Functional Safety Manager in Mansfield

The Functional Safety Manager at DSE is a hands-on technical role responsible for leading and delivering Functional Safety activities across the organisation in line with IEC 61508 and related industrial standards. Working closely with engineering, product, and project teams, the Functional Safety Manager acts as the subject-matter expert for Functional Safety, providing practical guidance as well as writing and maintaining safety documentation and processes. The role also serves as the primary interface with external certification bodies and regulatory authorities, supporting audits, approvals, and ongoing compliance. This position requires a pragmatic, detail-oriented individual who combines strong technical knowledge with the ability to influence, train, and support teams to deliver safe, compliant, and high-quality products.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Lead and deliver Functional Safety activities in accordance with IEC 61508 across the full product lifecycle.
• Develop, review, and maintain Functional Safety documentation, including safety plans, analyses, and safety cases.
• Plan, facilitate, and document Functional Safety Hazard Analysis workshops with cross-functional teams.
• Act as the Functional Safety subject-matter expert for the DSE product range, maintaining strong product and application knowledge.
• Integrate Functional Safety requirements into system, hardware, and software design and development activities.
• Provide hands-on support and guidance to engineering and project teams on safety and compliance matters.
• Liaise with external certification bodies, regulatory agencies, and approval authorities to achieve and maintain product approvals.
• Support audits, assessments, and regulatory submissions, acting as the primary Functional Safety contact.
• Assist with the maintenance of technical files, declarations, and compliance documentation to support certification and market access.
• Deliver Functional Safety and compliance training to build awareness and capability across the organisation.
• Develop, improve, and maintain compliance procedures, processes, templates, and checklists.
• Monitor changes to international Functional Safety and compliance standards and communicate impacts to stakeholders.
• Undertake ad hoc duties as required to support engineering, compliance, and business objectives.

Internal & External Relationships:

• Project Management – provide task breakdowns and estimates for functional safety related tasks.
• Product Management – ensure product roadmaps are in place to meet the necessary functional safety standards as required by the EU and US.
• Engineering – working within the team to develop industrial controls solutions to functional safety standards.
• Technical Support – assist with functional safety related customer support queries, including those relating to customer HARA interfaces.
• External Certification Bodies – prepare submissions and manage audits of safety cases to external bodies.

Requirements:

• Expert in C/C++ for embedded systems.
• Functional safety development processes, including hazard assessment techniques.
• Knowledge of EU Machinery Directive regulation.
• Functional safety standards, IEC 61508, IEC 62061.
• Familiar with stage gated / agile development approaches.
• Comfortable collaborating and communicating with embedded systems engineers and company executives alike, bridging the gap between technical and management.
• Ability to lead a team through a functional safety assessment, maintaining pragmatism and consistency.
• Good documentation writing skills.
• Held a role focused on functional safety in embedded systems.
• Functional Safety certification from TUV, Exida or similar.
• BSC in computer science or related degree qualification.

Benefits:

• 25 days holiday + Bank Holidays.
• New flexible holiday scheme.
• Bupa Healthcare package.
• Life Insurance.
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity pay.
• 5% Pension contributions.
• Companywide performance based annual bonus scheme.