Staff Safety Engineer

Company Description

Third Wave Automation is a rapidly growing startup that has demonstrated its core technology components, proven its market fit, and just closed its Series C funding. If you are excited about cutting edge machine learning, robotics that affects the real world, and want to join a company where your skills can have a huge impact, you’ll fit right in. 

Third Wave Automation is applying modern machine learning to materials handling—delivering site-specific forklift navigation and infrastructure-free pallet handling that continuously adapts to changing floor configuration and warehouse demand. 

Job Description

The Mission: Architecting Safety for Physical AI

At Third Wave Automation, we don’t just deploy technology; we transform how the world’s largest OEMs and logistics providers operate. Moving 3,000lb autonomous reach trucks with centimeter precision means that safety isn't just a regulatory hurdle—it is the bedrock of our product, our customer trust, and our entire business model.

We are looking for a Staff Safety Engineer to act as our primary technical authority on system safety and compliance. We do not want a "box-checker" or someone whose favorite phrase is "because the standard says so." We are looking for an innovator—a deeply technical engineer who understands why a standard exists and can propose novel, compliant architectures that accommodate the bleeding edge of Physical AI. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will have full autonomy. You will inherit a strong foundation, but you will have the absolute authority to refine, correct, or completely rebuild our frameworks if there is a better way.

How You Can Make an Impact

• Architect the Safety System: Partner directly with Product and Engineering leaders to weave safety into the DNA of our robotics platform. Your job isn't to slow them down; it’s to show them how to move fast, safely—pushing our systems to go above and beyond the baseline requirements.
• Industry Influence & Advocacy: Represent TWA on national and international standards committees. We are building tech that outpaces current regulations; you will advocate for and influence standards bodies to accommodate and safely regulate the next generation of embodied AI.
• AI-Augmented Execution: While AI will never dictate our safety architecture, we expect our leaders to be at the forefront of modern productivity. You will leverage generative AI and advanced tooling to parse dense regulatory updates, draft technical documentation, and streamline hazard analysis—acting as a massive force multiplier for your own output.
• Lead the Certification Vanguard: Own and drive the end-to-end certification processes for complex autonomous systems across hardware, software, and cybersecurity.
• The Voice of Trust: Act as the definitive safety authority for our Tier-1 OEM partners and customers. You will translate our rigorous safety architecture into customer confidence and business value.
• EHS Leadership: Safety starts at home. You will oversee our internal Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) programs, ensuring our field engineers, deployment teams, and lab staff have the right training, protocols, and protection to do their best work.

What You'll Do (Your First 90 Days and Beyond) 

• Assess the Foundation: Conduct a deep-dive audit of our existing safety architecture, EHS programs, and compliance documentation. Identify immediate areas for improvement or complete reinvention.
• Build Cross-Functional Alliances: Establish strong partnerships with Product, Engineering, and Field Operations leaders to embed safety requirements smoothly into our development and deployment cycles.
• Drive Key Certifications: Take immediate ownership of ongoing certification processes (e.g., IEC 61508, ISO 13849, ISO 21434) and map out the strategy for future regulatory compliance.
• Engage with Standards Bodies: Begin representing Third Wave Automation in relevant industry committees, advocating for standards that align with the realities of modern embodied AI.
• Elevate EHS Protocols: Review and upgrade our internal Environmental, Health, and Safety training to ensure every TWA employee operates with the highest level of protection.

Qualifications

• 10+ Years of Deep Expertise: A decade or more of hands-on experience in safety engineering within robotics, autonomous systems, automotive, or heavy industrial automation.
• Regulatory Mastery: Deep, working knowledge of OSHA regulations and core autonomy standards, specifically IEC 61508, ISO 13849 (Parts 1 & 2), and ISO/SAE 21434 (Cybersecurity).
• The "First-Principles" Mindset: The technical depth to challenge engineering assumptions and propose innovative safety solutions rather than relying on outdated boilerplate compliance.
• AI Fluency: Comfortable leveraging LLMs and modern software tools to 10x your efficiency in research, technical writing, and workflow automation without compromising engineering rigor.
• Diplomacy & Gravitas: Proven experience participating in industry standards committees and the professional polish to influence C-suite executives, OEMs, and regulatory bodies.
• A "Builder's" Autonomy: The ability to operate in a high-growth startup environment where you are trusted to define the roadmap, not just execute someone else’s plan.

Preferred & Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• Deep experience navigating functional safety audits and successfully achieving safety certifications for complex hardware/software systems.
• Outstanding interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex safety standards into clear, actionable engineering requirements.
• Outstanding interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex safety standards into clear, actionable engineering requirements.

The pay range for this position is $166,000 - $249,000/yr+ benefits+equity; however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.  Base pay information is based on market location.

More About Working Here

Our Core Values:

• Safety. We consider safety in everything we do.
• People. We care about our teammates as people.
• Encouragement. We encourage teaching, asking questions, and sharing opinions.
• Transparency. We are transparent and sincere in our actions.

A robust set of benefits and perks:

• Comprehensive benefits. Health, Dental, Vision, and a 401k matching program, to boot!
• Flexible working schedule. Be productive when you work best.
• Show & Tell. We love to learn from one another, and see the cool stuff everyone is working on!
• Meals are covered. Lunch is provided every day, and dinner for those evenings that run long.
• Stacks of snacks. Donuts are a main food group, and the snack shelf is always stocked with a wide variety of items.
• Great teammates. One of the best parts of working here!

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We value each person's expertise and experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. 

All qualified applicants able to work in the United States are encouraged to apply. We are unable to sponsor H-1 visas subject to fees required by the ‘Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers’ Presidential Proclamation dated September 21, 2025.