Find the right Functional Safety Engineers in Germany fast from 15,000 CVs with precise AI matching.
Bring in experts for HARA, safety concept work, and ISO 26262 or IEC 61508 delivery. Add support for FMEA, safety case documentation, and validation planning, with fast and precise matching to vetted, available freelancers.
About the role
Safety work that fits the project
Functional safety engineers turn system risk into clear requirements, documents, and tests. They support the full safety lifecycle for automotive, industrial automation, robotics, rail, and other controlled systems. Typical work includes:
- HARA and risk analysis
- Safety concept and technical safety requirements
- Safety case documentation
- Verification and validation planning
- Supplier and interface reviews
Core methods and standards Strong functional safety work depends on the right process, not just engineering knowledge. A freelance functional safety engineer knows how to work with ISO 26262, IEC 61508, and related development processes. They translate hazards into ASIL or SIL-driven measures, review architecture choices, and keep traceability clean across requirements, design, test, and release.
Tools and deliverables The role often touches requirements tools, test management, and model-based engineering environments. Common deliverables include safety plans, safety requirements, compliance evidence, review reports, and test support for safety mechanisms. In practice, a good engineer can work across systems, hardware, and software teams without losing the safety argument.
When companies bring one in Companies usually hire a freelance Functional Safety Engineer when a project needs extra capacity, a standard update, or an independent review. It also makes sense when a launch is blocked by missing safety documentation, unclear system boundaries, or gaps between hardware and software teams. In Germany, this is common in OEM, Tier 1, industrial equipment, and automation projects where on-site coordination and English or German communication may both matter.
What strong experts do well A strong professional is precise, calm, and hard to surprise.
- Connects hazards, requirements, and tests clearly
- Spots missing assumptions early
- Writes documents that auditors can follow
- Works well with system, hardware, software, and test teams
- Challenges unsafe shortcuts without creating noise
Freelance fit A freelancer is a good fit when you need expertise for a defined phase, not a permanent seat. That can be a safety gap review, a new platform launch, a supplier package check, or support during certification readiness. The best freelance functional safety engineers stay hands-on, ask the right questions, and leave behind a process the team can continue to use.
Meet FRATCH Functional Safety Engineers
Armin Wehrle
Head of Functional Safety & R&D Processes
Last position:
Interims Head of Functional Safety & R&D Processes at SEMIKRON Danfoss GmbH & Co KG
- Planning and coordination of all safety activities and organizational development to meet the requirements of ISO 26262 and IEC 61508
- Process development according to Automotive SPICE™ and ISO 26262
- Establishment and technical leadership of the CoC Functional Safety Management and coordination and responsibility of safety activities across all projects (ASIL C and ASIL D)
- Stakeholder management and alignment with OEMs, DIA/RASIC coordination
- Steering of staff on developing functional safety and relevant work products for safety evidence
- Planning, coordination, monitoring and progress analysis of work package creation and action tracking
- Planning and execution of safety assessments and audits for internal sub-projects and external suppliers
- Creation of the safety plan and support in creating work packages for the safety case
- Conducting FMEAs, FMEDAs and FTAs
- Coordination, development and execution of safety training
- Resource and deployment planning, budget planning and controlling
- Planning, tendering, contracting and coordination of temporary external support services
- Interdisciplinary planning and coordination of activities in functional safety management according to ISO 26262
- Conducting ASPICE™ maturity assessments and deriving process improvements based on the standard requirements
- Planning, coordination and creation of the safety assurance documentation
- Central point of contact for functional safety for all organizational levels as well as NBs, OEMs and suppliers
- Reporting to the division manager
Daniel Opitz
Deep automotive expertise in product development, project management and functional safety
Last position:
FMEA Moderator and Expert at Tier1 Automotive
Creating structured item definitions as a basis for FMEA execution
Redesign/optimization of existing FMEAs according to the VDA/AIAG manual in PeakAvenue/Plato. Focus on the quality of defining functions and failure modes
Adding functions and failure modes
Revising the risk analysis. Adding and rating prevention and detection measures
Developing a framework for improved tracking of measures
Team training
Improved FMEA with a focus on early failure prevention / early failure mode avoidance
Successfully held customer reviews
Ould Aly Isselmou
Functional Safety Assessor
Last position:
Functional Safety Assessor at VW
- Pre-assessments and review of functional safety status for ADAS ECUs and body controller components
- Conduct functional safety audits
- Review the functional safety status of the E3 1.2 in a pre-assessment
- Document interviews
- Document findings and generate internal reports
Methods:
