Director of Safety Engineering, Robotics & Autonomous Systems

Location: Irvine, California, United States; on-site

Salary: $70,000–$300,000 per year

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous robotic systems and foundational models for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation in complex, unstructured, safety-critical environments.

What you will do

• Define and own the product safety vision, strategy, roadmap, principles, policies, and governance for autonomous robotic systems.
• Lead system-level safety oversight for autonomous navigation, perception, planning, human–robot interaction, fault tolerance, degraded modes, and fail-safe behaviors.
• Oversee safety treatment of AI/ML-driven components, including uncertainty and edge cases, and review safety architectures, concepts, and safety cases.
• Partner with autonomy, perception, software, hardware, systems engineering, field operations, deployment, and customer programs to influence architecture and roadmap decisions.
• Own safety standards, regulatory alignment, compliance, and engagement with customers, regulators, partners, and third-party assessors.
• Build and lead the product safety team while overseeing deployment risk assessments, incident investigations, corrective actions, and lessons learned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in robotics, systems engineering, mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience in robotics, autonomous systems, product safety, or functional safety.
• Proven experience leading system-level safety for complex electromechanical and software-driven products.
• Experience influencing architecture and product decisions at a senior level.
• Deep understanding of real-world robotics deployment risks and the ability to make and defend safety decisions under uncertainty.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant field.
• Experience with autonomous mobile robots, outdoor robotics, or defense-adjacent systems.
• Functional Safety certification, such as TÜV Functional Safety Engineer.
• Experience with regulators, customers, safety assessors, AI/ML-enabled systems, and autonomy safety.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on autonomous robotics for unstructured and previously unknown environments.
• Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team spanning AI, software, engineering, product design, field deployment, and communications.
• Join a close-knit team focused on creativity, resilience, bold thinking, and solving complex technical challenges.
• Inclusive workplace with employment decisions based on merit, qualifications, and performance.