Project Safety Manager

About the team

In Hengelo, The Netherlands, Thales develops advanced radar and combat management systems. The System Engineering department is responsible for the design of new products and for managing software and hardware development. Within this department, specialists from the Product HSE/safety engineering team are involved in all development projects, from bid phase until system setting-to-work.

Safety engineering is an important and integral part of the design process of our high-end products and systems-of-systems. In your role as a senior project safety manager you will be responsible for the overall coordination of safety activities in a large development project context.

Your main objective is to manage all necessary activities to meet the project's contractual and legal safety obligations. You will be the general point of contact for safety matters for the customer, for applicable subcontractors and for the Thales Naval development organization. In the Thales Naval development organization, you will interact with system architects, safety specialists, system engineers and others who are system safety stakeholders.

You will also be interacting with the customer to discuss and align safety matters. Your risk-based project management and communication skills enable you to connect with all stakeholders efficiently, and you feel confident when communicating in the English language.

Your experience allows you to adequately assess and face all safety related challenges that come with a large development project of a technical complex system. Your knowledge of and experience with system engineering principles, (functional) safety methods, standards and legislation in a system safety context have been well developed during your previous assignments in your career.

You will be reporting to the project manager.

• Set-up, maintain and execute the safety management plan;
• Interact with project management and the customer regarding project safety matters (progress, explaining, negotiations);
• Analyze, assess and allocate customer safety requirements;
• Perform hazard analysis, manage safety issues, and maintain a project hazard log;
• Manage subcontractors regarding allocated safety responsibilities;
• Align safety-related activities for your project in the engineering organization;
• Report, advise and decide on integral safety issues and safety strategies in the project;
• Manage the overall project safety case and make sure it gets complete and accepted.

The role allows you to further develop your project management and safety engineering skills. Since Thales in Hengelo is a large organization, future career switches might be possible.

• Has a relevant master or polytechnic engineering degree;
• Has at least 5 years' experience as a technical safety manager in a complex product engineering context (for example automotive/aerospace/mechanical engineering)
• Experience in defence is a very big plus
• Masters risk-based integral project management;
• Is familiar with system engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering and system/software verification principles;
• Being an experienced professional, is able to coach safety engineers and engineers from other engineering disciplines;
• Is familiar with international safety standards and legislations like IEC 61508, IEC 62368, IEC 60950, MIL-STD-882, DEF-STAN, CE, REACh;
• Has the ability to see the big picture, and is capable of interacting with all engineering disciplines;
• Has well-developed analytical and conceptual skills;
• Has good communication and persuasive skills to effectively interact with customers, subcontractors, engineers and management;
• Has the ability to communicate clearly in English (Dutch and German are an advantage).

Good to know:

candidate needs to work at Hengelo at least 2 sometimes 3 days a week

freelancers are allowed

maximum travel time (one hour from Hengelo)

NL eyes only

'The people we all rely on to make the world go round – they rely on Thales'. In a fast-changing and increasingly unpredictable world full of opportunities, people come to us with big ambitions – to make your life better and more secure. Our employees, who are part of a unique and varied team with many different fields of expertise and a wide range of talents and cultures, develop and deliver outstanding high-tech solutions. Thales employs 80,000 highly talented people in 68 countries. Two thousand of these are based in the Netherlands. We are one of the largest high-tech employers in the field of security and protection.

We help our customers think smarter and act faster in the fields of transport, defence, aerospace, aviation technology and cyberspace, to manage and control their increasingly complex processes and make the best possible business decisions. This is why we play a leading role in digital transformation, focusing on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data & Data Analysis, Connectivity, Mobility, Internet of Things, Cyber Security.

In the Netherlands, we are located in four cities: Huizen, Delft, Eindhoven and Hengelo (head office). Together with an extensive ecosystem of knowledge partners, customers and suppliers, we work on radar systems for seagoing vessels, cyber security solutions, transport systems, communications equipment for land forces, cryogenic cooling solutions, R&D for radar technology (in collaboration with TU Delft), as well as R&D for serious gaming. (in collaboration with the University of Twente).