Application Guide

How to Apply for Director, System Safety

at May Mobility

🏢 About May Mobility

May Mobility is at the forefront of autonomous vehicle technology, focusing on safe, sustainable, and eco-friendly transportation with electric vehicles. Unlike many AV companies, May Mobility prioritizes a 'Driver-Out' deployment strategy in partnership with major ride-hail platforms like Lyft and Uber, making it a unique player in the L4 autonomous space. Working here means contributing to a mission that balances cutting-edge autonomy with rigorous safety and real-world deployment.

About This Role

As Director of System Safety, you will lead the safety strategy for May Mobility's L4 autonomous systems, directly overseeing the safety case framework and Safety Management System (SMS). This role is critical to enabling safe Driver-Out operations and scaling partnerships with ride-hail giants. You'll guide a multi-disciplinary team through hazard analysis, risk assessment, and safety gating, with direct impact on go/no-go deployment decisions.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might start with a standup with your safety engineering leads to review ongoing hazard analyses and test results. You'll then dive into a cross-functional meeting with systems and test teams to align on safety gating for an upcoming Driver-Out deployment with a partner. Afternoon could involve reviewing a safety case update, coaching a direct report on risk assessment methodology, and preparing a recommendation package for a go/no-go decision.

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🎯 Who May Mobility Is Looking For

  • Proven safety leader with 8+ years in system safety engineering, including 3+ years specifically on L3+ autonomous vehicles or comparable hard-tech safety programs (aviation, rail, robotics).
  • Deep expertise in safety case work products such as HARA, FTA, FMEA, and experience constructing safety cases for shipping vehicles or cyber-physical systems.
  • At least 3 years managing engineers, with experience leading multi-disciplinary teams across systems, test, and safety risk functions.
  • Familiarity with ML-aware safety analysis and runtime monitoring for decision-making stacks (like MPDM), and experience operationalizing Safety Management Systems (SMS) including incident risk assessment and recall response plans.

📝 Tips for Applying to May Mobility

1

Highlight specific AV safety programs you've led, especially any involving L4 systems and go/no-go deployment decisions.

2

Quantify your experience with safety case work products: mention the number of HARA/FTA/FMEA analyses authored and their impact on vehicle safety.

3

Emphasize your experience with Safety Management Systems (SMS) automation and risk register tools, as May Mobility is looking to operationalize these.

4

Tailor your resume to show cross-functional leadership across systems, test execution, and safety risk teams.

5

Mention any familiarity with MPDM-based decision-making or ML-aware safety analysis, as this is specific to May's stack.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your direct experience authoring safety case work products (HARA, FTA, FMEA) for autonomous vehicles or similar cyber-physical systems.', 'Your leadership in managing multi-disciplinary safety teams and driving safety culture across engineering functions.', 'Your track record of operationalizing Safety Management Systems, including incident risk assessment and recall response.', "Your passion for safe, sustainable transportation and alignment with May Mobility's mission of eco-friendly autonomy."]

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Study May Mobility's 'Driver-Out' deployment approach and their partnerships with Lyft and Uber to understand their go-to-market safety strategy.
  • → Review their published safety papers or blog posts on the MPDM decision-making stack and ML safety analysis.
  • → Research their vehicle platform (e.g., modified Toyota Sienna) and any public safety incidents or recalls to understand current safety posture.
  • → Look into their team structure and recent hires in safety roles to gauge team maturity and reporting lines.

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Describe your experience leading a safety case for an L4 autonomous system and how you handled ML-aware safety analysis.
2 How would you approach building and operationalizing a Safety Management System from scratch for a Driver-Out deployment?
3 Walk through a specific HARA or FTA you authored and how it influenced vehicle design or deployment decisions.
4 How do you manage cross-functional teams across systems, test, and safety risk to ensure alignment on safety gating?
5 How would you assess and mitigate risks associated with runtime monitors for a decision-making stack like MPDM?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Being too generic about AV safety without mentioning specific tools (HARA, FTA, FMEA) or L4 experience.
  • Failing to discuss management experience or cross-functional leadership, as this role requires leading a multi-disciplinary team.
  • Overlooking the importance of Safety Management Systems (SMS) and recall response; these are key responsibilities, so don't skip them.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to May Mobility!

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