Director of Product Safety

Job Summary

The Director of Product Safety will build and lead Apptronik’s product safety function. This includes defining safety for a new class of robots, driving safety requirements into products and systems, and representing Apptronik in standards bodies and regulatory environments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Own the product safety roadmap end-to-end and identify real risks, prioritizing them and driving executable safety requirements into product and systems engineering.
• Build and lead Apptronik’s product safety team, growing the function as Apollo scales towards commercialization.
• Represent Apptronik in relevant standards bodies and regulatory environments, including R15.06, R15.08, IEC 62061, and IEC 61508 working groups, shaping the frameworks governing humanoid robotics.
• Develop and own the safety plan for safety-critical functions, including HARA, DFMEA, FTA, and system-level failure analysis across Apollo’s electro-mechanical and software systems.
• Develop and document safety requirements and technical safety concepts, collaborating closely with design, systems engineering, and verification teams.
• Navigate evolving consumer safety regulations and lead the process of securing NRTL and other requisite product safety certifications for Apollo.
• Partner with product management and engineering leadership to ensure safety is a pragmatic, integrated part of the development process, not a late-stage checkbox.
• Generate essential safety documentation including safety plans, risk analyses, compliance reports, and reliability assessments.
• Define Apptronik’s approach to safety for AI and ML-based systems, including human-robot interaction safety, as Apollo operates in increasingly complex collaborative environments.

Skills and Requirements

• Deep expertise in systems safety engineering, including HARA, DFMEA, FTA, and safety strategy development for complex electro-mechanical and robotic systems.
• Proven track record of taking products from concept through safety certification in commercial environments, including hands-on experience securing NRTL certifications.
• Solution-oriented individual with strong problem-solving skills who can evaluate complex problems and guide teams to a working outcome.
• Strong working knowledge of relevant safety standards including R15.06, R15.08, IEC 62061, and IEC 61508, with active or prior participation in standards bodies preferred.
• Experience leading and building safety teams, with the ability to attract, develop, and retain strong safety engineering talent.
• Pragmatic judgment about where safety effort should be focused and the ability to distinguish true requirements from compliance-driven ones.
• Experience with safety for AI, ML, or autonomous systems is a strong plus, particularly in human-robot interaction or collaborative environments.
• Familiarity with requirements management tools such as JAMA or equivalent.
• Strong communicator: able to represent Apptronik credibly with customers and in external standards and regulatory settings and translate safety requirements clearly for engineering and product teams.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering required; master’s degree preferred.
• 12 or more years of safety engineering experience on complex electro-mechanical systems or robotics, including demonstrated ownership of a full product safety certification cycle.
• 5 or more years building and managing a team.
• TÜV or equivalent functional safety certification preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times.
• Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen.
• Hearing and speech to communicate.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.