Safety Systems Software Architect

Caterpillar Inc.•Irving, TX

12d•$128,470 - $208,770•Onsite

About The Position

The Safety Systems Software Architect provides senior technical leadership for the architecture, design, integration, and lifecycle evolution of safety-critical software used in autonomous and semi-autonomous heavy equipment applications. Operating with a high degree of independence, this role defines and governs software architecture for safety systems, ensuring solutions are robust, scalable, verifiable, and aligned with functional safety and product safety objectives. This individual serves as the software architecture authority for safety systems, translating safety concepts and system requirements into software architecture, interface definitions, fault-handling strategies, degraded-mode behavior, and verification approaches while mentoring engineering teams and influencing technical direction across the organization.

Requirements

Expert-level C++ design and implementation experience for embedded, real-time, or safety-critical software systems
Experience designing software components with clear ownership, deterministic behavior, testability, fault detection, fault isolation, and recovery mechanisms
Strong engineering practices including requirements traceability, design documentation, code quality, debugging, profiling, static analysis, and disciplined change control
Ability to apply structured software design techniques to complex, distributed, and safety-relevant autonomy systems
Demonstrated experience owning architecture for major software products, safety systems, autonomy systems, or distributed embedded platforms
Ability to define software architecture alternatives and evaluate trade-offs across safety, performance, reliability, diagnosability, maintainability, and product delivery
Experience establishing interface contracts, data flows, safety monitors, watchdogs, degraded-mode strategies, and safe-state behavior across software and system boundaries
Experience facilitating architecture reviews, design walkthroughs, failure-mode discussions, and cross-discipline technical alignment
Ability to connect architecture decisions to safety requirements, verification evidence, operational constraints, and lifecycle maintainability
Working knowledge of functional safety practices, hazard analysis, risk assessment, safety requirements decomposition, and verification expectations for safety-critical autonomy or machine-control systems.
Identifies and documents specific problems and resolution alternatives.
Helps to analyze risks and benefits of alternative approaches and obtain decisions on resolution.
Uses fact-finding techniques and diagnostic tools to identify problems
Discovers, analyzes, and resolves software or application problems.
Analyzes code, logs, and current systems as part of advanced troubleshooting.
Records and reports specific technical problems, solving processes and tools that have been used.
Knowledge of effective presentation tools and techniques to ensure clear understanding; ability to use summarization and simplification techniques to explain complex technical concepts in simple, clear language appropriate to the audience.
Perceives lack of audience comprehension; further simplifies explanation when needed.
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field – or commensurate industry experience.

Nice To Haves

Extensive experience as a software architect, technical lead, or senior development engineer for safety-critical, autonomous, robotic, or machine-control systems
Strong experience architecting software for operator safety, operator awareness, human-machine interaction, remote and autonomous operation safety, safe intervention strategies, perception integration, positioning, controls, or supervisory safety functions
Experience applying functional safety practices, structured safety analysis, and safety-focused development processes to software architecture and product development preferred
Experience defining safety mechanisms such as monitoring, plausibility checks, diagnostics, redundancy management, fault containment, degraded operation, and safe-state transitions preferred
Experience with operator-aware or sensor-driven systems using presence detection, proximity sensing, cameras, radar, LIDAR, GNSS/GPS, inertial sensors, or other perception and positioning inputs preferred
Experience with real-time controllers, embedded Linux, edge computing, robotics middleware, simulation environments, or hardware-in-the-loop validation preferred
Experience in construction, mining, off-highway, automotive, aerospace, industrial automation, or other regulated safety-critical industries preferred

Responsibilities

Define and lead the software architecture for operator safety systems, human-machine interaction safety, supervisory control, and safe-state management systems
Translate safety goals, system requirements, hazard analyses, and operational design constraints into software architecture, interface contracts, safety mechanisms, and verification strategies
Lead architectural trade-off decisions for real-time performance, determinism, fault containment, diagnostics, monitoring, redundancy, graceful degradation, and maintainability
Partner with systems engineering, functional safety, cybersecurity, controls, perception, positioning, validation, and product teams to integrate safety considerations into product architecture
Provide technical leadership across requirements traceability, architecture documentation, design reviews, verification planning, validation evidence, and safety case support
Develop and guide production-quality C++ software design patterns, reusable safety components, middleware interfaces, and integration approaches for embedded and edge-computing environments
Troubleshoot complex safety-system behavior across simulation, bench, machine, and production environments, including timing, sensor fusion, perception, fault handling, and integration issues
Communicate architecture decisions, safety risks, assumptions, constraints, and technical recommendations clearly to engineers, stakeholders, and leadership
Mentor engineers on safety-focused software architecture, design quality, review practices, and disciplined development of safety-critical systems