Job Title: Software Safety Assurance Consultant
Location: Malvern / Farnborough / Boscombe
Working Model: Hybrid - (Travel to site is required)
Duration: up to 12 months minimum
Rate: £500 - £650
Inside IR35
**Active SC Clearance Preferred but candidates with lapsed SC will also be considered
The main 3 skills we're looking for are:
- Experience in the development of embedded software (preferably Ada / C coding languages);
- Safety-critical development experience (Defence Air systems preferred);
- Experience in the application of RTCA DO-178B/C or similar open safety standard (e.g. IEC 61508).
Job Specification
As the Demand for QinetiQ's services continue to grow, we are looking to further expand our Software Assurance team. Supporting Software delivery across multiple projects and QinetiQ locations across the UK, you will be part of a team that provides an Independent Technical Assessment of the software of safety critical/related aircraft systems and provide advice on airworthiness issues related to those systems. Working on the latest military platforms (i.e Typhoon), you will lead the assessment of third party software and/or software documentation for adequate safety and conformance to standards.
You will carry out Independent Technical Evaluation (ITE) on the Eurofighter (EF) Typhoon Aircraft;
This involves (and each case citing evidence or lack of evidence that supports their conclusions) populating an argument for software safety under a goal structure contained in IBM DOORS QinetiQ owned Evaluator Working Area (EWA) modules, which consists at the highest level:
- Establishing that a baseline exists for the software under review;
- Establish that the SW is targeted to be developed to a known software standard (typically EF);
- Establish that the SW development and verification process is established, and meets the above (stated) standard;
- Establish that this process has been followed;
- Establish that the product produced according to the above standard is suitable for use in terms of safety;
- Where issues are found, the impact of those issues and whether they affect safety should be determined and recorded. This may involve liaison with other disciplines within QinetiQ;
Raising any recommendation to be delivered to the customer;
Evaluating the changes down to the source code level which is written in SPARK Ada and review of the associated SPARK Analysis.
The role will;
Interface with QinetiQ Systems and Safety Subject Matter Experts (SME);
Provide the assessment in a format suitable to the project (see discussion later);
Where possible attend Industry software reviews (Requirements, Design, Verification and Product Configuration Reviews) at the request of the Customer as part of Through-Life ITE (TL-ITE);
Require travel to Europe & UK for customer & industry facing meetings / workshops
Within this diverse and technically challenging role, you will apply military and/or civil standards for software safety (including Def Stan 00-56, Def Stan 00-55, DO-178x) to provide accurate and trusted technical assurance to the wider team.
The Fit:
- We are either looking for an experienced technical assessor or someone looking to move into this field with a software engineering / Aviation background. Your strong communication skills will enable you to construct and convey logical arguments effectively whilst your analytical skills will allow you to analysis in a pragmatic and effective way.
Skill set should include;
- Knowledge of aircraft SW development and of the recognised SW development standards (usually the Eurofighter development standards but could be a commercial standard such as RTCA/DO-178);
- Knowledge of safety critical SW development, and safety engineering concepts/vocabulary;
- Previous demonstrable ITE activity in a similar environment;
- Understanding of the EF Toolset that includes SPARK Ada Toolset and the HOOD design tool;
- Knowledge of EF Standards desirable;
- This is a varied and challenging role that will require the successful candidate to deliver results against defined deadlines and show pragmatism in the judgement of software integrity and the determination of an adequate level of evidence. In return you will receive excellent support and training, developing your broad technical knowledge to enable you to confidently provide the technical assurance that the projects require.
Primary Skill Set:
- Has demonstrable experience within Software Assurance / Software Engineering
- Experience in embedded software development - ADA
- Safety critical software experience - preferably air systems
- Experience of DO-178B or DO-178C
If you hold SC Clearance and meet the above requirements, please apply to be contacted by an Experis Consultant
