Safety Management System (SMS) Specialist

Job Description Summary

The Senior SMS Engineer is responsible for developing, maintaining, assuring, and improving the organization’s Safety Management System (SMS) in line with aerospace regulatory requirements and industry best practice.

This role provides independent oversight of SMS effectiveness through safety assurance, performance monitoring, compliance verification, occurrence analysis, hazard oversight, and continuous improvement activity. The post holder will act as a specialist in SMS, helping the organization meet regulatory obligations while also driving a more proactive, data-led, and intelligence-based approach to safety.

The role requires strong analytical capability, a solid understanding of aerospace regulation, excellent stakeholder engagement, and experience leading safety initiatives across multiple sites and operational environments.

Job Description

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Safety Management System, Assurance

• Develop, implement, maintain, and improve Safety Assurance processes that support organizational SMS objectives, standards, governance frameworks, and assurance methodologies.
• Monitor SMS maturity and identify opportunities to strengthen organizational performance and sharing of best practice.
• Review the effectiveness of: the hazard identification processes, Safety Risk Management (SRM), safety promotion activities, safety controls, mitigations, and corrective actions and Management of Change (MoC) activities

2. Safety Performance Monitoring, Safety Data and Safety Intelligence

• Develop Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs), Safety Performance Targets (SPTs), and other assurance metrics.
• Analyze operational and safety data to identify: trends, precursors, emerging hazard trends, weak controls, systemic risks and best practice risk mitigation methods.
• Use both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess safety performance, transforming safety data into clear, actionable, safety intelligence to support risk-informed decisions.
• Support predictive and proactive monitoring approaches.
• Support predictive, proactive and reactive monitoring approaches, including leading and lagging indicators to highlight risks and improvement opportunities.
• Work with digital, analytics, and technology teams to improve the value gained from safety data, producing safety reports, dashboards, and assurance outputs for leadership teams and governance forums.
• Support the use of digital tools and AI-enabled analytical methods, where appropriate, to strengthen safety insight.

3. Regulatory Compliance and Oversight

• Maintain strong working knowledge of applicable aerospace regulations to ensure SMS activities align with and recognized guidance including: ICAO Annex 19 – Safety Management, ICAO Doc 9859 – Safety Management Manual, FAA 14 CFR Part 5 – Safety Management Systems, EASA Part 145, EASA Part 21 Subpart J, EASA Part 21 Subpart G
• Support organizational readiness for regulatory oversight and assist during FAA, EASA, customer, and third-party audits (as required).
• Monitor regulatory developments and emerging best practice that may affect SMS effectiveness.

4. Assurance Activities, Audit and Investigation

• Support the Internal Audit Teams, assurance reviews, and compliance assessments including verifying that corrective and preventive actions are effectively implemented.
• Analyze occurrences, audit findings, and investigation outputs to identify systemic contributors.
• Support safety investigations using structured root cause analysis methods.
• Ensure assurance outputs are objective, evidence-based, and properly documented.
• Track corrective actions through to effective and sustainable closure.

5. Enterprise Safety Improvement and Project Leadership

• Lead complex, organization-wide safety initiatives that improve SMS maturity and safety performance, managing projects from concept through implementation, deployment, assurance, and benefit realization.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives involving operational, engineering, production, quality, digital, and leadership stakeholders and coordinate safety projects across multiple sites and geographically dispersed operations.
• Use FLIGHT DECK principles to develop implementation action plans, problem solving and deployment strategies aligned to enterprise safety objectives. Identify implementation risks and barriers and develop mitigation actions.
• Support change activities linked to: SMS improvements, digital transformation, safety reporting enhancement, safety intelligence capability development
• Monitor project effectiveness and define how success and business benefit will be measured.
• Provide visible leadership and influence at multiple organizational levels.

6. Stakeholder Engagement and Safety Culture

• Work closely with operational, engineering, production, quality, and leadership teams to improve safety performance.
• Provide expert SMS advice and guidance across the organization.
• Support a positive reporting culture and strong organizational learning.
• Promote Just Culture principles and proactive safety behaviors.
• Present safety performance and assurance findings to governance boards and leadership forums.
• Build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

• Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Engineering, Safety Management, Human Factors, Aviation Management, Data Analytics, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Safety Management System training/experience.
• Internal auditor qualification or equivalent assurance experience is desirable.
• Applying Safety Management System principles in aerospace or another safety-critical industry.
• Working within FAA and/or EASA regulated environments.
• Supporting and responding to regulatory audits.
• Conducting safety assurance, compliance monitoring, internal audit, or oversight activities.

This role requires access to U.S. export-controlled information. Therefore, employment will be contingent upon the ability to prove that you meet the status of a U.S. Person as one of the following: U.S. lawful permanent resident, U.S. Citizen, have been granted asylee or refugee status (i.e., a protected individual under the Immigration and Naturalization Act, 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)).

Additional Information

GE Aerospace offers a great work environment, professional development, challenging careers, and competitive compensation. GE Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

GE Aerospace will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen (as applicable). Employees may also be subject to random and reasonable-suspicion drug and alcohol testing.

Relocation Assistance Provided: Yes