Principal Systems Engineer - System Safety

Our Mission

At Vertical Aerospace, we are pioneering the way for electric aviation. The Valo, our eVTOL (electric, vertical, take-off and landing), 'zero emissions' aircraft will set a new safety standard for how we will navigate the sky.

We won't realise our mission following the same legacy processes and traditions our predecessors followed, instead, we want to 'redefine' aerospace best practices. We are growing quickly from a prototype business to a scaling SME, and the next few years will be critical to our success and delivering on our ambitious goals. Valo is targeting airliner-level safety certification in 2028 ahead of entering service with our airline and operator customers.

What to Expect

As a Principal Systems Engineer - System Safety, you’ll join a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment where safety is at the heart of everything we do. You’ll work within the Powertrain Squad, partnering closely with experts in propulsion, flight controls, power distribution, and airworthiness, as well as external suppliers. This is a fast-paced, innovative setting where traditional aerospace processes are being redefined to meet the challenges of electric aviation.

You’ll be part of a team that values open communication, data-driven decision-making, and simplicity in design, ensuring safety cases are robust without unnecessary complexity. Expect to engage in cross-functional discussions, influence architecture decisions as well as detailed functional design, and contribute to shaping future safety practices for eVTOL systems.

What You’ll Do

• Own and refine EPU requirements to capture all safety-derived functions and assumptions from aircraft-level FHA, PASA, PRA - ensuring completeness and traceability.

• Review and challenge EPU PSSA and SSA for alignment with aircraft level analysis ensuring consistency and alignment between internal and supplier safety analysis.

• Act as the technical authority for identifying and resolving inconsistencies in safety cases, engaging directly with internal experts and the EPU supplier to negotiate solutions. This includes challenging EPU specific aspects of the aircraft safety case and safety related aspects of the EPU design.

• Drive design reviews with a focus on safety derived functions, their proper implementation, design conformity, and early risk mitigation.

• Lead cross-functional trade studies to simplify architecture and safety arguments—reducing complexity, cost, and weight through smart allocation of barriers and consolidation layers. This requires collaboration across system and functions interfaces: flight controls, actuators, power distribution, system design, system safety, airworthiness

• Prepare and present material for certification authority interactions, including participation in panel meetings.

• Plan and support functional test strategies for failure conditions and safety-related functions, including monitoring and reconfiguration.

• Work with the modelling & simulation team to define model fidelity and scenarios for dynamic investigations.

• Use these models for data-driven reasoning to validate monitoring and reconfiguration functions early.

What You’ll Bring

Essential

• Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or equivalent.

• 10+ years of experience in innovative, fast-paced projects applying ARP4754A, ARP4761, DO-254, DO-178.

• Hands-on experience with system safety activities: FHA, PSSA, SSA, FTA, FMECA.

• Ability to work autonomously in complex stakeholder environments.

• Familiarity with electromechanical or mechatronic systems and safety-critical integration.

• Strong analytical and multidisciplinary thinking, with clear communication and influencing skills.

• Experience in certification or clearance of safety-critical systems in highly regulated environments.

• Alignment with our values: Safety, Openness, Courage, Ingenuity.

Beneficial

• Familiarity with SC-VTOL, SC E-19, CS-23, CS-25, CS-E or equivalent FAA frameworks.

• Exposure to electric drivetrains, EPU architectures, and associated control/monitoring strategies.

What can you expect from us?

We're on a mission. Where others see limits, we see opportunity, and we work at pace. Working at Vertical isn't your average role but for those seeking a challenge, a flexible, supportive organisation and an incredible team; working here is an opportunity to do the best work of your career.

Our approach promotes ingenuity and courage, while our environment builds success