About Canada Rocket Company

Canada Rocket Company is developing Canada's first medium-lift launch vehicle.  

We are a team of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, ArianeGroup, Pangea Propulsion, Tesla, MDA, and more, bringing over a century of combined launch and space systems experience back to Canada.  

Our mission is to provide reliable, independent access to space for Canada and its allies in a rapidly expanding global market.  

Our approach is defined by pragmatic engineering:  

• We utilize a single 750 kN engine that scales from light- to medium-lift via engine clustering.  

• We lean on simple, proven technologies to reach orbit faster, avoiding the pitfalls of complex or novel designs.  

• We test early and often, catching problems on the bench instead of at the pad.  

Backed by over $20M in funding secured within our first four months, including the largest all-Canadian seed round in the sector and an $8.3M Department of National Defence grant, we are  

moving with the speed and institutional backing required to meet Canada’s orbital launch needs. 

About the role

We're looking for a Head of Flight Safety to own the safety case for our launch vehicle, from hazard analysis through flight termination system design to range and regulatory compliance. This is a foundational leadership role: you'll build the flight safety function from the ground up, establishing the frameworks, analyses, and culture that ensure public safety and enable us to fly. You'll work at the intersection of systems engineering, propulsion, avionics, and flight software, translating regulatory requirements and risk assessments into actionable design and operational constraints. If you want to be the person who clears Canada's first medium-lift rocket to fly, this is the role. 

What you'll do

• Define and execute the flight safety strategy for Canada Rocket Company's launch vehicle, spanning hazard analysis, risk assessment, flight termination system requirements, and range safety compliance. 

• Build, mentor, and lead a flight safety team, establishing hiring plans, engineering processes, and a culture of rigour and transparency. 

• Own the vehicle safety case, including Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), fault tree analysis, debris and trajectory risk assessments, and casualty expectation modelling. 

• Define requirements for the flight termination system in coordination with the avionics and flight software teams, ensuring fault tolerance, reliability, and compliance with applicable standards. 

• Develop and maintain ground safety and operational safety plans for test and launch campaigns, including hazardous operations procedures and exclusion zone management. 

• Interface with Canadian and allied regulatory bodies, range authorities, and government agencies on flight safety licensing, approvals, and compliance. 

• Partner with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, and flight software teams to integrate safety constraints into vehicle design without unnecessarily burdening development timelines. 

• Lead anomaly and mishap investigations, driving root cause analysis and corrective action. 

• Establish and maintain safety standards and documentation practices appropriate for a flight-critical launch vehicle program. 

Qualifications

Required 

• 10+ years of experience in flight safety, range safety, mission assurance, or system safety engineering for launch vehicles, missiles, or similarly high-consequence aerospace systems, with a meaningful portion in a technical leadership capacity. 

• Deep understanding of range safety standards and regulatory frameworks (e.g., 14 CFR Part 450, RCC 319/321/324, NASA-STD-8719.25, AFSPCMAN 91-710, or equivalent). 

• Demonstrated experience with probabilistic risk assessment, fault tree analysis, FMECA, debris and trajectory analysis, and casualty expectation modelling. 

• Familiarity with flight termination system architectures, requirements, and certification processes. 

• Proven ability to build and lead engineering teams, including hiring, mentoring, and establishing processes from an early stage. 

• Excellent collaboration skills, particularly in cross-disciplinary environments involving hardware, software, and systems engineering. 

Preferred 

• Experience with hazardous operations planning and safety supervision during test and launch campaigns. 

• Proficiency with risk analysis and simulation tools. 

• Experience working within or alongside Canadian defence or space regulatory frameworks (e.g., Transport Canada, DND, CSA). 

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, systems engineering, or a related field.