Full-Time

Senior System Safety Engineer 4/5

Zone 5 Technologies

Zone 5 Technologies

201-500 employees

End-to-end UAS development for DoD

Compensation Overview

$159k - $222k/yr

No H1B Sponsorship

San Luis Obispo, CA, USA

In Person

US Citizenship, US Top Secret Clearance Required

Category
Aerospace Engineering (2)
,
Required Skills
Risk Management
Requirements
  • 7+ years as a System Safety Engineer or equivalent safety-critical engineering role
  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Systems, or Electrical Engineering, or Physics
  • Expertise with MIL-STD-882E and military safety standards
  • Experience creating and executing test plans for safety verification
  • Proven experience engaging with customers on System Safety Reviews (THAR, NNMSB, or similar)
  • Strong system architecture knowledge and safety requirements decomposition
  • Extensive FHA, FTA, and SCFTA experience
  • Failure investigation with proven corrective action implementation
  • Technical writing for reports, procedures, and documentation
  • Hazard/risk management and tracking to closure
  • Design review experience (PDR, CDR, MRR) with strong presentation skills
  • Data collection, analysis, and trending for safety metrics
  • U.S. Citizenship
Responsibilities
  • Develop and maintain System Safety Program Plan and safety architecture documentation
  • Lead Functional Hazard Analysis (FHA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and System Safety Assessments
  • Identify, document, and manage hazards, risks, and mitigation measures throughout the lifecycle
  • Draft System Safety Analysis Reports and maintain traceability between safety requirements, hazards, and mitigations
  • Lead Safety Critical Functional Thread Analysis (SCFTA) and support HAZOP/ETA activities
  • Establish data collection and analysis frameworks for safety metrics and trending
  • Develop technical documentation including safety standards, specifications, procedures, and user guides
  • Create and execute test plans for safety verification and validation
  • Lead development of Built-In Test (BIT) plans and support Qualification Test Plan development
  • Define test requirements, acceptance criteria, and success metrics for safety-critical functions
  • Review test data to confirm safety requirements compliance
  • Serve as primary point of contact with customers on system safety matters
  • Lead and participate in THAR, NNMSB, and other customer System Safety Reviews and Panels
  • Present safety analysis findings, risk postures, and mitigation strategies to customers
  • Support milestone reviews (PDR, CDR, QDR, MRR) representing system safety
  • Coordinate responses to customer safety data items and deliverables
  • Lead safety corrective actions from Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations
  • Host corrective action reviews and ensure lessons learned implementation
  • Coordinate risk mitigation with Manufacturing Engineering, Logistics, and Deployment Operations
  • Develop and implement system safety processes and tools
  • Ensure compliance with MIL-STD-882E and other applicable safety standards
Desired Qualifications
  • Master's degree in engineering or related field
  • 10+ years progressive system safety experience
  • System Safety certification (ASP, CSP, CSEP)
  • DoD or Navy safety programs experience
  • Quantitative FTA with probabilistic risk assessment
  • FMEA/FMECA, HAZOP, and ETA experience
  • Safety analysis software tools (Relyence, Windchill, PTC Integrity)
  • Requirements management tools (JIRA, JAMA, Cameo, DOORS)
  • Aircraft, spacecraft, or UAV systems experience
  • Active U.S. Security Clearance or ability to obtain

Zone 5 Technologies designs and builds unmanned aircraft systems for the U.S. Department of Defense as a prime contractor. Its products include air-launched effects, counter-UAS interceptors, next-generation munitions, and low-cost cruise missiles. The PALADIN multi-mission UAS can autonomously intercept drones and deploy munitions, while the Open Weapon Platform provides a modular system to rapidly add new capabilities. The company focuses on vertically integrated development from concept to production and aims for digitally engineered, attritable, affordable aircraft that can scale through a DoD-approved deployment path via the DIU Blue UAS program.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

San Luis Obispo, California

Founded

2011

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Kongsberg acquired 90% of Zone 5 on December 16, 2025, unlocking global manufacturing scale.
  • Pentagon selected Zone 5 for 10,000+ low-cost cruise missiles starting 2027 testing June 2026.
  • $100M profitable sales in 2025 fund PALADIN and Open Weapon Platform production ramps.

What critics are saying

  • Kongsberg overrides Zone 5's open architecture with proprietary Norwegian avionics standards.
  • Anduril captures larger DoD missile contracts through faster AI-driven production ramps.
  • Castelion's hypersonic weapons outcompete Zone 5's subsonic missiles post-2026 testing.

What makes Zone 5 Technologies unique

  • Zone 5's Open Weapon Platform enables modular integration of third-party capabilities into UAS.
  • PALADIN UAS on DIU Blue UAS list supports autonomous drone interception and munitions deployment.
  • Vertically integrated from CONOPS to production for low-cost, high-rate attritable aircraft.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

401(k) Company Match

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Paid Holidays

Company News

KONGSBERG
Dec 18th, 2025
KONGSBERG acquires Zone 5 and enters development and high-volume production of affordable missiles - Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (‘KONGSBERG’) has signed an agreement to acquire the California-based missile company Zone 5 Technologies LLC, which designs and produces affordable, mass producible long-range strike and anti-drone missiles. The value of the transaction is undisclosed.

Surperformance
Dec 17th, 2025
Kongsberg acquires 90% of US missile maker Zone 5 for undisclosed sum

Norwegian defence company Kongsberg Gruppen has agreed to acquire 90 percent of US-based Zone 5 Technologies, which develops and produces low-cost missiles in large volumes. The purchase price was not disclosed, and the deal requires regulatory approval. Zone 5's management will retain the remaining shares. The company generated over $100 million in sales in 2025 and is profitable. It will operate as an independent subsidiary under Kongsberg. "The acquisition of Zone 5 is an important strategic step for Kongsberg. Zone 5 is at the forefront of developing affordable missiles that can be produced in large volumes," said Geir Håøy, CEO of Kongsberg Gruppen.