Safety Management System Engineer – Aerospace & Defense

Thunderstrike Aviation is expanding its Quality organization and seeking a Safety Management System Engineer to support the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of our enterprise Safety Management System for next-generation unmanned aerial systems (UAS under 150 kg).

We are proud to be an international company with a diverse and collaborative culture. This role offers the opportunity to work closely with colleagues and partners around the world, contributing to a truly global team environment.

This role is critical in ensuring that safety considerations are integrated throughout the entire product lifecycle, from early concept development and system design through flight testing, certification activities, and operational deployment. Working closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Flight Test, Operations, and Quality teams, you will help identify hazards, assess risk, develop safety controls, and strengthen the organization’s safety culture as we scale.

This is a highly collaborative position within a fast-growing aerospace startup, requiring both strategic thinking and hands-on involvement. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating in an evolving environment where processes, systems, and governance frameworks are still being established.

The role

Your primary responsibility will be to build and implement Thunderstrike Aviation’s Safety

Management System (SMS) from the ground up.

The overall framework and key elements have been identified, but the policies, processes, training, communication and reporting mechanisms now need to be developed and implemented across the organization.

This is about product and flight safety – not occupational health and safety. A central part of the role is creating a culture and system where employees can report potential safety concerns openly.

You will:

• Develop and implement the Safety Management System (SMS), including policies, procedures and reporting processes.
• Establish effective processes for safety reporting, risk assessment and follow-up.
• Develop safety communication, awareness and training across the organization.
• Facilitate investigations, root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams when safety issues or potential product risks are identified.
• Support processes for assessment, corrective actions, escalation and communication with relevant stakeholders when significant safety issues arise, including for UAS already in operation.

What we are looking for

We are looking for someone with practical experience in Safety Management Systems within aerospace or aviation.

You should understand how to establish and operate an SMS and be comfortable working with:

• Safety reporting and safety culture
• Risk assessment and hazard management
• Root cause and corrective actions
• Policies, procedures and governance
• Training and safety communication

Experience with AS9100 and aerospace regulatory environments, defense, UAS, or other safety-critical industries is relevant, and direct SMS experience is particularly valuable.

You do notneed to be the deepest technical specialist in every aspect of aircraft safety. The role is primarily system-oriented. Your responsibility is to establish the framework, facilitate the process and bring the right technical specialists together to assess risks and determine appropriate actions.

About you

You are structured, independent and comfortable building something that does not yet fully exist.

You can work across Engineering, Quality, Operations and Flight Test, and you are able to create trust around sensitive safety issues while still ensuring that findings are followed through to clear actions.

Most importantly, you combine a systematic approach to safety with the ability to make the SMS work in practice across the organization.

EU citizenship and eligibility for required NATO security clearance are required for the role.

Apply here: Safety Management System Engineer – Aerospace & Defense | Thunderstrike Aviation | LinkedIn