Operations Safety Lead

AeroVect is transforming ground handling with autonomy, redefining how airlines and ground service providers run day-to-day operations. The Operations Safety Lead acts as the primary on-the-ground safety point of contact at Atlanta (ATL), positioned within the Safety Department with a dotted-line reporting relationship to Operations. The role applies AeroVect's Safety Management System (SMS) at ATL, ensuring human factors and operational execution adhere to a safety-first mindset, including defining quantitative safety thresholds, managing mitigation reviews, establishing escalation logic for safety drivers, and maintaining traceability between field events and safety analysis.

Responsibilities

Serve as the onsite point of contact at ATL for identifying, surfacing, and resolving operational safety concerns; Own and define quantitative safety thresholds, categorize mitigation risk severity, and lead mitigation review cadences; Review Near-Miss Concepts (NMCs) from an operational safety perspective using data tools (Hex, Jira) and operator feedback; Write and maintain escalation logic for safety drivers and operators during field anomalies or off-nominal conditions; Present weekly reporting to the Atlanta Operations team on risk events and safety mitigations; Provide monthly safety bulletins to Operators; Ensure strict operational compliance with airfield rules, airside driving standards, and Deployment Readiness Review (DRR) mitigations; Implement, enforce, and own autonomy checklists for vehicle releases, airside incidents, and daily pre-departure checks; Act as an independent safety check on vehicle readiness and driver allocation updates prior to autonomous deployment; Sit in autonomous vehicles prior to new feature releases to evaluate performance, human factors, and sign off on operational readiness; Conduct regular shadow shifts (at least weekly across AM and PM shifts) to evaluate real-world operating environments and driver behaviors; Work with the Operations Training team to oversee safety driver training standards and sign off on airside driving certification programs; Partner with the Training Supervisor on safety driver training, manual updates, and post-release mitigation debriefs; Coordinate with Airport Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) teams when specialized airside training or safety protocols are required; Participate in daily shift handoffs and operational planning meetings

Requirements

Demonstrated experience in ramp operations/airfield safety at an airline, airport operator, or operational safety within industrial robotics or automated logistics hubs; Proven track record of identifying operational hazards on the ground and establishing structured workflows to eliminate or mitigate risks; Strong, assertive, and articulate communication skills, willing to stop operations when safety is compromised; Ability to navigate competing priorities across operations and engineering; Full-time onsite presence at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL); Valid U.S. driver's license and clean driving record; Ability to obtain an ATL airport badge (fingerprint-based background check) and an ATL airfield driving permit; Willingness to undergo internal training and achieve autonomous driving certification within the first 60 days of employment

Nice to have

Familiarity with airside safety regulations, ramp safety standards, or ground handling operational procedures; Experience in autonomous functional safety standards (e.g., ISO 26262) is an asset but not required