Principal Autonomous Systems Safety Engineer

We’re Blue River, a team of innovators driven to create intelligent machinery that solves monumental problems for our customers. We empower our customers – farmers, construction crews, and foresters - to implement safer and more sustainable solutions, driving increased profitability with less reliance on scarce labor. We believe that focusing on the small stuff – pixel-by-pixel and task-by-task - leads to big gains. With our partners at John Deere, we have the ability to bring innovative computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and product management solutions to scale production, maximizing their potential impact.

Our people are at the heart of what we do. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, this mission-driven and daring team is eager to define the new frontier of mobile robotics. We are always asking hard questions, rapidly iterating, and getting our boots in the field and on-site to figure it out. We won’t give up until we’ve made a tangible and positive impact on the planet.

Blue River Technology is based in Santa Clara, CA. This position can be remote in the US. 

Summary

Our team has been working to provide operator-free automation for John Deere vehicles since 2018. As new vehicle platforms begin their autonomy journey, a key team member is the Principal Systems Safety Engineer. As a Principal Systems Safety Engineer, you will be a leader responsible for delivering trust in our autonomous solutions. In this role, you will lead the creation of safety frameworks for our new end-to-end (E2E) robotics initiative, ensuring trust in our autonomous systems through rigorous validation and verification. You will evaluate scenarios that our vehicles encounter, lead safety reviews, and establish safety requirements.

A well qualified candidate will have deep technical experience contributing to safety frameworks for autonomy with a creative solution-oriented approach. You will work with our engineering teams to distill this framework into actionable tasks to deploy and scale autonomy. The schedule is ambitious and the agricultural season waits for no one. We tackle our objectives with multi-functional engineering teams consisting of systems and embedded software, test and QA, mechatronics, computer vision and machine learning engineers. Our team is empowered to figure out how to overcome challenges, plan, and prioritize work; everyone is a key contributor.

• Employment Type: Full-Time
• Work Location: Remote in the US
• Visa sponsorship is available for this position. 

Job Responsibilities

The main job responsibilities include: 

• Provide a clear execution path for engineering teams by deriving technical safety requirements using your preferred tools.
• Envision and implement robust frameworks for the validation and verification (V&V) of end-to-end (E2E) robotics solutions.
• Apply mental agility to navigate complex, evolving technical challenges and drive cross-functional problem solving.
• Conduct risk assessments to inform safety reviews and support feature concept development.
• Work with the data infrastructure team to strategically identify data and tools needed to monitor and quantify real-world fleet performance.

Required Experience and Skills

• 8+ years of relevant engineering work experience that includes risk assessment/management and product / functional safety.
• 3+ years of experience developing safety-critical electronic and embedded systems.
• Experience conducting risk assessments for autonomous ground vehicles and experience conducting safety reviews (HARA, STPA, FMEA, etc).
• Demonstrated ability to architect comprehensive V&V frameworks for end-to-end robotics applications.
• Exceptional mental agility, with a track record of thriving in ambiguous, fast-paced environments.
• Ability to clearly communicate verbally and in writing with legal and regulatory awareness.
• Ability to quickly work in a start-up environment, help team members outside of your lane, and manage multiple ongoing projects.
• Knowledge of ISO-18497, ISO-26262, ISO/PAS 21448 or similar (DO-178, ARP-4754, IEC 62304, etc).
• Strong Systems Engineering fundamentals. 
• BS in Electromechanical/Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical fields.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Proven experience in the safety and verification of complex Machine Learning (ML) systems and autonomous robotics.
• Hands-on experience in embedded system development, software development, and/or verification and validation of such systems.
• Safety analysis for L3-L5 autonomous vehicles.
• Experience with embedded Linux, ROS2, and/or AWS.
• Deep understanding of vehicle architectures and system design.

Only individual applicants will be considered. We do not work with unsolicited third-party agencies or proxy interview services. 

At Blue River, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. For this position, the reasonably expected pay range is between $174,000 – $305,000/year for the level at which this job has been scoped. Your base pay will depend on several factors, including your experience, qualifications, education, location, and skills. This position is also eligible for an annual performance bonus and a competitive benefit package. During the recruitment process, we may identify an alternative role or level to which you are more suited. If your ideal role at Blue River differs from the advertised position, we will provide an updated pay range as soon as possible during the hiring process.

We’re passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. While we have more work to do to advance diversity and inclusion, we’re investing in our programs, including recruiting, mentorship, career development, and learning & development, to ensure they support our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals. We support each employee in living a full life, enabling a thriving career, and accomplishing a meaningful, challenging mission while collaborating with incredible people. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align completely with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation.

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