Job Description:

Systems Safety Lead
Bristol based - 3 days on site
Up to £70,000 depending on experience
Security requirements - Eligible for SC

Copello have partnered with a leading Defence organisation who nis looking to recruit an experienced Systems Safety Lead to join its Safety their team on a permanent basis, supporting the delivery of complex maritime defence programmes.

This is an excellent opportunity for an established Systems Safety Engineer, Product Safety Engineer or Safety Manager who is ready to take on a leadership role combining technical expertise, team development and continuous improvement. The successful candidate will play a key part in shaping safety engineering practices, influencing design decisions and ensuring product safety is embedded throughout the engineering lifecycle.

With evolving technologies and increasingly complex engineering environments, the client is keen to bring in someone who can offer fresh perspectives, challenge existing processes constructively and help develop a forward-thinking safety engineering function.

The Role

As a Systems Safety Lead, you will be responsible for leading and developing a team of safety engineers while maintaining an active involvement in technical safety engineering activities across a range of complex programmes.

Working alongside systems engineers, design teams and key stakeholders, you will ensure that safety considerations are incorporated into product development from the outset. You will apply established safety engineering methodologies to identify hazards, assess risks and influence engineering solutions that deliver safe, reliable products.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading, mentoring and developing a team of safety engineers, supporting their technical growth and professional development.

• Providing technical direction across multiple projects, ensuring safety engineering activities are delivered effectively and in line with programme requirements.

• Overseeing the preparation and review of hazard analyses, safety cases and supporting technical documentation.

• Applying engineering judgement to assess hazards, evaluate potential failure mechanisms and determine appropriate risk-reduction measures.

• Working closely with design and systems engineering teams to integrate safety considerations into product design and the wider systems engineering lifecycle.

• Influencing technical decisions and ensuring safety is treated as a fundamental engineering requirement rather than simply a compliance or documentation exercise.

• Managing competing priorities, coordinating workloads and maintaining a balance between technical quality, team development and programme delivery.

• Identifying opportunities to improve existing safety engineering processes, methodologies and ways of working.

• Supporting the team in adapting to evolving engineering practices, accelerated product development and the increasing use of digital technologies.

• Promoting a collaborative working environment that encourages knowledge sharing, constructive challenge and sound engineering decision-making.

What We're Looking For

The client is keen to speak with candidates who can demonstrate a strong combination of technical safety engineering knowledge, leadership capability and the confidence to influence stakeholders across complex engineering programmes.

Ideally, you will bring:

• Safety Engineering Experience: A solid background in systems safety engineering, product safety engineering or a closely related discipline, ideally within Defence, aerospace, maritime or another safety-critical industry.

• Practical Engineering Knowledge: Experience applying safety engineering principles to equipment and systems design, including hazard identification, failure analysis and the development of effective risk-reduction strategies.

• Leadership Experience: A proven ability to lead, mentor or develop engineers, coordinate technical activities and support delivery across multiple projects.

• Hazard Analysis and Safety Cases: Knowledge of hazard analysis, functional failure analysis, fault tree analysis, safety case development and the production of supporting technical evidence.

• Systems Engineering Understanding: An appreciation of how safety engineering integrates with systems development, product design and certification.

• Continuous Improvement: The ability to challenge established approaches constructively, identify more effective ways of working and contribute new ideas to improve engineering practices.

• Communication and Stakeholder Management: Strong analytical and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical matters, influence decisions and balance safety considerations against programme requirements.

• People Development: A genuine interest in coaching others, sharing technical knowledge and building a capable, collaborative engineering team.

• Qualifications: A relevant engineering degree or equivalent professional experience.