Principal Engineer, Team Lead – Safety & Targets

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Nevada, +2 more states.

📋 Description

• Lead the Safety & Targets team within the Systems Readiness and Performance department.

• Spearhead the development and enhancement of collision detection, response, and imminent collision management across autonomy, remote vehicle assistance, and operational areas.

• Establish safety requirements, thresholds, and response behaviors, and ensure their validation.

• Oversee benchmark initiatives related to safety, comfort, and assertiveness.

• Define human-driving benchmarks and translate them into quantifiable acceptance criteria.

• Enhance evasive maneuvering and preventability modeling.

• Specify validation coverage, pinpoint gaps, and collaborate cross-functionally to address them.

• Lead hazard analysis efforts, including STPA, HAZOP, FMEA, and other safety-case evidence.

• Maintain and expand safety-case claims through external evaluations and regulatory assessments.

• Operationalize crash database analysis, collision event ingestion and labeling, and automated monitoring reports.

• Mentor and develop a high-performing engineering team.

• Collaborate with Autonomy, Infrastructure, Operations, Legal, and Systems teams to enhance safety, comfort, assertiveness, and launch readiness.

• Drive the system design, verification, validation, and performance-target definition for fully driverless IONIQ 5 robotaxis.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 7+ years of experience in Systems Engineering, Functional Safety, Autonomous Systems, or Robotics, with deep expertise in one area and working knowledge of others; or a Master’s degree/PhD with 5+ years of experience.

• 3+ years of experience leading safety-critical development, validation, or safety assurance programs for autonomous driving or other emerging safety-critical technologies.

• Proven history of developing small, high-performing teams.

• Experience defining quantitative performance targets and acceptance criteria that encompass safety, comfort, and assertiveness.

• Expertise in STPA, HAZOP, FMEA, hazard analysis, and risk assessment.

• Proficiency in leveraging large-scale simulation, track, and road data.

• Familiarity with SOTIF, ISO 26262, UL4600, AVSC behavior competencies, and other industry standards.

• Demonstrated ability to build consensus among multidisciplinary teams.

• Experience with collision and crash data analysis, public crash databases, and regulatory incident reporting is a plus.

• Strong foundation in statistical methodology, data science, and scientific rigor; proficiency in Python, SQL, and data visualization is advantageous.

• Experience with industry benchmarks and human naturalistic driving behavior is a plus.

• Familiarity with ride comfort and motion-sickness modeling, or assertiveness/conservatism driving-policy metrics is a plus.

• Experience presenting safety arguments to external assessors, regulators, or certification bodies is a plus.

• Experience publishing safety research or white papers, or engaging in industry consortia is a plus.

• Experience collaborating in agile environments and with global, distributed teams is a plus.

• Excellent communication skills and a proactive mindset are advantageous.

• Eligibility for employment in the United States is verified through E-Verify.

🏝️ Benefits

• Medical insurance

• Dental insurance

• Vision insurance

• 401(k) with a company match

• Health savings accounts

• Life insurance

• Pet insurance

• Bonus or company equity may be included

• Hybrid schedule with in-office time at one of the Boston, Pittsburgh, or Las Vegas locations, or fully remote

• Inclusive, diverse, progressive global culture