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Destinus is revolutionizing the defense industry with cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and advanced aerospace systems. As Energetics Safety & Assurance Officer, you will own the safety, quality, and regulatory assurance framework across missile and unmanned aerial system platforms. This is a highly technical role where your expertise directly influences how munitions, propulsion systems, warheads, guidance electronics, and other safety-critical systems are designed, handled, tested, and certified.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop, implement, and maintain the System Safety Program Plan (SSPP) in line with MIL-STD-882E and relevant regional or customer-specific standards
- Conduct and lead hazard analyses including PHA, SSHA, O&SHA, FMEA, and fault tree analysis across weapon and aerospace subsystems
- Own and maintain the hazard tracking process, driving identified risks through assessment, mitigation, verification, and closure
- Lead investigations into safety incidents, near misses, test anomalies, and other safety-critical events, defining and following through on corrective and preventive actions (CAPA)
- Oversee compliance with applicable explosives safety requirements covering siting, storage, handling, transportation, insensitive munitions, and quantity-distance criteria
- Work directly with range safety officers and internal teams to support live-fire and flight test campaigns
- Ensure energetic materials, warheads, propulsion systems, and other safety-critical components meet necessary certification requirements before integration and testing
- Coordinate export control and end-use compliance documentation with legal and compliance teams in accordance with applicable arms export and dual-use regulations
- Interface with certifying authorities, government representatives, and customer quality teams throughout qualification and acceptance activities
- Maintain configuration control, documentation, and end-to-end traceability for safety-critical components and systems
- Act as the safety authority within Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) and provide safety input during key design and readiness reviews (PDR, CDR, TRR)
- Advise engineering teams on safety-critical design margins, fail-safe and fail-operational architectures, arming and fuzing logic, and risk mitigation strategies
- Train and support production, integration, and test personnel in the safe handling of live and inert ordnance
- Provide senior leadership and relevant government safety boards with clear visibility of safety status, outstanding hazards, mitigations, and overall risk posture
You are rigorous without becoming bureaucratic. You understand that in safety-critical aerospace and defense systems, details matter, but you also know how to keep complex programmes moving. You are comfortable challenging assumptions, asking difficult technical questions, and standing behind your assessments when safety is on the line. You work naturally across engineering, manufacturing, testing, quality, and compliance teams, bringing structure to complex problems and turning risk into clear, actionable decisions.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or another relevant technical discipline
- At least 8 years of professional experience in defense systems safety, explosives safety engineering, system safety engineering, or a closely related field within a defense manufacturing environment
- Strong working knowledge of MIL-STD-882E or equivalent system safety frameworks
- Practical knowledge of insensitive munitions requirements such as STANAG 4439-type frameworks and relevant range safety practices
- Hands-on experience conducting hazard analyses, FMEA, fault tree analysis, and developing safety case documentation
- Experience working with safety-critical hardware and complex multidisciplinary engineering systems
- Familiarity with export control regimes applicable to munitions, defense products, and dual-use technologies
- Strong technical documentation skills with the ability to turn complex safety assessments into clear actions and decisions
- Professional working proficiency in English
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or equivalent system safety qualification
- Direct experience with missile propulsion, energetic materials, warhead integration, arming and fuzing systems, or UAS flight test safety
- Previous experience working with military airworthiness, range safety, ordnance certification, or other relevant government authorities
