Purpose of the Role :
The Lead Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) Assessor has the overall authority and responsibility to ensure that all Safety assessment activities under a project are correctly prepared, executed and reported.
The role provides impartial technical judgement on whether safety requirements have been adequately defined, implemented, verified, and justified. Assessing whether risks have been demonstrated to have been reduced to an acceptable level.
Key Responsibilities :
Lead independent safety assessments for railway systems, including signaling, control command, rolling stock, infrastructure, and system integration projects.
Review and assess safety documentation, including Safety Cases, Hazard Logs, risk assessments, system safety plans, verification and validation evidence, test reports, and assurance arguments.
Assess compliance with applicable railway safety standards and regulations, including EN 50126, EN 50128 (EN50716), EN 50129 and other project-specific requirements.
Provide independent technical opinions on the adequacy of safety requirements, risk controls, safety evidence, and residual risk acceptance.
Plan, manage, and coordinate ISA activities across the project lifecycle, including assessment planning, document review, audits, inspections, test witnessing, findings management, and final reporting.
Act as the primary technical interface with clients, project teams, design authorities, validators, certification bodies, and regulatory stakeholders.
Lead multidisciplinary assessment teams, allocate tasks, review outputs, and ensure consistency, quality, and independence of assessment conclusions.
Identify safety-related issues, observations, and non-compliances, and provide clear recommendations to support timely resolution.
Prepare high-quality ISA plans, interim assessment reports, findings logs, technical notes, and final ISA reports.
Maintain impartiality and independence from design, delivery, and implementation activities in accordance with applicable accreditation and governance requirements.
Responsibilities
Required Qualification and Experience:
Bachelors degree in engineering, systems engineering or safety engineering discipline.
Minimum of 10 years of experience in railways, metros, or trams.
Specific experience in developing or assessing complex railway signalling systems.
Minimum 5 years railway safety assurance, independent safety assessment, systems assurance, certification, verification and validation, or safety-critical engineering.
Demonstrable experience applying railway safety standards, particularly CENELEC standards EN 50126, EN 50128 (EN 50716), and EN 50129, including RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety) specifications and demonstrations. Leading assessment activities for at least 3 complex rail projects, including multidisciplinary systems and interfaces.
Deep understanding of hazard identification, risk analysis, safety integrity levels, safety requirements management, assurance cases, and lifecycle safety processes.
Experience engaging with clients, suppliers, infrastructure managers, operators, notified bodies, designated bodies, assessment bodies, and national safety authorities.
Professional registration, chartered engineer status, or recognized safety/assurance certification is desirable.
Key Skills and Competencies :
Strong understanding of the processes and potential defects related to the lifecycle of the railway’s products
Knowledge and understanding of risk management, systems engineering and human/organizational factors for the subsystems within scope of assessment
Knowledge and understanding of the interfaces related to interoperability and safe integration
Understanding of the risk derived or likely to be derived from the integration of the product into the railway system
Ability to perform sound robust judgement on any deviation of the product under assessment
Strong technical judgement and the ability to form clear, evidence-based independent conclusions.
Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to produce concise, defensible, and audit-ready assessment reports.
Strong stakeholder management skills and confidence engaging with senior technical, project, and regulatory stakeholders.
Ability to lead teams, manage priorities, and deliver assessment outputs within agreed scope, schedule, and budget.
High attention to detail, analytical thinking, and a structured approach to reviewing complex safety evidence.
Commitment to professional integrity, impartiality, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, systems engineering, or safety engineering
- Minimum 10 years of experience in railways, metros, or trams
- Experience developing or assessing complex railway signalling systems
- Minimum 5 years of railway safety assurance, independent safety assessment, systems assurance, certification, verification and validation, or safety-critical engineering experience
- Experience applying EN 50126, EN 50128 or EN 50716, and EN 50129, including RAMS specifications and demonstrations
- Led assessment activities for at least three complex rail projects involving multidisciplinary systems and interfaces
- Deep understanding of hazard identification, risk analysis, safety integrity levels, safety requirements management, assurance cases, and lifecycle safety processes
- Experience engaging with clients, suppliers, infrastructure managers, operators, notified bodies, designated bodies, assessment bodies, and national safety authorities
- Professional registration, chartered engineer status, or recognized safety or assurance certification
What We Do
DNV is the independent expert in risk management and assurance, operating in more than 100 countries. Through its broad experience and deep expertise DNV advances safety and sustainable performance, sets industry benchmarks, and inspires and invents solutions.
