Range Safety Officer

Firestorm•San Diego, CA

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

Firestorm is developing and testing next-generation unmanned aircraft, energetic payloads, and deployable combat systems. We are seeking an experienced Range Safety Officer / Explosive Safety Authority to lead explosive safety and range operations across the company. This position serves as Firestorm’s principal operational authority for the safe handling, storage, transportation, integration, testing, and employment of explosives and energetic systems during development and test activities. The ideal candidate is a former military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician or similarly qualified explosives professional with extensive field experience executing high-risk explosive operations and managing live-fire ranges. This is not primarily an engineering position. It is an operational safety and technical authority role responsible for translating explosive safety requirements into executable procedures that allow Firestorm teams to rapidly conduct testing without compromising personnel safety, regulatory compliance, or mission success. The Range Safety Officer / Explosive Safety Authority will work closely with Engineering, Flight Test, Operations, Manufacturing, Program Management, government customers, explosive suppliers, and military and commercial range authorities. Most importantly, this position will have the authority and responsibility to stop or suspend any explosive or live-fire operation when an unacceptable hazard exists.

Requirements

10+ years of military or professional explosives experience, with substantial direct responsibility for explosive operations.
Graduate of the NAVSCOLEOD – (Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal), FBI Hazardous Device School (HDS) school or equivalent military/government explosives qualification.
Former EOD Technician/LE Bomb Squad Member with demonstrated experience as an EOD Team Leader or equivalent leadership position.
Extensive hands-on experience with military explosives, demolition materials, initiators, ordnance, improvised explosive hazards, and explosive safety procedures.
Demonstrated experience planning and executing high-risk explosive or live-fire operations with zero explosive range mishaps.
Experience conducting formal Operational Risk Management (ORM) or equivalent hazard-analysis processes.
Demonstrated ability to recognize unsafe conditions and make independent risk decisions under operational and schedule pressure.
Experience developing or implementing SOPs, training programs, range procedures, or explosive-safety documentation.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate technical hazards to engineers, executives, operators, customers, and range personnel.
Ability and willingness to travel to remote test locations and operate in austere field environments (25-30% Travel ~1wk/month)
Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.
US Citizenship Required due to ITAR regulations.

Nice To Haves

EOD Master-level qualification or equivalent senior EOD experience.
15+ years of military EOD experience.
Active DoD security clearance.
Experience serving as an EOD Team Leader, Range Safety Officer, Demolition Range Safety Officer, Test Director, Training Chief, or similar operational safety position.
Experience supporting Naval Special Warfare, Special Operations Forces, aviation, UAS, or developmental weapons programs.
Experience planning or supervising large-scale demolition and live-fire training.
Experience with air-delivered weapons, UAS-carried munitions, loitering munitions, warheads, fuzing systems, or energetic payload integration.
Familiarity with Explosive Safety Submissions (ESS) and DoD explosive-safety review processes.
Experience coordinating operations with military test ranges and range control organizations.
Familiarity with applicable DoD explosive safety, ammunition and explosives, range safety, and weapons-testing standards.
Experience developing formal explosive-safety training and qualification programs.
Instructor qualification or significant military training-development experience.
Experience investigating explosive incidents, mishaps, near misses, misfires, or munition anomalies.
Experience working directly with DoD customers, test organizations, and defense contractors.

Responsibilities

Serve as Firestorm’s senior operational subject-matter expert for explosives, energetic materials, munitions, initiators, fuzing systems, and explosive test operations.
Establish, maintain, and enforce company explosive safety policies, procedures, and standards.
Provide independent explosive-safety review of proposed tests, demonstrations, developmental activities, and live-fire operations.
Identify explosive hazards and establish appropriate controls, separation distances, personnel limits, PPE requirements, emergency procedures, and operational constraints.
Exercise independent stop-work authority when explosive operations create an unacceptable risk to personnel, property, aircraft, or the public.
Advise Firestorm leadership on explosive risk and clearly communicate when schedule, technical, or operational objectives conflict with acceptable safety practices.
Serve as a technical interface between Firestorm and government explosive-safety organizations, range authorities, customers, vendors, and other regulatory stakeholders.
Serve as Range Safety Officer, or Firestorm’s designated safety representative, during developmental tests, demonstrations, live-fire events, and other energetic operations.
Plan and oversee explosive and live-fire test activities conducted at military, government, commercial, and Firestorm-operated facilities.
Develop range packages, test safety plans, hazard analyses, operational risk assessments, emergency procedures, and range-specific documentation.
Coordinate with host-range personnel to ensure Firestorm operations comply with range regulations, approved procedures, explosive limits, and local safety requirements.
Establish firing-point, observation-point, exclusion-zone, fragmentation, and personnel-control requirements in coordination with applicable engineering analysis and range authorities.
Conduct pre-test safety briefs and verify that personnel, equipment, communications, emergency response, and range controls are prepared before execution.
Maintain positive control of live-fire operations and ensure clear authority for ARM, SAFE, FIRE, ABORT, CEASE FIRE, and emergency actions.
Coordinate misfire, dud, hung-store, damaged munition, aircraft-recovery, and abnormal explosive-event response procedures.
Conduct post-event explosive accountability and ensure ranges and test locations are left in an appropriate safe condition.
Build and maintain Firestorm’s corporate explosive safety program as the company expands its munitions development and live-fire activities.
Develop and maintain SOPs governing explosive handling, storage, transportation, receipt and accountability, assembly and disassembly, munition integration, initiator handling, live-fire testing, misfires and duds, emergency response, and explosive incident reporting.
Support development and maintenance of Explosive Safety Submissions (ESS), test plans, safety releases, hazard analyses, and related approval packages.
Establish standardized explosive-safety planning processes that can be applied across Firestorm programs and test locations.
Maintain records necessary to demonstrate compliance with applicable company, range, contractual, federal, state, and DoD requirements.
Support Firestorm leadership in evaluating explosive storage, operating locations, magazines, transportation requirements, and future explosive infrastructure.
Establish an internal qualification program for personnel who handle or work around explosives and energetic systems.
Develop and conduct explosives safety, ordnance handling, range safety, emergency response, and related training.
Establish minimum qualification and currency requirements for personnel participating in explosive operations.
Mentor engineers, technicians, flight-test personnel, and operations personnel in practical explosive-safety principles.
Build a safety culture in which personnel understand both why explosive-safety requirements exist and how to apply them effectively during rapid developmental testing.
Participate in Test Readiness Reviews, design reviews, flight readiness reviews, and other technical reviews involving energetic systems.
Review proposed munition configurations and test concepts from an operational explosive-safety perspective.
Work alongside Engineering and Munitions teams to identify hazards associated with warheads, energetic payloads, fuzing systems, initiators, safe-and-arm devices, release mechanisms, and aircraft integration.
Provide operational EOD and explosive-effects expertise during test planning and anomaly resolution.
Support the development of safe procedures for developmental systems where established military Technical Orders, publications, or EOD procedures may not yet exist.
Assist engineering teams in evaluating credible failure modes and determining appropriate operational controls.
Participate in mishap, anomaly, and near-miss investigations involving energetic materials or weapons systems.