Safety Engineer - Autonomous Machinery

Capgemini • Bellevue, WA

11d • Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Safety Engineer to ensure our autonomous machines are safe both by design and in deployment. This role combines engineering design safety with customer site safety, supporting the safe implementation of autonomous heavy machinery and vehicle systems in real-world operating environments. The Safety Engineer reports to the Blitz Chief and supports both Blitz and Business Development initiatives. The Blitz Team is a rapid-execution engineering group focused on transforming new concepts into working autonomous systems. As a cross-functional team spanning software, electrical, mechanical, systems, and field operations engineering, Blitz accelerates product development, validates innovative solutions, and helps launch customer pilot programs on real equipment in live operating environments. Team members thrive in a fast-paced setting that values adaptability, hands-on problem solving, collaboration, and a willingness to take ownership of diverse challenges.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Occupational Safety, or a related technical discipline. Equivalent hands-on experience, including trade, military, or field-based experience, will also be considered.
• Minimum of three years of engineering experience where machine, equipment, or operational safety was a significant responsibility in industrial environments such as mining, quarrying, manufacturing, food processing, distribution, construction, agriculture, or similar industries.
• Deep expertise in either design safety or site safety, combined with the aptitude to develop capability in the other area, will be considered.
• Demonstrated experience identifying hazards associated with real equipment or operating environments and driving protective measures through specification, implementation, and verification.
• Strong ability to perform machinery risk assessments, including hazard identification, severity evaluation, exposure assessment, avoidance capability analysis, and determination of required risk reduction measures.
• Thorough understanding of the hierarchy of risk reduction, including elimination by design, safeguarding, protective measures, warning systems, and training.
• Experience selecting, designing, and validating protective measures such as guarding, interlocks, presence sensing systems, emergency stop circuits, access controls, and warning devices.
• Ability to determine required reliability levels for safety functions and verify performance through functional testing and validation activities.
• Experience writing testable safety requirements and developing verification and validation plans to demonstrate compliance.
• Ability to assess operational environments involving mobile equipment, machine-to-person interactions, traffic management, visibility constraints, terrain challenges, zone separation, machine guarding, energy isolation, and lockout/tagout practices.
• Strong technical judgment, risk assessment capability, and the ability to develop and defend clear, evidence-based safety recommendations with both engineering teams and customer leadership.
• Hands-on experience taking field measurements, using hand tools, reading electrical schematics, inspecting safety devices, and conducting functional verification testing.
• Ability to build credibility and work effectively with operators, technicians, mechanics, supervisors, and customer stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel up to 25%, both domestically and internationally, including occasional short-notice travel to active industrial sites.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to obtain applicable site access credentials, including MSHA Part 46/48 training.

Nice To Haves

• Five or more years of relevant experience preferred.
• Candidates from plant maintenance, controls engineering, industrial or manufacturing engineering, machine integration, machine building, or mine safety backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
• Experience with autonomous or semi-autonomous heavy equipment, including haul trucks, dozers, loaders, excavators, compactors, yard trucks, or AGV/AMR fleets operating in production environments.
• Experience designing, commissioning, safeguarding, or supporting automated facilities, production cells, industrial plants, warehouses, or yard operations.
• Experience conducting customer site assessments, training customer personnel, and supporting commercial teams in project scoping and deployment planning.
• Experience with requirements management, traceability tools, and safety case development.
• Familiarity with industry standards such as: ISO 12100 (Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction), ISO 13849 and IEC 62061 (Safety-Related Control Systems and Performance Levels), ISO 13850, ISO 13855, ISO 13857, and ISO 14119 (Emergency Stops, Safeguarding Distances, and Interlocks).
• Familiarity with autonomous and mobile machinery standards, including: ISO 17757, ISO 3691-4, ANSI/ITSDF B56.5, ISO 19014, ISO 21815, ISO 18497, ISO 25119.
• Familiarity with regulatory and electrical safety requirements, including: OSHA 29 CFR 1910 Subpart O, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147, MSHA 30 CFR Parts 56 and 57, NFPA 70E.
• Knowledge of EMESRT design philosophies and ICMM vehicle interaction guidance.
• Professional certifications such as CMSE, CFSE, CFSP, TÜV Functional Safety Engineer, CSP, or familiarity with IEC 61508, ISO 26262, or UL 4600.

Responsibilities

• Engineering Design Safety: Review mechanical, electrical, controls, and software designs to ensure compliance with safety requirements and lead design safety reviews.
• Conduct and maintain hazard and risk analyses, including HARA, STPA, FMEA, and FTA, for machine systems and control architectures.
• Derive safety requirements from risk assessments and collaborate with engineering teams to ensure requirements are traceable, verifiable, and effectively implemented.
• Determine the required safety integrity or performance level for safety functions and verify that designs achieve the appropriate level of risk reduction.
• Develop verification and validation plans for safety functions, define acceptance criteria, and review test evidence and results.
• Maintain safety documentation, including analyses, requirements, safety cases, verification records, and audit evidence.
• Support engineering teams in integrating safety ownership throughout the design and development lifecycle.
• Capture recurring field and site hazards and translate them into future design requirements and safety improvements.
• Customer Site Safety: Travel to customer locations during project initiation to assess operational environments, including traffic flow, machine-to-person interaction, terrain, visibility, adjacent equipment, infrastructure, and existing site procedures.
• Perform comprehensive site safety evaluations and produce written assessments identifying the conditions and requirements necessary for safe autonomous operation, including any factors that may prevent deployment.
• Develop site safety plans covering operating boundaries, exclusion zones, machine interaction requirements, emergency stop coverage, perimeter protection, access control, signage, communications, and maintenance isolation procedures.
• Define, specify, and verify required protective measures, including guarding, interlocks, emergency stop systems, presence sensing technologies, warning devices, and access controls.
• Establish safe operating envelopes for machines and deployment sites, and provide recommendations regarding readiness for autonomous operation.
• Document customer safety responsibilities and deliver training to operators, maintenance personnel, supervisors, and safety teams.
• Serve as the primary safety liaison for customer operations and safety leadership, while advising commercial and project teams on safety-related constraints early in the project lifecycle.
• Support onsite verification activities and functional testing to confirm safety measures have been implemented effectively.

Benefits

• Paid time off based on employee grade (A-F), defined by policy: Vacation: 12-25 days, depending on grade
• Company paid holidays
• Personal Days
• Sick Leave
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage (or provincial healthcare coordination in Canada)
• Retirement savings plans (e.g., 401(k) in the U.S., RRSP in Canada)
• Life and disability insurance
• Employee assistance programs
• Other benefits as provided by local policy and eligibility

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level