Safety Management System (SMS) Specialist

GE Aerospace•Evendale, OH

About The Position

The Senior SMS Engineer is responsible for developing, maintaining, assuring, and improving the organization’s Safety Management System (SMS) in line with aerospace regulatory requirements and industry best practice. The role provides independent oversight of SMS effectiveness through safety assurance, performance monitoring, compliance verification, occurrence analysis, hazard oversight, and continuous improvement. The specialist helps the organization meet regulatory obligations while advancing a proactive, data-led, and intelligence-based approach to safety. The position requires strong analytical capability, knowledge of aerospace regulation, stakeholder engagement skills, and experience leading safety initiatives across multiple sites and operational environments. The role develops and improves safety assurance processes, monitors SMS maturity and effectiveness, and creates safety performance indicators and targets. It analyzes operational and safety data using quantitative and qualitative methods to identify trends, emerging hazards, weak controls, systemic risks, and effective mitigations. It turns findings into actionable safety intelligence, reports, dashboards, and assurance outputs, and supports predictive, proactive, and reactive monitoring, including the use of digital tools and AI-enabled analytical methods where appropriate. The specialist maintains knowledge of applicable aerospace regulations and supports regulatory readiness and audits. The role also supports audit, assurance, compliance, and investigation activities; analyzes occurrences and findings for systemic contributors; tracks corrective actions through effective closure; and ensures assurance outputs are objective, evidence-based, and documented. The position leads complex, organization-wide safety initiatives from concept through implementation and benefit realization, coordinating cross-functional teams and projects across multiple sites. It provides SMS advice, supports organizational learning and a positive reporting culture, promotes Just Culture principles, and presents safety performance and assurance findings to leadership and governance forums. Employment is contingent on the ability to demonstrate U.S. Person status because the role requires access to U.S. export-controlled information.

Requirements

Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Engineering, Safety Management, Human Factors, Aviation Management, Data Analytics, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
Safety Management System training or experience.
Experience applying Safety Management System principles in aerospace or another safety-critical industry.
Experience working within FAA- and/or EASA-regulated environments.
Experience supporting and responding to regulatory audits.
Experience conducting safety assurance, compliance monitoring, internal audit, or oversight activities.
Ability to demonstrate U.S. Person status as a U.S. lawful permanent resident, U.S. citizen, or individual granted asylee or refugee status, due to access to U.S. export-controlled information.

Nice To Haves

Internal auditor qualification or equivalent assurance experience.

Responsibilities

Develop, implement, maintain, and improve Safety Assurance processes that support organizational SMS objectives, standards, governance frameworks, and assurance methodologies.
Monitor SMS maturity and identify opportunities to strengthen organizational performance and share best practices.
Review the effectiveness of hazard identification, Safety Risk Management, safety promotion, safety controls and mitigations, corrective actions, and Management of Change activities.
Develop Safety Performance Indicators, Safety Performance Targets, and other assurance metrics.
Analyze operational and safety data to identify trends, precursors, emerging hazard trends, weak controls, systemic risks, and effective risk mitigation methods.
Use quantitative and qualitative methods to turn safety data into actionable intelligence that supports risk-informed decisions.
Support predictive, proactive, and reactive safety monitoring, including the use of leading and lagging indicators.
Work with digital, analytics, and technology teams to improve the value of safety data and produce reports, dashboards, and assurance outputs for leadership and governance forums.
Support digital tools and AI-enabled analytical methods where appropriate to strengthen safety insight.
Maintain working knowledge of applicable aerospace regulations and monitor regulatory developments and emerging best practice.
Support regulatory readiness and assist with FAA, EASA, customer, and third-party audits as required.
Support internal audit teams, assurance reviews, and compliance assessments, including verification of corrective and preventive actions.
Analyze occurrences, audit findings, and investigation outputs to identify systemic contributors.
Support safety investigations using structured root cause analysis methods.
Ensure assurance outputs are objective, evidence-based, and properly documented, and track corrective actions through effective and sustainable closure.
Lead complex, organization-wide safety initiatives from concept through implementation, deployment, assurance, and benefit realization.
Lead cross-functional initiatives and coordinate safety projects across multiple sites and geographically dispersed operations.
Use FLIGHT DECK principles to develop implementation action plans, problem-solving approaches, and deployment strategies aligned with enterprise safety objectives.
Identify implementation risks and barriers and develop mitigation actions.
Support change activities related to SMS improvements, digital transformation, safety reporting enhancement, and safety intelligence capability development.
Monitor project effectiveness and define how success and business benefit will be measured.
Provide visible leadership and influence at multiple organizational levels.
Provide expert SMS advice and guidance across the organization and work with operational, engineering, production, quality, and leadership teams to improve safety performance.
Support a positive reporting culture and organizational learning, promote Just Culture principles and proactive safety behaviors, and present safety findings to governance boards and leadership forums.
Build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.