Fellow System Safety Engineer

Immediately hiring engineers who want to contribute to mission-critical systems that demand precision, accountability, and technical excellence. Success here means solving real problems that keep complex systems moving forward.

Quest Defense Systems & Solutions is seeking an accomplished Fellow System Safety Engineer to provide technical leadership for a high-visibility, advanced aerospace and defense development program. This position will serve as a subject matter expert responsible for evaluating and mitigating safety risks to personnel, equipment, mission operations, and the environment throughout the complete system lifecycle.

The ideal candidate will bring extensive experience leading complex system safety programs for military or defense applications. This individual will work closely with program leadership, customer representatives, safety approval authorities, and multidisciplinary engineering teams to identify hazards, assess risk, develop mitigation strategies, and ensure compliance with applicable military standards and customer requirements.

This is a highly visible technical leadership role requiring the ability to evaluate complex safety concerns, guide major program decisions, and communicate effectively with senior and executive leadership. The selected candidate will also support independent reviews, failure investigations, engineering safety boards, and corrective action efforts involving significant technical or systemic safety issues.

This is a 100% onsite position based in Tucson, Arizona, where you'll enjoy collaborating with your team every day. With more than 310 days of sunshine each year, stunning mountain views, and a vibrant yet relaxed lifestyle, Tucson offers an exceptional place to build both your career and your life.  All candidates must be US Citizens due to the nature of the work.  Clearance or the ability to obtain a clearance is strongly preferred unless otherwise stated below.

What You'll Do:

• Serve as a senior subject matter expert for system safety engineering throughout the system development lifecycle.
• Lead one or more system safety programs in accordance with MIL-STD-882E, including:
  • Program management activities under the Task 100 series
  • Hazard analysis activities under the Task 200 series
  • Safety evaluation activities under the Task 300 series
  • Verification and validation activities under the Task 400 series
• Develop, manage, and maintain comprehensive system safety plans, analyses, assessments, reports, and supporting documentation.
• Identify system hazards, evaluate associated risks, and recommend design solutions or operational controls to eliminate or reduce risk.
• Interpret system requirements, customer specifications, military standards, and applicable government regulations to develop compliance strategies.
• Brief safety status, risks, recommendations, and corrective actions to program leadership, executive management, customers, and safety approval authorities.
• Lead and coordinate System Safety Working Groups involving internal engineering teams, program leadership, customers, and other key stakeholders.
• Support Non-Advocate Reviews, Failure Review Boards, Engineering Safety Review Boards, independent program reviews, and other technical review activities.
• Participate in Engineering Review Boards and Configuration Control Boards to assess the safety impact of proposed design and configuration changes.
• Evaluate hardware designs, mechanical and electrical drawings, schematics, and system architectures for fault tolerance, latent hazards, and safety requirements compliance.
• Collaborate across Systems, Software, Firmware, Electrical, Mechanical, Hardware, Test, Human Factors, and Environmental Health and Safety organizations.
• Work across integrated product teams to eliminate hazards or establish effective engineering and administrative controls.
• Provide technical direction to system safety personnel and mentor junior and mid-level safety engineers.
• Establish regular communication and feedback mechanisms with functional and program management.
• Escalate significant safety risks to the appropriate leadership level and ensure corrective actions are tracked through completion.
• Apply project management principles to safety planning, resource coordination, schedule execution, risk management, and program deliverables.
• Support proposal development, program planning, cost estimating, and technical content development for new or expanding system safety efforts.
• Provide pragmatic, technically sound solutions to complex or time-sensitive safety issues.

Required Qualifications

• Ba