Functional Safety Technical Program Manager

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Functional Safety Technical Program Manager (FuSa TPM) to lead and govern functional safety activities for a complete vehicle program. This individual will serve as the primary functional safety authority, ensuring compliance with ISO 26262 requirements while driving safety deliverables from concept development through vehicle release.

This role requires a highly organized and proactive leader who can identify risks early, influence cross-functional teams, and drive execution across engineering disciplines and supplier partners. The ideal candidate combines strong technical functional safety knowledge with program management expertise and hands-on experience in automotive product development.

Key Responsibilities

*Develop and maintain the Vehicle Functional Safety Plan.
*Lead functional safety governance activities and ensure compliance with ISO 26262 processes.
*Track safety deliverables and milestones across the vehicle program.
*Coordinate activities across Systems Engineering, Software, Hardware, Validation, Quality, Program Management, Regulatory, and *Supplier teams.
*Support development and review of:

~Item Definitions
~HARA
~Safety Goals
~Functional Safety Concepts (FSC)
~Technical Safety Concepts (TSC)
~Safety Cases
~Safety Validation Reports
~FMEA, FMEDA, DFA, and FTA analyses

*Identify safety risks and drive mitigation plans.
*Participate in safety assessments, audits, confirmation reviews, and readiness reviews.
*Manage supplier functional safety activities, deliverables, and Development Interface Agreements (DIAs).
*Partner with Verification & Validation teams to ensure safety requirements are effectively tested and validated.
*Coordinate safety argument reviews and support vehicle safety case closure and release recommendations.


Required Qualifications

*Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
*5+ years of automotive product development experience.
*5+ years of Functional Safety Program Management experience.
*Strong knowledge of ISO 26262 and the functional safety lifecycle.
*Experience leading complete vehicle programs or major vehicle platform programs.
*Experience working with OEM and/or Tier 1 automotive suppliers.
*Experience managing suppliers and cross-functional engineering stakeholders.
*Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
*Ability to anticipate issues, drive solutions, and lead complex initiatives with minimal oversight.

Preferred Qualifications

*Experience owning vehicle-level functional safety activities from concept through production.
*Hands-on experience supporting safety verification, validation, testing, and safety release activities.
*Experience reviewing and managing HARA, FSC, TSC, Safety Cases, and associated safety work products.
*Experience supporting EV, ADAS, or other advanced vehicle technologies.
*Familiarity with Jira and related project management/change management tools.

What Makes a Strong Candidate?

*Functional Safety Management experience within an OEM or Tier 1 supplier environment.
*Experience supporting vehicle programs from early development through production.
*Proven ability to provide both leadership and hands-on support when needed.
*Strong attention to detail and ability to identify gaps, weaknesses, and potential risks early.
*Demonstrated success driving execution across multiple teams and stakeholders.
*Comfortable asking questions, seeking clarification, and proactively addressing issues before they become program risks.