Lead Functional Safety Engineer (Robotics)

Location: Fully onsite at the Mission Viejo, California office; the role supports the hirify.global Federal Team and requires U.S. Person eligibility.

Salary: $70,000–$300,000 annually, plus benefits, equity, and paid time off.

Company

hirify.global develops risk-aware, reliable AI systems and autonomous robots for demanding, unstructured real-world environments.

What you will do

• Architect functional safety systems for COTS wheeled UGV platforms used in unstructured construction environments.
• Design and deploy supervised safety systems with remote E-Stops, indicator lights, safe limited speed, collision avoidance, and automatic braking.
• Select, integrate, configure, and test Safety PLCs, safety lidars, relays, and related hardware.
• Write and debug PLC ladder logic and coordinate wiring, harness design, and physical safety-hardware integration.
• Integrate safety hardware loops with autonomy software and design safe handoffs between human operators and the autonomy stack.
• Deploy, verify, troubleshoot, and validate safety systems on physical robots in field environments while establishing scalable testing procedures.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or a related field, with significant relevant industry experience.
• Deep hands-on experience configuring, programming, and debugging Safety PLCs.
• Experience selecting and integrating remote E-Stops, safety relays, safety lidars, and other safety components.
• Ability to work as a self-directed individual contributor and technical authority.
• Ability to collaborate with electrical and software engineers on wiring, integration, and system handoffs.
• U.S. Person eligibility is required, including U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, or asylees.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with ISO 13849, ISO 3691-4, IEC 61508, or ANSI/RIA R15.08.
• Experience with robotics, autonomous vehicles, off-road equipment, heavy machinery, construction, mining, or agriculture.
• Familiarity with ROS, ROS2, or C++.
• Previous technical leadership or mentoring experience.

Culture & Benefits

• Fully onsite collaboration with flexible working hours.
• Full benefits, equity, and generous time off.
• Work on autonomous robotic systems intended for real-world deployment.
• Opportunity to establish and later lead a dedicated safety engineering team.
• Inclusive workplace with evaluation based on merit, qualifications, and performance.