Reliability and Safety Engineer

Job description

**Help Build Europe's Hypersonic Capability** At **Hypersonica**, we’re redefining what’s possible in European defence technology. We exist to deliver speed, resilience, and technological independence at a pace that sets a new standard. We are a small, elite team working on problems that matter, and solving them fast. As our Reliability and Safety Engineer you’re not stepping into a predefined role. You’re joining a talent dense environment where every individual shapes the direction of the company. Our philosophy is to hire a small number of exceptional people with broad, deep technical capability, strong judgement, and the ability to operate autonomously. We hire for talent, not rigid boxes. This role represents a business need, but the way it evolves will be shaped by the individual. If you’ve achieved what others said was impossible, or you bring a unique combination of skills that doesn’t fit a traditional mould, we want to hear from you. The work you do here directly contributes to Europe’s technological independence. ### What you'll do - Lead reliability and safety analysis across avionics, guidance, navigation, and control (AGNC) systems at system, subsystem, and component level. - Perform structured safety analyses, including Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). - Assess and quantify reliability metrics, including MTBF, to inform design tradeoffs and system architecture decisions. - Identify single point failures, common cause risks, and degradation paths in flight critical systems. - Work closely with AGNC design, systems, and test engineers to influence architectures and mitigate risk early in development. - Support verification, test, and flight readiness activities by providing clear safety and reliability evidence. - Use test results and flight data to validate assumptions, refine analyses, and improve models over time. ### Who you are - A reliability or safety engineer with 4+ years’ experience in aerospace, defence, or other high-consequence engineering domains. - Deeply experienced in structured safety and reliability methods, with the judgement to know where they add value and where they don’t. - Comfortable reasoning across system, subsystem, and component boundaries, not just analysing parts in isolation. - Someone who naturally looks for single-point failures, common-cause risks, and degradation paths before they show up in test. - Fluent in quantitative reliability thinking, including interpreting and challenging MTBF-style metrics. - Confident influencing design decisions early, before architecture hardens and options disappear. - Able to balance analytical rigour with programme pace, supporting rapid iteration without false confidence. - Motivated by working on flight-critical systems where safety and reliability are mission-enabling, not box-ticking. ### What we offer - A mission driven environment with the opportunity to work on one of Europe’s most consequential defence challenges, with direct impact on sovereign capability and security. - Daily collaboration with top experts across engineering, operations, and defence, with real opportunity to learn from the best, contribute, and grow. - High ownership and autonomy; no time tracking, no micromanagement, just clear objectives and accountability for outcomes. - A fast paced environment where good ideas are implemented quickly, and feedback from test and flight drives real decisions. - A culture that values clarity, integrity, and excellence, and supports people who take initiative and push boundaries responsibly. - Competitive compensation and real share options aligned to responsibility and impact, not tenure or hierarchy.