Functional Safety Manager

This role requires a highly organized and proactive leader who can identify risks early, influence cross-functional teams, and drive execution across engineering disciplines and supplier partners. The ideal candidate combines strong technical functional safety knowledge with program management expertise and hands-on experience in automotive product development.

Key Responsibilities

*Develop and maintain the Vehicle Functional Safety Plan.

*Lead functional safety governance activities and ensure compliance with ISO 26262 processes.

*Track safety deliverables and milestones across the vehicle program.

*Coordinate activities across Systems Engineering, Software, Hardware, Validation, Quality, Program Management, Regulatory, and *Supplier teams.

*Support development and review of:

~Item Definitions

~HARA

~Safety Goals

~Functional Safety Concepts (FSC)

~Technical Safety Concepts (TSC)

~Safety Cases

~Safety Validation Reports

~FMEA, FMEDA, DFA, and FTA analyses

*Identify safety risks and drive mitigation plans.

*Participate in safety assessments, audits, confirmation reviews, and readiness reviews.

*Manage supplier functional safety activities, deliverables, and Development Interface Agreements (DIAs).

*Partner with Verification & Validation teams to ensure safety requirements are effectively tested and validated.

*Coordinate safety argument reviews and support vehicle safety case closure and release recommendations.

Required Qualifications

*Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.

*5+ years of automotive product development experience.

*5+ years of Functional Safety Program Management experience.

*Strong knowledge of ISO 26262 and the functional safety lifecycle.

*Experience leading complete vehicle programs or major vehicle platform programs.

*Experience working with OEM and/or Tier 1 automotive suppliers.

*Experience managing suppliers and cross-functional engineering stakeholders.

*Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills.

*Ability to anticipate issues, drive solutions, and lead complex initiatives with minimal oversight.

Preferred Qualifications

*Experience owning vehicle-level functional safety activities from concept through production.

*Hands-on experience supporting safety verification, validation, testing, and safety release activities.

*Experience reviewing and managing HARA, FSC, TSC, Safety Cases, and associated safety work products.

*Experience supporting EV, ADAS, or other advanced vehicle technologies.

*Familiarity with Jira and related project management/change management tools.

What Makes a Strong Candidate?

*Functional Safety Management experience within an OEM or Tier 1 supplier environment.

*Experience supporting vehicle programs from early development through production.

*Proven ability to provide both leadership and hands-on support when needed.

*Strong attention to detail and ability to identify gaps, weaknesses, and potential risks early.

*Demonstrated success driving execution across multiple teams and stakeholders.

*Comfortable asking questions, seeking clarification, and proactively addressing issues before they become program risks.