Lead Functional Safety Engineer

Standard Bots•Glen Cove, NY

3d•$170,000 - $230,000•Onsite

About The Position

Standard Bots is hiring a Lead Functional Safety Engineer to build and lead the functional safety organization for its collaborative robots. The role owns safety across products, from analysis and architecture through certification planning and third-party assessment. The engineer will work hands-on with real robots, verify safety functions on hardware—including through fault injection—and represent the company in technical discussions with notified bodies and NRTLs. The role collaborates daily with hardware, embedded firmware, and test teams to integrate safety into product design from the earliest stages. The successful candidate will hire and lead functional safety engineers, initially including one with an electronics and controls focus and one with a software focus. The company is open to candidates at Senior, Staff, or Principal level and will adjust the role and offer to the candidate. The position is based onsite in Glen Cove, New York, five days per week, where the robots are built and tested. It reports to the Head of System Architecture.

Requirements

Experience taking collaborative robots or machinery of similar complexity through third-party safety assessment.
Fluency in ISO 10218-1 and ISO 10218-2, ISO 13849-1 and ISO 13849-2, ISO 12100, and IEC 61508; an informed perspective on the 2025 revision of ISO 10218.
Ability to read schematics and firmware architectures well enough to challenge their authors.
Knowledge of FMEA, FTA, HAZOP, STPA, and SISTEMA, including when to use each method.
Preference for hands-on testing with robots and a force gauge over document-only review.
Ability to distinguish between what a standard requires and what actually makes a robot safe, and to deliver both.
For the Lead level, experience leading or mentoring safety engineers, or readiness to build a team for the first time.

Nice To Haves

Experience working on the assessor side at a notified body or NRTL.
Knowledge of mobile manipulators and AMRs, including ANSI/RIA R15.08 and ISO 3691-4.
Experience building or specifying a safety controller rather than buying one.
Experience shipping products at a startup and enjoying that environment.

Responsibilities

Own the safety case across products, including safety analysis, architecture, and certification plans.
Serve as the technical representative to notified bodies and NRTLs, defending the safety case during assessment.
Verify every safety function on trusted hardware, including through fault injection, while remaining hands-on.
Hire and lead functional safety engineers as the team grows.
Integrate safety into product design reviews from the earliest stages, working with hardware, embedded firmware, and test teams.
Establish how Standard Bots approaches functional safety and build a team able to operate independently.