Senior System Safety Engineer

Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production ’re designing, building, and testing next generation long range strike weapons systems to give America and its Allies a definitive edge and deter future conflicts.

As a Senior System Safety Engineer, you will lead a tailored, risk-informed System Safety Program across Castelion weapon systems. You will ensure hazards are identified early, risks are clearly understood, and safety is intelligently integrated into system design, development, test, and operations—without unnecessary process or paperwork.

This role emphasizes responsible engineering judgment, rapid iteration, and practical risk reduction, while remaining aligned with the intent, rigor, and accountability principles of MIL-STD-882E and applicable DoD safety expectations.

You will work closely with propulsion, avionics, GNC, software, flight test, manufacturing, and mission integration teams to embed safety directly into engineering decisions. You will also serve as the primary safety authority interfacing with government customers and safety review boards throughout the program lifecycle.

Castelion’s approach to system safety is grounded in responsible engineering: hazards are systematically identified, risks are clearly documented, mitigations are technically justified, and risk acceptance decisions are explicit, traceable, and made at the appropriate level of authority.

• Define, implement, and continuously improve a tailored System Safety Program aligned with the intent of MIL-STD-882E, scaled appropriately for rapid development, prototyping, and test.
• Apply system safety engineering principles pragmatically to identify, analyze, and mitigate hazards across weapon systems and supporting infrastructure.
• Lead system and software safety analyses as appropriate to program phase and risk, including:
• Functional Hazard Analysis (FHA)
• Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA)
• System and Subsystem Hazard Analysis (SHA / SSHA)
• Safety Requirements Hazard Analysis (SRHA)
• Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
• Software Safety Analysis
• Prioritize safety effort using risk-based decision making, focusing analysis depth where it provides the most value rather than applying uniform process.
• Define safety requirements and ensure clear traceability from hazard identification through mitigation implementation, verification, and closure.
• Maintain concise, decision-oriented hazard tracking and risk documentation that supports engineering trade studies and timely risk acceptance.
• Provide embedded safety engineering support to system design trades, test planning, operational procedures, and hardware/software utilization.
• Represent system safety at:
• System Safety Working Groups (SSWG)
• Integrated Product Teams (IPTs)
• Design Reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR)
• Test Readiness Reviews (TRR)
• Safety Review Boards and customer technical reviews
• Support ground test, live-fire, and flight test operations through targeted pre-test hazard analysis, real-time safety support, and post-test risk assessment.
• Develop and present lean, technically rigorous safety cases and Safety Assessment Reports (SARs) to internal leadership and government stakeholders.
• Continuously refine safety processes, tools, and templates to improve clarity, speed, and engineering impact.
• Ensure hazard analyses, mitigations, and risk acceptance decisions are clearly documented, technically justified, and reviewed at the appropriate level, consistent with program and customer safety governance expectations.

• Bachelor’s degree in science, engineering, or software discipline with 8+ years of relevant or safety-related experience OR Master’s degree in science, engineering, or software discipline with 5+ years of relevant or safety-related experience
• Demonstrated experience applying MIL-STD-882E in a tailored, risk-informed manner
• Experience performing system and software safety analyses for weapon systems or aerospace platforms
• Ability to independently assess, quantify, and clearly…