SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Focused Energy is building the future of clean energy through laser-driven inertial fusion, backed by a $240M Series A—the largest fully secured Series A in the global fusion industry. The company operates across Germany and the US, bringing together top scientific and engineering talent to unlock fusion power at commercial scale.
You will serve as an embedded engineering safety partner for the Austin facility, supporting the TTE project, laser project, and transition toward operational readiness. This is a technical safety engineering role rather than a site-wide H&S management position. You will work directly with engineering and operations teams to identify hazards, evaluate system risks, and develop practical mitigation strategies throughout design, installation, validation, commissioning, and operation.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead or facilitate structured hazard analyses (HAZID, FMEA, JHA, what-if reviews, task-based risk assessments) for laser systems, low-voltage electrical systems, cryogenics, gases, mechanical assemblies, controls, and infrastructure
- Review system designs, changes, and experimental setups to ensure safety is incorporated early; translate hazard findings into design requirements, interlocks, procedures, and operational controls
- Provide hands-on safety support during equipment installation, facility modifications, subsystem integration, validation, and commissioning
- Support development of safe operating envelopes, startup/shutdown strategies, lockout-tagout boundaries, access controls, permits, and readiness reviews
- Work with engineers, technicians, and operations to define and track corrective actions and procedural safeguards
- Develop and maintain risk assessments, safety reviews, operating constraints, work instructions, and engineering safety documentation
- Coordinate with central safety leadership in Germany to ensure consistency of approach and alignment of standards
- Participate in incident and near-miss investigations; support root cause analysis and preventive actions
- Provide technical safety guidance to engineers, technicians, and operators; support project-specific safety training
- Support compliance with OSHA, NFPA, ANSI, and other relevant requirements in partnership with site operations and central safety
You will partner closely with the central safety function while providing strong local technical ownership for engineering safety execution in Austin. This role is well suited to a growing, technically complex site where risk must be assessed continuously as systems evolve.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Safety Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or related technical field (advanced degree a plus)
- 5+ years of experience in systems safety, engineering safety, operational safety, or closely related technical role in a high-risk or highly regulated environment
- Demonstrated experience performing structured hazard analyses and translating findings into practical engineering and operational controls
- Ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary engineering and operations teams in a fast-moving R&D, prototype, or advanced manufacturing environment
- Strong working knowledge of low-voltage electrical, mechanical, laser, cryogenic, or process hazards relevant to complex technical systems
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Comfort operating in a hands-on environment where system definition is evolving and risk assessments must keep pace with development
ADVANTAGEOUS:
- Experience supporting Class 3B / Class 4 laser systems, laser laboratories, or high-energy optical systems
- Experience with low-voltage industrial electrical systems, including facility mains-fed three-phase equipment, and controls such as interlocks, grounding, isolation, lockout-tagout, and safe access boundaries
- Familiarity with commissioning, startup, validation, and operational readiness processes for new or modified systems
- Experience supporting safety in construction, facility buildout, equipment installation, or laboratory expansion projects
- Knowledge of risk assessment approaches used in R&D, industrial, energy, aerospace, or complex equipment environments
- Experience working across international teams or matrixed organizations where system ownership and safety governance are shared
- Professional certification such as CSP, PE, CFSE, LSO, or similar
