System Safety Engineer

Honda · Greensboro

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Job Purpose

Reporting directly to the System Safety Senior Manager, the Senior System Safety Engineer serves as the technical lead for establishing, executing, and overseeing the comprehensive system safety program to ensure compliance with FAA Part 23 airworthiness standards. In close alignment with management, this role drives safety strategy into all engineering disciplines by leading system and aircraft level hazard analyses, guiding cross-functional engineering teams through safety-critical architectures, and partnering with the manager to interface directly with regulatory authorities to secure aircraft type certification.

Acting as a vital bridge across all engineering disciplines and customer service, this role integrates deeply with engineering workflows to flow down safety requirements and establish design development assurance levels (FDAL/IDAL) early in the aircraft lifecycle and how those requirements can be optimized to promote robust in-service experiences for aircraft customers and maintainers. Additionally, the role collaborates directly with human factors engineering to evaluate flight deck interfaces, mitigate crew workload risks, and validate pilot responses to system contingencies during human-in-the-loop testing.

Key Accountabilities

• Technical Expert, System Safety Engineering & Certification
  • Plan, perform, and approve aircraft- and system-level safety assessments, including FHA, PSSA, SSA, FTA, FMEA/FMECA, CMA, PRA, and ZSA, in accordance with the approved safety process.
  • Develop and release safety requirements, analysis data, and compliance evidence; present technical positions and resolve findings with FAA representatives, designees, and other certification stakeholders.
  • Review supplier safety artifacts and reliability data for technical adequacy, consistency, and compliance with program objectives.
• Design Integration and Milestone Management
  • Partner with systems, human factors, hardware, software, test, certification, flight-test and customer service teams to shape architectures and incorporate hazard mitigations early in development.
  • Allocate FDAL and IDAL, maintain bidirectional traceability between hazards, safety requirements, design implementation, and verification evidence, and assess proposed design changes for safety impact.
  • Plan safety deliverables and reviews to support program milestones, certification plans, and timely closure of technical risks.

• Team Leadership and Capability Development
  • Mentor system safety engineers, provide independent technical review, and help strengthen common methods, templates, tools, and analysis quality across the team.
  • Represent the function in cross-functional forums and provide delegated technical and day-today leadership support when the System Safety Senior Manager is unavailable.

Qualifications, Experience, and Skills

• Minimum Educational Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a closely related technical discipline.
• Minimum Experience:
  • 5 years of direct experience in System Safety Engineering, preferably within the aerospace industry.
• Other Job-Specific Skills
  • Qualifications
    • Aerospace Systems/Safety Standards: Comprehensive expertise applying SAE
    • ARP4754A/B and ARP4761/A methodologies to civil aircraft programs.
    • Systems Engineering Integration: Deep experience flowing safety metrics down to engineering requirements and managing V&V (Validation & Verification) baselines.
    • Human Factors Integration: Strong background collaborating with HFE teams on human performance models, cockpit alert mechanics, and crew error mitigations.
    • Hardware & Software Assurance: Working knowledge of DO-178C and DO-254 design assurance workflows, including defining FDAL/IDAL metrics.
    • Supplier Governance: Experience auditing and validating safety artifacts provided by suppliers.
    • Working knowledge of all system engineering disciplines: propulsion, fuel, avionics, electrical, hydraulics, flight controls, landing gear and environmental
  • Technical Skills
    • Safety Analysis Methodologies: Advanced proficiency in conducting FHA, PSSA, SSA, FTA, FMEA/FMECA, CMA, PRA, and Zonal Safety Analysis (ZSA).
    • Safety & Reliability Software: Practical mastery of industry safety-modeling suites, such as FaultTree+ or CAFTA.
    • Requirements Management Systems: Expert use of digital traceability databases, such as IBM DOORS.
    • MBSE Frameworks: Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) software to trace failure modes in digital architectures.
    • Simulation Testing: Exposure to designing or supporting Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) engineering simulator protocols and flight test data capture.

Key Performance Indicators

• Safety deliverable quality and schedule performance: On-time completion of planned analyses and reviews when needed, with minimal rework and clear closure of review findings.
• Hazard and requirement maturity: Identify material hazards early, define effective mitigations, and maintain complete traceability through verification and certification evidence.
• Certification and supplier closure: Resolve safety-related authority and supplier comments within program commitments and prevent unresolved safety issues from delaying major milestones.
• Technical leadership: Improve analysis consistency and team capability through high-quality reviews, mentoring, and reusable methods or tools.

Working Conditions

• Occasionally incumbents may be exposed to equipment operational noise heat-cold-dust, and/or aircraft equipment, parts, or fuel odors.
• Occasionally incumbents may be required to stand, sit, squat, walk, bend, climb ladders, move, reach, or stretch for prolonged time periods with no restrictions, as required by job duties.
• Work in a safe and professional manner while adhering to all regulatory requirements (FAA, OSHA, DOT, EPA, State, and Federal regulations, etc.).
• Read, hear, speak, and see with no restrictions, as required by job duties.
• Comprehend and adhere to management directions and/or safety instructions with no restrictions.
• Effectively communicate in Business English language.
• Pull, push, carry, lift, or move items up to 10 lbs. throughout the work shift without assistance, as required by job duties.
• Occasionally incumbents may need to pull, push, carry, lift or move materials/people/items/equipment weighing up to 50lbs or more during the work shift, with the use of Company provided "reach assistance technology" or "movement assist technology" (fork-lifts, pallet jacks, pulleys, dolly's, robotics reach equipment, people movers etc.), as required by job duties.
• No travel is expected for this role.
• Role may include overtime hours at management discretion.

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