Head of System Safety

Help Build Europe's Hypersonic Capability

At Hypersonica, we’re redefining what’s possible in European defence technology. We exist to deliver speed, resilience, and technological independence at a pace that sets a new standard. We are a small, elite team working on problems that matter, and solving them fast.

By joining Hypersonica, you’re not stepping into a predefined role. You’re joining a talent dense environment where every individual shapes the direction of the company. Our philosophy is to hire a small number of exceptional people with broad, deep technical capability, strong judgement, and the ability to operate autonomously.

We hire for talent, not rigid boxes. This role represents a business need, but the way it evolves will be shaped by the individual. If you’ve achieved what others said was impossible, or you bring a unique combination of skills that doesn’t fit a traditional mould, we want to hear from you. The work you do here directly contributes to Europe’s technological independence.

What you'll do

• Own the system safety of Hypersonica’s products across their lifecycle, from concept and development through test and operation.
• Build Hypersonica’s Safety function and team (incl. external partners and service providers), establishing a capable, lean organisation with clear technical authority.
• Set the safety framework for complex defence systems and work with engineering to turn early hazard analysis into practical requirements, design choices, and resolved actions.
• Own safety cases and assurance evidence, keeping safety arguments, hazard logs, verification, assumptions, and change impacts traceable and proportionate to risk.
• Lead the safety approach for flight-test operations, including readiness criteria, safety reviews, test-specific risk assessment, operational controls, and test release.
• Represent Hypersonica’s safety position with test ranges, regulators, and qualification authorities, and define the practical application of relevant military airworthiness, range, product, explosives or ordnance, and NATO standards.
• Provide independent technical challenge, make high-consequence judgements under ambiguity, and upscale concerns where the evidence does not support a safe decision.
• Build safety capability across engineering and test teams, using anomalies, near misses, and design changes to drive lasting improvement.

Who you are

• An established safety leader with significant experience in aerospace, defence, guided weapons, propulsion, autonomy, or another high-consequence engineering environment.
• Experience in building, scaling, or materially shaping a safety function and leading safety specialists.
• Strong hands‑on system‑safety expertise, including hazard analysis, safety requirements, safety cases and assurance arguments, risk management, verification, and safety governance.
• Meaningful experience of flight‑test safety and operations, including test planning, readiness reviews, test‑site interfaces, and operational risk assessment.
• Able to engage directly with complex safety‑critical products, including hardware, software, autonomy, propulsion, avionics, and system integration, and apply relevant military airworthiness, range, product, explosives or ordnance, and NATO standards.
• Sound judgement under uncertainty and high consequence: able to balance mission, technical, schedule, and safety considerations, and know when to seek additional expertise.
• Clear, authoritative communication with engineering teams, senior leadership, test organisations, regulators, and qualification authorities.
• Fluent in English; German fluency desirable given our bilingual working environment, though not required for this specialist discipline.

What we offer

• A mission‑driven environment with the opportunity to work on one of Europe’s most consequential defence challenges, with direct impact on sovereign capability and security.
• Daily collaboration with leading experts across engineering, operations, business development, and defence, with genuine opportunities to learn, contribute, and grow.
• Exposure to the full lifecycle of complex defence programmes, from customer requirements and commercial strategy through to engineering delivery and flight testing.
• High ownership and autonomy: no time tracking and no micromanagement, just clear objectives and accountability for outcomes.
• A fast‑paced environment where good ideas are implemented quickly and feedback from testing and flight drives real decisions.
• A culture that values clarity, integrity, and excellence, and supports people who take initiative and push boundaries responsibly.
• Competitive compensation and real share options aligned with responsibility and impact, not tenure or hierarchy.

Hypersonica is an equal‑opportunity employer and assesses candidates solely on merit, capability, and potential.

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