Staff Systems Engineer - System Safety

FERNRIDE is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging because we value and celebrate everyone's differences and individuality. We strive to create an open, safe space in which you feel empowered and authentic. FERNRIDE has 50 employees from 10+ countries. Our culture is characterized by the company values and fundamentals:

 #wewinasoneteam #weexecuteanddeliver #weareambitiousinnovators #weareopentochange #weputcustomervaluefirst #respect #professionalism #safety.

What you will work on

The Quantum Systems Land Domain is developing leading-edge autonomous UGV technology for defense — a domain where no blueprint exists. The product strategy starts with a UGV that is useful on today’s battlefields and can be built with current technology, then progressively increases the authority of the autonomy system while reducing the need for human supervision — across ever more complex operating environments, up to fully autonomous operation in proximity to civilians.

As a senior system safety expert, you will own and shape this discipline from the ground up: define the safety case architecture, build the processes, and set the standard. You will work across product management, design assurance, product security, engineering teams, and V&V to ensure safety is embedded in the product from hazard analysis through to operational deployment. As the product matures, you will grow your domain into a team.

 

How you will leave your footprint

• Establish and maintain the system safety process and safety case architecture.
• Define and maintain the Operational Design Domain (ODD) — environmental, operational, and scenario boundaries for safe operation.
• Conduct CONOPS scenario analysis — operational scenarios, mode transitions, degraded modes, and edge cases.
• Conduct hazard analysis and risk assessment (HARA) — system-level hazards, risk ratings, safety functions, and operational risk reduction measures.
• Conduct SOTIF analysis — performance limitations and triggering conditions that lead to hazardous behavior without component faults.
• Define safety functions and safety integrity targets without prescribing implementation architecture.
• Define system-level validation criteria for safe behavior in operational scenarios.
• Own system-level risk acceptance — residual risk arguments, release conditions, and operational restrictions.
• Define operational measures — operator procedures, training requirements, warnings, and use restrictions.
• Manage the regulatory register and safety-relevant compliance matrices (Machinery Regulation, AI Act).
• Allocate safety functions and integrity targets to Design Assurance and Product Security; arbitrate safety-security conflicts (e.g., fail-open vs. fail-secure); coordinate cross-domain risk management.
• Communicate safety functions and ODD constraints as system requirements to engineering teams; review architecture proposals for hazard coverage; participate in scenario reviews and field trials.
• Coordinate with Quantum Systems core group on safety aspects of the C3 system (MOSAIC, GCS) and multi-domain operation.
• Define validation scenarios and acceptance criteria for V&V including edge cases, degraded modes, and SOTIF triggering conditions; review and accept validation evidence for safety claims.
• Develop and maintain AI-assisted workflows for safety analysis, compliance auditing, and traceability management.

What you will bring to the team

Required skills

• Deep expertise in hazard analysis, operational risk assessment, and safety argumentation for complex autonomous systems, with an engineering mindset and hands-on attitude.
• Experience defining Operational Design Domains, CONOPS scenarios, and system-level safety functions for robotic or autonomous platforms.
• Ability to construct and defend residual risk arguments toward regulators, customers, and program management.
• Strong collaboration skills across multidisciplinary teams — you bridge product management, engineering, and V&V.
• Interest in AI-assisted engineering workflows and willingness to shape how AI tools support safety analysis and compliance management.
• Comfortable working with software development tools — GitHub, VS Code, Bazel, Markdown, CI/CD pipelines — to operate and evolve the AI-assisted methodology.

Preferred skills

• Working knowledge of MIL-STD-882E, ISO 12100, ISO 21448 (SOTIF), and EU product safety regulations (Machinery Regulation, AI Act).
  
  

What we offer @ FERNRIDE

At FERNRIDE, we believe in empowering you to thrive both personally and professionally. Our benefits are thoughtfully designed to support your growth, well-being, and aspirations while fostering a strong sense of work-life harmony. Here’s how we support you:

• Flexible working hours & remote work
• All-day breakfast and unlimited drinks, fruits, and snacks
• Lunch subsidy
• Select one of three options: (1) EUR 40 Spendit card /month (2) Wellpass (3) Mobility card
• Corporate Benefits platform
• Company pension scheme
• Team, department, and company events
• 30 days of vacation
• Up to six weeks of remote work in countries covered under the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card)

Who we are

At FERNRIDE, we believe in a future where robotics unlocks human potential to create a better world. Yet today, humans still perform repetitive, risky tasks to keep our world running. These jobs, essential yet unattractive, should be performed by robots, which still fall short. We are on a mission to change that and transform critical industries through human-centric automation. 

FERNRIDE delivers a comprehensive ground autonomy platform to offer scalable automation solutions across industries. They span from container terminals and yard operations via defence logistics to open-road trucking. By combining AI-powered autonomy with human oversight and modular, vehicle-agnostic hardware, we enable businesses and defence organizations to harness the full potential of automation, driving efficiency and safety.

FERNRIDE was founded in 2019 following 10 years of research at the Technical University of Munich and currently has 50 employees. We are setting the standard for autonomous logistics and advancing Europe’s technological sovereignty by delivering the first-ever fully certified autonomous trucking system in Europe in 2025. 

http://www.fernride.com