Head of Engineering

SAIF Autonomy is building the Trust Layer for Physical AI and Autonomous Systems. Our vision is to be global leaders in novel control assurance, pioneering trusted and ethical autonomy for humanity.

SAIF Autonomy is seeking an experienced Head of Engineering to join our team building cutting-edge assurance systems for AI and robotics applications, with an initial focus on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). You will lead the engineering department, guide overall system architecture and software design, and manage the engineering team.

This role requires deep experience in safety-critical industries. Candidates must have:

• A strong background in aerospace and/or other regulated, safety-critical environments (e.g. defence, oil and gas, medical devices).
• Hands-on experience with recognised safety and compliance standards.
• A deep understanding of designing, building and scaling software and systems where reliability, assurance and certification are critical.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and technical leadership across all engineering teams, ensuring delivery of high-quality, safety-critical products.
• Define and drive the engineering roadmap, balancing innovation with compliance to industry standards and customer requirements.
• Establish and oversee engineering processes (systems engineering, software development, V&V, safety assurance) in line with ISO/IEC and defence/aerospace standards.
• Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing multi-disciplinary team, fostering a culture of technical excellence, collaboration and accountability.
• Ensure effective integration of R&D outcomes into production-ready systems and products.
• Own technical risk management, quality assurance and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Represent engineering in stakeholder meetings, customer engagements and technical reviews.
• Work closely with product, operations and executive leadership to align engineering execution with company strategy.
• Oversee technical documentation, certification, and regulatory submissions to meet customer and compliance obligations.

SAIF Autonomy offers a competitive compensation package, excellent benefits and the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technologies that shape the future of AI and robotic safety.

Our software enables assured, trustworthy deployment of both traditional deterministic autonomy and AI or novel control methods, in any application, for the first time. We do this with no need for data or communications links and we begin the journey by applying our tech to autonomous systems in the aerospace and land domains.

Purpose

To set global industry standards and enable complex autonomous systems to operate safely and predictably, with optimum performance and efficiency. Bringing inherent trust and safety to all autonomous systems. SAIF’s products are future-focused, compliance-ready & built for safety-critical environments.

Our Values

• Be Safe– We exist to make autonomous systems as safe as possible, so we must maintain the highest standards of safety and security as a company.
• Be Curious– We are working at the cutting edge of safety engineering, AI and robotics. We are developing solutions to some of the most challenging problems in industry and need to be continually exploring the art of the possible, dreaming, prototyping and testing.
• Be Committed– We are a start-up with ambitious goals for growth and solving hard problems. It will not be an easy journey, but it will be one worth doing. It will require commitment from everyone - late nights, weekends - the usual ‘start-up’ life. However, as a company, SAIF are committed to creating an environment where everyone can grow, develop and take on this challenge in a supportive and constructive environment.

Please apply via our Careers page on our website. Join our team and be part of the revolution enabling a future where AI is not only intelligent but assured, safe and trustworthy.