadership role with high impact and visibility.

Key areas of responsibility

As a Lead Safety Engineer at Rowden, you'll be responsible for:

1. Defining and leading safety management plans and certification strategies for a range of safety-related systems.
2. Conducting safety analyses such as Hazard Identification, Fault Tree Analysis, and Failure Mode Effects Analysis, integrating findings into system requirements.
3. Commissioning and coordinating contractors and specialist consultants to support safety assurance in complex technical areas, such as AI and autonomous system behaviours.
4. Embedding safety requirements across traditional hardware, software-centric architectures, and AI-driven systems to ensure that Rowden's advanced solutions meet the necessary safety standards.
5. Creating and maintaining high-quality safety cases, assurance documentation, and safety reports that clearly articulate the safety profile and readiness of systems to internal and external stakeholders.
6. Conducting system audits and safety assessments to verify adherence to standards, proactively identifying and mitigating safety risks throughout project development.

Key skills, experience and behaviours

We are looking for someone who is passionate about staying at the forefront of safety engineering within a fast-evolving tech environment. You should bring:

1. Strong experience in safety and certification engineering in defence, aerospace, automotive, or other regulated industries.
2. Proven expertise in DEF STAN 00-056 or other relevant safety standards such as IEC 61508, including practical experience in applying safety analysis methods to both hardware and software-based systems.
3. A collaborative approach to safety engineering, with the ability to engage and influence cross-functional teams and work alongside technical experts in hardware, software, AI, and ML.
4. A proactive mindset for identifying safety risks early, combined with the ability to adapt safety frameworks to support novel and emerging technologies.

Highly Desirable Skills and Experience:

1. Knowledge and experience in the certification of robotics and autonomous systems, particularly Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS).
2. Experience of CAA and MAA certification.
3. Knowledge and interest in the assurance of AI/ML-centric systems.
4. Knowledge and experience in software safety for safety-related and safety-critical systems.
5. Familiarity with model-based engineering approaches and tools such as Enterprise Architect.
6. Confidence in managing contractors and consultants, particularly for specialised safety tasks or assessments, ensuring integrated, high-quality results.

About you

This role would suit a high-potential engineer who is ready to take on a senior level of responsibility in safety engineering and is driven by the prospect of tackling cutting-edge technical challenges. You will bring:

1. A problem-solving approach: You enjoy complexity and work methodically to break down problems, anticipating risks and delivering solutions.
2. Collaboration skills: You thrive on multidisciplinary work, drawing on input from diverse teams to enhance safety in every phase of development.
3. Ambition to Lead: You are eager to step into a key role where you'll be trusted with significant technical ownership, with the potential to shape the future of safety practices at Rowden.
4. Adaptability: You enjoy the pace of a growing organisation where you'll continually learn and adapt to meet new technical and regulatory requirements.

Working at Rowden

We are committed to building a flexible, inclusive, and enabling company. Our aim is to create a diverse team of talented people with unique skills, experience, and backgrounds, so please apply and come as you are!

We also recognise the importance of flexible working and support this wherever we can. We typically operate a flexible, hybrid-working model, with an average 3 days in the office each week (dependent on the role). We welcome the opportunity to discuss flexibility, part-time working requirements and/or workplace adjustments with all our applicants.

Rowden is a Disability Confident Committed company, and we actively encourage people with disabilities and health conditions to apply for our roles. Please let us know your requirements early on so that we can make sure you have everything you need up front to help make the recruitment process and experience as easy as possible.

Finally, if you feel that you don't meet all the criteria included above but have transferable skills and relevant experience, we'd still love to hear from you!