Operational Safety Data Engineer
Zoox
Data Science
Foster City, CA, USA
Posted on Jun 26, 2025
The Operational Safety Data Engineer will be responsible for aggregating, analyzing, and presenting data to inform risk-based safety processes related to fleet events as Zoox safely scales its service operations. In doing so, they will work closely with System Design & Mission Assurance, Operations, PMO, Software, Hardware, and Legal teams to ensure a rigorous, disciplined, risk-based approach.
This position will require the ability to quickly gather and analyze data to support precision risk-based analyses of safety operations, and build the foundational tools for Zoox to be able to do so in an efficient manner consistent with supporting an operational service. A successful candidate will be able to bring “clarity through data” to navigate the safety risk associated with events in the field, communicate the analysis and assumptions clearly to technical and non-technical audiences alike, and collaborate with Operations to enact appropriate responsive measures. This candidate should also be able to support a rotational on-call incident management process which includes nights, weekends and holidays.
In this role you will ...
- Develop and implement new methods and tools to aggregate and analyze data to support risk-based decision making related to safety operations. Clearly and concisely communicate findings and recommendations to broad technical and non-technical audiences, including Zoox executives.
- Partner with cross-functional teams (SDMA, Operations, Mapping, PMO, Software, etc.) to develop, align on and implement pragmatic safety risk evaluation frameworks.
- Create and maintain safety operations dashboards representing safety KPIs, identifying trends, determining thresholds, and escalating as needed. Present regular updates to safety leadership and other executives.
- Participate in safety on-call processes, including outside of standard business hours.
Qualifications
- BS Degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field with at least 6 years of experience working with safety-critical systems, or a combination of experience and education
- Demonstrated expertise in safety risk management (qualitative and quantitative) to inform decision making
- Motivated self-starter with a bias to action. Ability to work independently to develop new methodologies, and seek cross-functional input when needed.
- Intellectual curiosity and propensity to challenge existing processes and thinking.
- Ability to manage incidents, triage potential safety concerns, and escalations on-call with poise and professionalism
- Familiarity with tools such as DataBricks, and proficiency in SQL, PySpark, Python, Pandas, etc.
Bonus Qualifications
- Experience in AV industry and knowledge of systems and sub-systems
- Technical expertise in one or more of the following areas: AI (planning, prediction, perception, etc.), ADAS development, Risk-based analysis, or SW safety critical systems
- Familiarity with applicable industry safety standards such as MIL-STD-882, ISO 26262, ISO 21448 PAS, etc.