Lead System Safety Engineer

About Gravitics
At Gravitics, we're not exploring space—we're building it. We're creating the infrastructure for a thriving space economy, enabling humanity to flourish beyond Earth. Our vision is bold, but we're not just dreamers; we're doers. We design and manufacture large-scale orbital structures that enable commercial operations while meeting the requirements of defense and government missions.
Our systems are built to scale and built to last—bridging commercial innovation with mission-critical performance. If you're ready to lay the foundations for a new era in space, embrace a culture of relentless learning and innovation, and contribute to a future where humanity's reach extends farther, Gravitics is the place for you. Let's build the future together.
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Lead System Safety Engineer to own system safety for our pressurized spacecraft and modular orbital structures, including vehicles that approach, berth to, and operate attached to crewed space stations. These vehicles must earn safety approval through station operator and NASA visiting-vehicle safety review processes.
You will lead the end-to-end system safety lifecycle: building the hazard analyses into the design while it is still changing, authoring the safety data packages, and serving as the company’s principal safety representative before station operator and NASA safety review panels. You will provide independent safety assessment of the design, working closely with, but separate from, our systems, avionics, propulsion, and software teams.
Core Responsibilities
Safety Program Leadership: Author and maintain the System Safety Program Plan (SSPP). Own the hazard analysis baselines, hazard tracking, and safety verification tracking log through closure.
Safety Review Panel Representation: Own the technical relationship with station operator and NASA safety review panels. Prepare, present, and close the phased (Phase 0/I, II, and III) safety data packages per SSP 30599 and SSP 50808.
Hazard Analysis: Lead preliminary and detailed hazard analyses and author hazard reports with causes, controls, and verifications. Oversee the supporting system-level analyses:
Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA)
Fault Tree Analyses (FTA) for catastrophic and critical hazards
Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analyses (FMECA) and the Critical Items List, with the reliability team
Operating and support hazard analyses for ground processing, launch-site, and on-orbit operations
Fault Tolerance & Inhibit Assessment: Define the safety requirements for, and independently assess, verify, and defend, the two-fault-tolerant (three independent inhibit) architectures required for catastrophic hazards. Key areas include pressure systems, propulsion and reaction control, batteries, structures and mechanisms, berthing interfaces, and cabin environmental monitoring.
Protection of the Crewed Host Station: Assess the fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) design developed by systems and avionics engineering, ensuring that no single credible failure endangers the host station or its crew during approach, berthing, attached operations, and departure.
Design Influence: Bring hazard analysis into open design trades early (propulsion architecture, battery redundancy, fault containment), so safety drives the design rather than being retrofitted at reviews.
Safety Requirements & Traceability: Flow NASA human-rating and visiting-vehicle safety requirements into verifiable engineering requirements. Trace hazard controls to verification across hardware, software, and operational procedures in Jama, DOORS, or similar tools.
Software Safety: Work with flight software and software assurance to identify safety-critical software functions and verify abort, hold, retreat, and inhibit logic.
Ground & Launch Safety: Support range safety data packages (AFSPCMAN 91-710), hazardous ground operations procedures, propellant loading, and launch licensing safety inputs.
Anomaly & Risk Management: Participate in Failure Review Boards. Assess test anomalies, nonconformance, waivers, and deviations for safety impact, and keep residual risk within human-spaceflight tolerances.
Growth: Help build the S&MA safety function as the company grows, including mentoring additional safety engineers.
Required Qualifications
Education: Bachelor's degree in aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or a closely related technical discipline.
Experience: