Senior Functional Safety Engineer - Robotics
Join Us in Building the Nervous System for Physical AI
Algorized is a VC-funded Silicon Valley deep-tech company with Swiss roots. We build edge-AI models that give robots real-time awareness of people using existing wireless sensors, enabling safer human–machine collaboration.
This is an on-site position based in Campbell, CA, USA, or Etoy, Switzerland. Fully remote arrangements are not available.
We're looking for a Senior Functional Safety Engineer to architect the safety envelope around our people-sensing systems — for stationary and mobile robots across industrial applications — and lead them through PLd/SIL2 certification.
This role sits at the intersection of systems and software engineering: you need the cross-discipline view to own a safety case spanning hardware, software, and the customer's application, plus enough hands-on embedded software depth to implement and validate safety-critical code yourself. We're equally open to a systems engineer with strong embedded software chops or a software engineer with systems-level safety case experience.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Lead the end-to-end safety certification process: gap analysis → certification body selection & management → technical file → type testing → certificate.
- Audit vendor hardware safety manuals to confirm certified scope supports Algorized's system safety certification
- Architect the safety envelope for people-sensing software — supervision, plausibility checks, diagnostics, safe-state logic that stays alive independent of the AI subsystem — and its integration path to the customer's machine via safe I/O and fieldbus protocols
- Build and maintain our functional safety management system and software safety lifecycle (coding standards, traceability, tool qualification)
- Produce the quantitative safety case (FMEDA, diagnostic coverage, failure-rate analysis) and full documentation set (requirements specs, architecture docs, V&V plans), including the downstream safety manual for integrator customers
- Define safety goals, concepts, and cases — covering functional failure (PLd/SIL2) and functional insufficiency (SOTIF) — in collaboration with the algorithms, software, and product teams
- Support integration, commissioning, and maintenance of safety systems, including customer-site travel
QUALIFICATIONS
Minimum Requirements
- 5+ years safety-critical systems or embedded software experience, incl. 2–3 years functional safety
- MSc in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, or related field — or equivalent practical experience
- Direct experience taking a product through an independent certification body (Notified Body, TÜV, UL, exida, or equivalent) from technical file to certificate — owned, not just supported; comfortable representing Algorized to auditors and leadership
- A safety-first architectural instinct — you design for failure, reason in worst-case rather than average behavior, and know how to hold a system in a safe state when something breaks
- Experience with functional safety standards such as IEC 61508, ISO 13849, ISO 21448 (SOTIF), or similar frameworks
- Strong C/C++ and Python, with familiarity with embedded/edge environments (ARM, Linux, RTOS)
- Hands-on experience interfacing software with hardware — I/O, controllers, or fieldbuses — from any safety-critical domain (robotics, industrial automation, aerospace, medical devices, etc.)
- Comfortable with occasional on-site travel for commissioning and audits
Preferred Requirements
- Direct IEC 61496 (ESPE) experience — light curtains, laser scanners, vision, or radar, any Part
- CFSE/CFSP certification (TÜV, exida, or equivalent)
- Experience managing a certification body relationship directly, not just supplying documentation to someone else running it
- Practical experience with industrial safety fieldbus protocols and safe I/O integration with robot/PLC controllers
- Experience producing safety documentation (FMEA, DC analysis, V&V test plans)
- Working knowledge of MISRA-C, safety-rated MCUs, edge-AI SoCs/GPU platforms, or deeper embedded RTOS experience
Skills
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