Expert Services Software Safety Engineer

Job description for Expert Services Software Safety Engineer

Are you passionate about safety, environmental protection, and functional safety? Do you have experience or an interest in complex software and hardware? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you to join our growing Independent Safety and Environmental Assurance (ISEA) team within Expert Services (ES).

The ISEA team is a dynamic group of specialists in safety and functional safety/Programmable Element (PE) assurance. Our mission is to provide independent assurance to safety and environmental responsible staff at all levels, ensuring compliance with legislation, JSP 815, JSP 816, and other lower-level policies such as ASEMS, regulations, and standards, both defence and civilian where applicable. As an ISEA Specialist, you will bring your expertise in legal, policy, regulatory, and standards frameworks to support Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) environments, technologies, or external customers such as the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA).

You will be working within a significant and expanding assurance area, providing the business with independent safety assurance services across a range of projects and programmes. Collaborating with a team of experts, you will play a key role in delivering assurance services for complex software and hardware systems.

You will have experience with complex software and hardware systems. Knowledge of Defence Standards such as DEF STAN 00-055 and safety standards including IEC 61508, DO-178, and DO-252 would be beneficial.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a growing team that plays a critical role in ensuring safety and environmental compliance across Defence projects.

We champion flexible ways of working. Regular in‑person attendance is required (this is expected to be approximately 60% of your working week) to promote the benefits of face‑to‑face collaboration alongside flexibility of hours to support work‑life balance and business need. Initially, you may be expected to attend more frequently to familiarise yourselves with the site, the team, and your role.

• Lead technical software assurance activities and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the systems and software we deliver is safe.
• Working in a highly regulated area, educate others with relevant legislation, regulation, policy, processes, and standards to provide assurance against technical documentation for a sub‑system. This includes the essential relation to safety, security and quality of the system, and the interoperability with other systems.
• Identify and analyse software safety acquisition risk reduction measures, ensuring that these are adequately documented and managed.
• Develop and maintain ISEA software assurance plans, monitor compliance, and ensure that software assurance is sufficient to demonstrate that systems are safe to operate. Also produce, review, endorse, and recommend acceptance of software safety related artefacts, which includes when equipment/system is operational or being modified.

To be successful with your application, you’ll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Must have either demonstrable experience of audit and assurance activities to an applicable standard (e.g. ISO 9001, 45001 or 14001).
• Understanding of Programmable Elements safety in a defence environment, e.g. DEF STAN 00-055.
• Hold a Science, Technology, Engineering and/or Mathematics based qualification at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Level 4; and
• Be professionally registered or intend to be professionally registered with a relevant Professional body/institution related to your discipline, as either:
  Advanced Registered IT Technician (Adv RITTech) or Registered Scientist (RSci) or Incorporated Engineer (IEng).
• Note:
  
  Alternatives to RQF listed above (which cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland only), is the Scottish SCQF or international equivalent qualification backed up by a statement of comparability from UK ENIC.

In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:

• Core Behaviour 1:
  Making…