{"id":594511,"url":"https://alion.io/job/caterpillar-safety-systems-software-architect","title":"Safety Systems Software Architect","company":{"id":176554,"name":"Caterpillar","domain":"caterpillar.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/caterpillar","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":81,"open_postings":27,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.963,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":12,"computed_at":"2026-10-15T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"staff","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Irving, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":128470,"max":208770,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":208770},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Sensor Fusion","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-10T15:09:40Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-10","last_verified_at":"2026-10-15T15:31:15Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":35,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":35},"description":"Career Area:\nEngineeringJob Description:\nYour Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.\nWhen you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do - but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here - we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.\nThe Safety Systems Software Architect provides senior technical leadership for the architecture, design, integration, and lifecycle evolution of safety-critical software used in autonomous and semi-autonomous heavy equipment applications. Operating with a high degree of independence, this role defines and governs software architecture for safety systems, ensuring solutions are robust, scalable, verifiable, and aligned with functional safety and product safety objectives.\nThis individual serves as the software architecture authority for safety systems, translating safety concepts and system requirements into software architecture, interface definitions, fault-handling strategies, degraded-mode behavior, and verification approaches while mentoring engineering teams and influencing technical direction across the organization.\nWhat You Will Do:\nDefine and lead the software architecture for operator safety systems, human-machine interaction safety, supervisory control, and safe-state management systems\nTranslate safety goals, system requirements, hazard analyses, and operational design constraints into software architecture, interface contracts, safety mechanisms, and verification strategies\nLead architectural trade-off decisions for real-time performance, determinism, fault containment, diagnostics, monitoring, redundancy, graceful degradation, and maintainability\nPartner with systems engineering, functional safety, cybersecurity, controls, perception, positioning, validation, and product teams to integrate safety considerations into product architecture\nProvide technical leadership across requirements traceability, architecture documentation, design reviews, verification planning, validation evidence, and safety case support\nDevelop and guide production-quality C++ software design patterns, reusable safety components, middleware interfaces, and integration approaches for embedded and edge-computing environments\nTroubleshoot complex safety-system behavior across simulation, bench, machine, and production environments, including timing, sensor fusion, perception, fault handling, and integration issues\nCommunicate architecture decisions, safety risks, assumptions, constraints, and technical recommendations clearly to engineers, stakeholders, and leadership\nMentor engineers on safety-focused software architecture, design quality, review practices, and disciplined development of safety-critical systems\nWhat You Have:\nSafety-Critical Software Engineering:Expert-level C++ design and implementation experience for embedded, real-time, or safety-critical software systems\nExperience designing software components with clear ownership, deterministic behavior, testability, fault detection, fault isolation, and recovery mechanisms\nStrong engineering practices including requirements traceability, design documentation, code quality, debugging, profiling, static analysis, and disciplined change control\nAbility to apply structured software design techniques to complex, distributed, and safety-relevant autonomy systems\n\nSoftwareSafetyArchitecture:Demonstrated experience owning architecture for major software products, safety systems, autonomy systems, or distributed embedded platforms\nAbility to define software architecture alternatives and evaluate trade-offs across safety, performance, reliability, diagnosability, maintainability, and product delivery\nExperience establishing interface contracts, data flows, safety monitors, watchdogs, degraded-mode strategies, and safe-state behavior across software and system boundaries\nExperience facilitating architecture reviews, design walkthroughs, failure-mode discussions, and cross-discipline technical alignment\nAbility to connect architecture decisions to safety requirements, verification evidence, operational constraints, and lifecycle maintainability\n\nFunctional Safety Practices: Working knowledge of functional safety practices, hazard analysis, risk assessment, safety requirements decomposition, and verification expectations for safety-critical autonomy or machine-control systems.\nProblem Solving:Identifies and documents specific problems and resolution alternatives. \nHelps to analyze risks and benefits of alternative approaches and obtain decisions on resolution. \nUses fact-finding techniques and diagnostic tools to identify problems \n\nTechnical Troubleshooting:Discovers, analyzes, and resolves software or application problems. \nAnalyzes code, logs, and current systems as part of advanced troubleshooting. \nRecords and reports specific technical problems, solving processes and tools that have been used. \n\nCommunicating Complex Concepts: Knowledge of effective presentation tools and techniques to ensure clear understanding; ability to use summarization and simplification techniques to explain complex technical concepts in simple, clear language appropriate to the audience. \nPerceives lack of audience comprehension; further simplifies explanation when needed. \n\nEducation Requirements: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field - or commensurate industry experience.\nConsideration for Top Candidates:\nExtensive experience as a software architect, technical lead, or senior development engineer for safety-critical, autonomous, robotic, or machine-control systems\nStrong experience architecting software for operator safety, operator awareness, human-machine interaction, remote and autonomous operation safety, safe intervention strategies, perception integration, positioning, controls, or supervisory safety functions\nExperience applying functional safety practices, structured safety analysis, and safety-focused development processes to software architecture and product development preferred\nExperience defining safety mechanisms such as monitoring, plausibility checks, diagnostics, redundancy management, fault containment, degraded operation, and safe-state transitions preferred\nExperience with operator-aware or sensor-driven systems using presence detection, proximity sensing, cameras, radar, LIDAR, GNSS/GPS, inertial sensors, or other perception and positioning inputs preferred\nExperience with real-time controllers, embedded Linux, edge computing, robotics middleware, simulation environments, or hardware-in-the-loop validation preferred\nExperience in construction, mining, off-highway, automotive, aerospace, industrial automation, or other regulated safety-critical industries preferred\nAdditional Information:\nThis position is to work onsite at our Irving TX office.\nRelocation assistance is NOT available for this position.\nVisa sponsorship is NOT available for this position\nThis position may require travel up to 30%\nSummary Pay Range:\n$128,470.00 - $208,770.00Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-relatedknowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.\nBenefits:\nSubject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.\nMedical, dental, and vision benefits*\n\nPaid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*\n\n401(k) savings plans*\n\nHealth Savings Account (HSA)*\n\nFlexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*\n\nHealth Lifestyle Programs*\n\nEmployee Assistance Program*\n\nVoluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*\n\nCareer Development*\n\nIncentive bonus*\n\nDisability benefits\n\nLife Insurance\n\nParental leave\n\nAdoption benefits\n\nTuition Reimbursement\n\n* These benefits also apply to part-time employees\nThis position requires working onsite five days a week.Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position.Posting Dates:\nSeptember 10, 2026 - September 27, 2026Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.\nCaterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.\nNot ready to apply? 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