Operational Safety Lead - Defense

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy.

Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.;
San Diego;
Ft. Walton Beach, Florida;
Ann Arbor, Michigan;
London;
Stuttgart;
Munich;
Stockholm;
Bangalore;
Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments.

This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

As the Operational Safety Lead, you will be creating tools to aid our operational teams in evaluating and mitigating safety risks. You will also be the guiding authority on accepting operational safety risk for all projects. Projects include ground, maritime, and flight tests of crewed and uncrewed platforms for Group 1-5 UAS, including ordinance. Projects also include uncrewed and crewed maritime vehicles and ground vehicles.

The COS will oversee, review, and revise as necessary the comprehensive operational safety program for ground, maritime, and flight test operations, including experimental test, demonstration, and corporate flights.

• Set company safety requirements

• Work with the leaders of each vertical to ensure their standard operating procedures (SOPs) support the company’s safety requirements

• Work with project and vertical leads to aid in evaluating risks for each project

• Serve as an impartial arbitrator of risk for projects and take direct authority for safety anytime the risk level goes above “Medium”

• Stay informed of the latest regulatory guidance and industry best practices pertaining to operational safety

• Disseminate new information and ensure company policies and procedures remain in compliance

• Provide direct input to operators, test engineers, and aircrew by hosting safety stand-downs and recurrent safety training

• Collaborate with testing organizations in developing, updating, and approving individual programs’ Test Risk Analyses Worksheets (TRW)

• Be a leader in Test Risk Management through coordination with the Test Engineer of each program and by participating in test plan reviews, test operations, pre- and post-test operational briefings, and test readiness reviews

• Collaborate in the development of and amendments to, company's operations and test documentation, including operations manuals, test SOPs, local procedures, etc. This includes procedures involving ground handling of aircraft

• Lead periodic reviews of operational safety plans for each vertical and ensure that mitigation procedures are practical, being used, and are modified if required to ensure test team safety

• Procure and provide necessary safety training to operators and those evaluating safety risk

• 7 + years industry experience

• Bachelor's Degree

• Graduate of a certified test pilot school or at least 10 years of testing…