Functional Safety Lead Engineer

BWI Group is a premier chassis supplier that designs and manufactures brake and suspension systems for the global transportation market. We are seeking a Functional Safety Engineer Lead to work on site at the primary North American technical center of a major automotive OEM in support of BWI controlled brakes products.

About the role

We are a Tier 1 supplier specializing in braking and chassis control systems, delivering safety-critical products to global OEM customers. We are looking for a Functional Safety Engineer Lead to own and drive ISO 26262 compliance across the full development lifecycle of our brake and chassis control systems — from concept phase through software release and customer delivery. This is a senior individual contributor role with broad technical leadership responsibilities. You will serve as the internal authority on functional safety process, guide engineers across systems, software, and hardware disciplines, coordinate compliance across our Tier 2 supply chain, and own all customer-facing safety deliverables. You will lead through deep expertise and influence — not through direct management — and you will be held accountable for the quality and completeness of every safety output the program delivers.

Responsibilities

• Safety Planning and Process Ownership
  • Author, maintain, and update the Safety Management Plan at each development phase, ensuring alignment with ISO 26262 lifecycle objectives and program milestones
  • Serve as the internal process authority — provide definitive guidance to engineers, architects, and project leads on compliant versus non-compliant practice across all applicable ISO 26262 parts
  • Guarantee functional safety process compliance within the organization and across the development program
• Safety Concept and Analysis
  • Lead the definition of the item, hazard and risk assessment (HARA), functional safety concept (FSC), and technical safety concept (TSC)
  • Define safety measures including mitigation strategies, safety functions, and safe states; support implementation of those measures in the production and system design
  • Oversee and coordinate all safety analysis activities including HARA, D-FMEA, FMEDA, FTA, and DFA — reviewing, challenging, and approving outputs across systems, software, and hardware disciplines
• Confirmation Measures and Compliance
  • Execute confirmation measures including work product reviews, internal audits, and independent assessments; serve in an I3 capacity on projects outside your direct ownership where independence is required per ISO 26262 Part 2
  • Proactively identify safety issues, process non-conformances, and unresolved anomalies; own escalation and drive items through to closure
• Verification, Validation, and Release
  • Support verification and validation activities to confirm that risk-reducing solutions are sufficient and that required safety goals have been achieved
  • Author and own the safety case and safety argumentation, including constructing justification strategies such as proven-in-use, SEooC, and prior use; sign off the safety case prior to software release
• Customer and Supplier Interface
  • Own and deliver all customer-facing safety artifacts including RAM reports, safety case, safety plan, DIA, and all other ISO 26262-required deliverables to OEM customers
  • Act as the primary technical safety interface between the internal safety team and OEM customers; support vehicle-level discussions on degraded mode behavior, fallback strategies, and system-level safety goal coverage
  • Coordinate with Tier 2 suppliers to ensure compliance with allocated safety requirements; support supplier selection activities from a functional safety standpoint and integrate supplier safety measures into the production design
• Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Act as the main knowledge bridge between the safety team and internal engineering disciplines including project engineering, systems and software engineering, supplier relations, verification, and homologation
  • Guide and technically influence cross-functional teams without direct management authority; set the quality bar for safety outputs and hold the program accountable to the requirements

Requirements

• BSc or MSc in Automotive, Electrical, Software, or Mechanical Engineering
• 7–10 years of hands-on ISO 26262 experience spanning concept through software release phases at an OEM or Tier 1 supplier
• Deep working knowledge of ISO 26262 Parts 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9; Parts 5 and 6 knowledge required for hardware/software safety activities
• Demonstrated experience authoring, maintaining, and updating Safety Management Plans across multiple project phases
• Experience performing confirmation measures in an independent capacity (I3 per ISO 26262 Part 2)—reviews, audits, and assessments
• Hands-on experience with safety analyses: D-FMEA, FMEDA, FTA, DFA
• Ability to lead HARA, FSC, and TSC definition — not just review them
• Experience authoring safety cases and constructing safety arguments including proven-in-use, SEooC, and prior use, with signoff authority
• Track record delivering customer-facing safety artifacts: RAM report, DIA, safety plan, safety case
• Experience coordinating Tier 2 supplier safety compliance and integrating supplier outputs into the system safety argument
• Ability to guide and technically influence cross-functional teams without direct management authority

Schedule

>50% travel to meet customers and suppliers with day travel to the various manufacturing facilities as required.

Skills

• Language Skills
  • Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals
  • Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public
• Mathematical Skills
  • Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume
  • Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry
• Computer Skills
  • Ability to use and understand Windows Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and SharePoint, Microsoft (email)
• Reasoning Ability
  • Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions
  • Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions and deal with several abstract and concrete variables
  • Able to read and understand engineering prints/drawings
  • Good level of analytical skills and interpersonal skills
  • Ability to work on a team
  • Ability to guide the efforts of support personnel
  • Good teambuilding skills

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk and to sit; use hands to manipulate objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms
• The employee is occasionally required to stand, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and to talk and hear
• The employee must occasionally lift up to 30 pounds
• Specific vision abilities include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to focus

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.