Technical Specialist - Functional Safety Engineer

Location: Southfield, Michigan
Work Arrangement: 100% Onsite
Employment Type: 12-Month Contract, potential extension
Schedule: Monday–Friday, 40 hours/week with potential overtime

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Technical Specialist – Functional Safety Engineer to support advanced automotive systems development in Southfield, Michigan.

This is a senior technical position for someone with deep, hands-on experience in ISO 26262 Functional Safety, ideally gained within an automotive OEM or Tier 1 environment. You will take a leading role in functional safety architecture, requirements, analysis, processes, validation, and supplier interfaces across complex vehicle systems.

The position also includes significant responsibility for SOTIF (ISO 21448) activities related to autonomous driving and advanced vehicle systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead development of Functional Safety system requirements and functional decomposition for automotive systems.

• Review and approve HARA, Functional Safety Requirements (FSR), Technical Safety Requirements (TSR) and validation activities.

• Define and develop Functional Safety Concepts across system, hardware, and software according to ISO 26262.

• Contribute to vehicle architecture decisions from a Functional Safety perspective.

• Lead development of SOTIF requirements for autonomous driving and core vehicle subsystems.

• Review Development Interface Agreements (DIA) and Functional Safety documentation from suppliers and external partners.

• Develop and improve Functional Safety processes, methods, and tools.

• Oversee program Functional Safety readiness, metrics, and deliverables.

• Perform and lead hazard analysis and safety concept development.

• Collaborate closely with systems, hardware, software, design, and validation engineers.

• Support Functional Safety validation and verification activities.

• Define Functional Safety interfaces and responsibilities between internal teams, OEMs, suppliers, and external partners.

• Support technical decision-making and communicate safety risks and solutions across different levels of the organization.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience as a Functional Safety Engineer or in a closely related automotive safety role.

• Deep knowledge of ISO 26262 and demonstrated experience developing major Functional Safety work products.

• 1+ year of hands-on SOTIF experience, including analysis and associated work products.

• Experience successfully leading Functional Safety analyses for complex automotive systems or products.

• Strong experience with HARA, safety concepts, requirements development, and validation.

• Experience supporting external or third-party reviews of Functional Safety work products.

• Strong understanding of Functional Safety responsibilities and interfaces between OEMs and suppliers.

• Experience with Functional Safety tools such as Ansys Medini, APIS IQ, or similar.

• Experience with requirements management tools such as Jama or equivalent.

• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced engineering environment.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Mechatronics Engineering, or another relevant engineering discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in one or more of the following would be advantageous:

• ADAS / autonomous driving

• Embedded automotive hardware and/or software development

• Agile engineering environments

• Automotive SPICE (ASPICE)

• CMMI

• Advanced degree in a relevant engineering discipline

Interview Process

Candidates should be available to interview ASAP. The technical assessment process is expected to consist of 1–2 interview rounds.

Why This Opportunity?

This is an opportunity to take a highly influential Functional Safety role within advanced automotive development, working across system, hardware, software, validation, and supplier organizations. You will have direct responsibility for safety concepts and processes that influence the development of complex next-generation vehicle systems.