About the role
The Safety team makes the argument that a machine which moves among people is acceptably safe, and then keeps checking that the argument still holds. You will run hazard analyses, derive safety requirements, trace them to design and test evidence, and assemble the safety case that engineers, leadership and any outside assessor can read and challenge.
Autonomy raises problems that classical functional safety does not fully cover: performance limits of learned perception, unknown scenarios and behaviour in conditions nobody designed for. Safety sits beside the engineering teams, not downstream of them, and has the standing to stop a release. The same safety framework is meant to carry across Clexerl machines, so the method matters as much as any single analysis.
Our values include measuring twice, and in this team that means every claim in the safety case points to evidence a sceptical reader could check.
What you’ll do
- Conduct HARA, STPA and FMEA analyses on autonomy functions and derive safety goals, requirements and allocation to hardware and software.
- Build and maintain a structured safety case, using goal-structuring or similar notation, with claims linked to test results and analysis.
- Define safety metrics, operational design domain boundaries and release criteria with the engineering leads, and enforce them at release gates.
- Review designs for independence, freedom from interference and fault detection coverage, and challenge assumptions in writing.
- Analyse incidents and near-misses from field testing, run blameless post-mortems and track corrective actions to closure.
- Address safety of the intended functionality for learned components, including performance limits and triggering conditions.
What you’ll bring
- Experience in functional safety or system safety for automotive, aerospace, rail, medical or similar regulated domains.
- Working knowledge of ISO 26262, ISO 21448 (SOTIF) or UL 4600, and of how to apply them rather than only quote them.
- Practical skill with hazard analysis methods such as FTA, FMEA and STPA, and with requirements traceability tools.
- Enough technical depth in software, sensing or control to read an architecture and find where a safety claim is weak.
- Clear writing that can persuade an engineer and survive an external audit.
- Judgement to say no to a schedule, with reasons, and to explain what evidence would change the answer.
Nice to have
- Experience with safety assurance for machine learning components, including statistical arguments about residual risk.
- Prior work with a certification body or an external assessor on an automated driving or robotics programme.
- Experience with runtime monitors and safety envelopes that supervise learned planners.
- Background in human factors, safety driver operations or remote supervision.
Work you might take on
- 01
Produce the hazard analysis and safety goals for a new low-speed shuttle use case and map them to the existing architecture.
- 02
Build a traceability pipeline that links each safety requirement to its test cases and flags any requirement lacking passing evidence.
- 03
Define operational design domain limits for rain and low sun, with measurable perception performance thresholds for each.
- 04
Run a structured review of the minimal-risk manoeuvre path and write up open issues for the planning and controls teams.
Compensation
$180K – $290K
The US base salary range for this role. Every offer also includes equity in Clexerl and, when it spins out, in the venture you help build. We tell you the reasoning behind your number.
Benefits
Health, fully covered
Medical, dental and vision for you and your dependants, premiums paid in full.
Two kinds of equity
Equity in Clexerl, plus a stake in the venture you help build when it spins out.
22 weeks parental leave
Fully paid, for every parent, however your family arrives.
Rest that sticks
Flexible time off with a four-week minimum we actually check on, plus a company-wide week in December.
Learning and compute
A yearly budget for courses, conferences and books, and compute credits for side projects.
401(k) with a 4% match
Matched from your first paycheque and vested immediately.
How we hire
Apply 5 minutes
Send links to what you have built and a few lines on why this role. No cover letter needed.
Intro call 30 minutes
A conversation with the hiring manager about the work, the team and what you want next.
Work sample 2–4 hours
A paid take-home or a pairing session on a real-shaped problem. You pick the format.
Studio day One day
Meet the team, go deep on your work and ours. Remote or in person.
Offer Within 5 days
A written offer with the full range, the equity and the reasoning behind both.
Opens an email with a short template. Links beat résumés.