System and Hardware Safety Architect

Job Title

System and Hardware Safety Architect

Role Summary

The System and Hardware Safety Architect will lead development of system-level and hardware safety concepts for automotive and industrial reference designs, focusing initially on 48V energy distribution for Software-Defined Vehicles and zonal/central compute architectures.

Work within a multidisciplinary safety team to evaluate technologies, influence product and system architectures, and provide technical leadership to engineering teams and customers.

Experience Level

Senior-level role. The posting prefers candidates with 10+ years of relevant experience.

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities include defining safety concepts, performing analyses, and supporting integration and customer activities.

• Define system, technical, and hardware safety concepts compliant with ISO 26262 and IEC 61508.
• Perform safety analyses (FMEA, FMEDA, FTA, DFA) and other system-level safety assessments.
• Analyze IC safety documentation to derive integration requirements, hardware-software interfaces (HSI), and device configuration recommendations.
• Develop safety manuals, application notes, and customer-facing safety collateral.
• Support hardware and software integration teams to implement safety mechanisms and meet safety objectives.
• Contribute to demonstrations and proof-of-concepts showcasing functional safety technologies.
• Engage with customers and partners to support system-level integration of safety solutions.
• Provide technical leadership, mentor engineers, and promote best practices in safety-driven system design.

Requirements

Must-have skills and experience; preferred items listed separately.

• Deep expertise in functional safety standards: ISO 26262 (including ASIL D) and IEC 61508.
• Proven experience defining and driving system, hardware, and software safety architectures for complex automotive or industrial systems.
• Practical experience with safety analysis methods (FMEA, FMEDA, FTA, DFA).
• Experience developing fail-silent and fail-operational concepts for safety-critical applications (for example, X-by-Wire).
• Strong background in power electronics and 48V energy distribution for automotive applications.
• Experience with analog power-distribution components such as PMICs, efuses, DC/DC converters, and gate drivers used in automotive ECUs.
• Prior experience at an Automotive Tier 1 or Tier 2 supplier on hardware electronic safety systems.
• Ability to produce customer-facing technical collateral and to interact directly with customers on integration topics.
• Demonstrated technical leadership and ability to mentor engineering teams.

Education Requirements

Master's degree in Electronics Engineering or Computer Engineering preferred; 10 or more years of relevant experience preferred.

About the Company

Company: NXP Semiconductors

Headquarters: Nijmegen, Netherlands

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a global semiconductor company that provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions. With over 45,000 employees and operations in more than 35 countries, NXP is a leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, catering to automotive, industrial IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. The company is committed to innovation and sustainability, advancing a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world through technology.