Senior Functional Safety Engineer

American Battery Solutions (“ABS”) is a manufacturer of advanced batteries for commercial, fleet, and industrial on- and off-road vehicles. Headquartered in Lake Orion, Michigan, ABS was acquired by Komatsu in 2023 and continues to operate as an independent entity, supporting Komatsu’s carbon neutrality goals while expanding its core business.

About the role

The Senior Functional Safety Engineer serves as the technical owner for Functional Safety work products and leads ISO 26262 functional safety activities throughout the product development lifecycle for high-voltage lithium-ion battery systems. This role develops and maintains technical safety deliverables and evidence required to support compliant product development, collaborating closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, suppliers, and customers.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical owner for Functional Safety work products throughout the product development lifecycle, leading ISO 26262 safety activities from concept through production.
• Develop and maintain Functional Safety deliverables, including Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA), Safety goals and Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) classifications, functional safety architecture, Functional Safety Concept (FSC), Technical Safety Concept (TSC), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and Failure Modes, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA).
• Develop and allocate Functional Safety Requirements into the system architecture, ensuring complete bidirectional traceability across all safety work products.
• Perform and document Functional Safety analyses, including Single-Point Fault Metric (SPFM), Latent Fault Metric (LFM), Probabilistic Metric for Random Hardware Failures (PMHF), diagnostic coverage, dependent failure analysis, and evaluation of safety mechanisms and fault-tolerant architectures.
• Develop Functional Safety verification and validation strategies, review objective evidence, and ensure compliance with Functional Safety requirements throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Generate and maintain technical evidence to support Functional Safety Assessments, confirmation reviews, compliance audits, and safety validation activities.
• Support the development of safe Battery Management System (BMS) architectures and review safety-related hardware and electronic designs for compliance with Functional Safety requirements.
• Lead technical resolution of Functional Safety issues and support change impact analysis for safety-related design modifications throughout design, verification, validation, manufacturing, or field operation.
• Support architecture trade studies balancing safety, reliability, diagnostics, performance, and cost objectives.
• Ensure alignment between Functional Safety activities and related engineering analyses, including DFMEA, FMEDA, and FTA.
• Partner with Functional Safety Managers, engineering teams, customers, and suppliers to ensure compliance with organizational processes and technical safety requirements.
• Maintain Functional Safety documentation and evidence within engineering tools including Jama, Medini Analyze, or equivalent platforms.
• Provide technical guidance, mentoring, training, and subject matter expertise to engineering teams while supporting continuous improvement of Functional Safety processes, methodologies, templates, and tools.
• Stay current with ISO 26262 standards, automotive Functional Safety best practices, and emerging semiconductor safety technologies.
• Adhere to federal and state regulations and company policies, processes, and procedures.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field (required).
• Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field (preferred).
• Minimum of seven (7) years of engineering experience developing automotive or heavy-duty electrical and electronic systems.
• Minimum of five (5) years of Functional Safety experience applying ISO 26262 or equivalent standards on production programs.
• Expert knowledge of ISO 26262 and strong understanding of automotive electrical and electronic architectures.
• Demonstrated experience developing Functional Safety analyses and work products, including HARA, FSC, TSC, FTA, FMEDA, and hardware architectural metrics (SPFM, LFM, PMHF).
• Working knowledge of Medini Analyze, Jama, Enterprise Architect, MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalent engineering tools.
• Experience developing safety-critical Battery Management Systems (strongly preferred).
• Strong understanding of lithium-ion battery systems and Battery Management Systems (strongly preferred).
• Knowledge of IEC 61508, Automotive Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination (ASPICE), and systems engineering processes (preferred).

Skills

• Influences Others: Builds personal and organizational impact through mutual trust, fairness, and honesty; adapts style to direct, collaborate, or empower as needed.
• Continual Improvement: Focuses on producing high-quality products and services with a sustainability mindset, seeking incremental process and result improvements.
• Focuses on Quality: Drives results with a quality mindset, adhering to company policies, regulatory requirements, and customer specifications.
• Delivers Results: Achievement-oriented with a sense of urgency to meet goals, taking initiative to drive issues to closure despite obstacles.
• Business Process Thinking: Designs, implements, and executes workflows to effectively meet business unit and organizational goals.

Benefits

• Paid time off: 3 weeks vacation, up to 72 hours sick leave, 15 holidays, and parental leave.
• 100% company-paid medical, dental, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance.
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) offerings.
• Company-provided 401K savings plan with immediately vested matching contributions.
• Voluntary benefits offerings.
• Tuition assistance.
• Employee Referral Program.
• Employee development and career growth opportunities.

Physical Requirements

• Required to walk, sit, use hands to handle objects, reach with hands and arms, balance, stoop, talk, and hear.
• Specific vision abilities required: close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to lift and carry up to 30 pounds and position the body to reach items on the floor or overhead.
• May be exposed to a moderately loud noise level in the work environment.
• May need to recognize small numbers, letters, symbols, or colors on prints and operate field instruments/equipment.

Location

The American Battery Solutions Headquarters and Innovation Center is located in Orion Township, Michigan. Orion Township is a Pure Michigan Trail Town with over 50 miles of trails, including the Polly Ann Trail, Paint Creek Trail, and Iron Belle Trail. Southeast Michigan offers diverse recreational, educational, and cultural opportunities, including regional sporting events and outdoor activities.