- ISO26262
- Automotive SPICE Level 2, 3
- Agile methods, SAFe
Tools:
- DOORS
- Enterprise Architect
- JIRA & Confluence
- IQ-FMEA
- Isograph
Bernhard Trier
Risk Management/ISO26262
Last position:
Risk Management/ISO26262 at Delta
- FTA analysis and TSR of SW and HW according to ISO 26262 requirements
- FMEDAs of HW according to ISO 26262 requirements
- P-FMEA and optimization of electronics manufacturing in Bangkok, Thailand
Daniel Hess
Functional Safety Manager / Requirements Engineer – Embedded Battery Management System (BMS)
Last position:
Functional Safety Manager / Requirements Engineer – Embedded Battery Management System (BMS) at Tier-1 Automotive
- Technical control, planning, and coordination of safety-related development activities for an embedded battery management system (ASIL-B to ASIL-D) across all project and series phases
- Coordination of interdisciplinary work packages between hardware, software, and system development as well as external suppliers for module and series management
- Management of development, evaluation, and maturity level assurance of safety mechanisms (diagnosis, monitoring, degradation) for series release
- Active risk, problem, and escalation management when facing target conflicts between safety, cost, schedules, and series readiness
- Stable, release-ready series safety architecture with no major findings
- Significantly increased planning and decision-making security in module and release committees
- Sustainable improvement of coordination and control processes between system, HW, and SW teams
Patrick Jäger
Functional Safety Manager in Platform E³ 1.2
Last position:
Functional Safety Manager in Platform E³ 1.2 at Cariad SE
- Coordination of sub-suppliers
- Release planning
- Ensuring ISO26262 compliance
- Ensuring meeting project milestones
- Assessment planning, tracking, and review of FuSI work products
- Tools: Jira/Confluence: activity tracking/documentation, cPlace FuSi: Functional Safety Management, GroupDMS: configuration management, DOORS: requirements engineering, Stages: process management
Stephan Johne
Managing Partner
Last position:
Responsible CRA Risk Analysis - Moderator (Cyber Resilience Act, Cyber Security) at DEUTA-Werke Bergisch Gladbach
Risk analyses according to CRA for E/E systems with safety levels SIL2 and SIL3 according to IEC61508 & EN 50126 ff. in the rail sector, Role: Responsible CRA Risk Analysis - Moderator
Rüdiger Stoll
Consultant for Functional Safety: I3 Confirmation Reviews according to ISO 26262:2018
Last position:
Consultant for Functional Safety: I3 Confirmation Reviews according to ISO 26262:2018 at VW
Conducting I3 confirmation reviews for all work products at the item (system) level that require I3 review, according to ISO 26262:2018: impact analysis, safety plan, functional safety concept, technical safety concept, FMEA, FTA, DFA, integration and test strategy, safety validation specification, safety case
Creating/updating review criteria for I3/I2 confirmation reviews of all work products based on ISO 26262:2018
Discussing findings with specialist departments as needed
Coordinating findings and review criteria with the responsible customer department
Training new internal employees in performing I3 confirmation reviews
ISO 26262
Requirements Analysis
Failure Analysis (FTA, FMEA, DFA)
Microsoft Office
Jira
Confluence DevStack
Document Management System (DMS)
Tanvir Hussain
Functional Safety Expert
Last position:
Functional Safety Expert at Manitowoc Cranes
- Model-based development of safety functions for mobile work machines according to ISO 13849 and IEC 62061 in MATLAB/Simulink
- Development and execution of unit, integration, and system tests
Kavin Trivedi
Freelance Software Expert – Functional Safety & AUTOSAR
Last position:
Freelance Software Expert – Functional Safety & AUTOSAR at Bosch
- Development and optimization of software architectures for safety-critical embedded systems in the automotive sector according to ISO 26262 and ASPICE.
- Performing safety analyses (FMEA, DFA, FTTI, HARA) for safety-relevant software.
- Technical consulting and support in acquisition processes for safety-critical software projects.
- Evaluating AUTOSAR architectures and integrating safety-relevant software solutions.
- Collaborating with OEMs and suppliers to ensure compliance with safety standards and process conformity.
- Leading functional safety assessments and ASPICE assessments.
- 2016–2019: Body Computer Module – Role as Lead Software Integrator. Responsible for the software integration of safety-critical ECUs, implementation of AUTOSAR software components, and system integration testing.
- 2019–2022: PowerNetGuardian – Role as Software Architect. Developed a safety-critical software architecture, ASIL decomposition, and created software safety requirements according to ISO 26262 and ASPICE.
- 2022–Present: PowerNetGuardian Plus – Role as Lead Software Architect. Responsible for the overall software architecture, safety and cybersecurity concepts, FMEA analyses, and technical consulting during OEM negotiations.
Frank Schäfer
Functional Safety & CMS Systems Consultant
Last position:
Functional Safety & CMS Systems Consultant at Freelance Consultant
- Supported development of camera-monitor systems as mirror replacements
- Applied A-SPICE and ISO 26262 standards, conducted system FMEA and review processes
- Managed documentation for functional safety projects
Phani Meher Ganti
Fusa Expert
Last position:
Fusa Expert at HOLON GmbH
- Act as the primary point of contact and lead FuSa activities in accordance with ISO 26262 and SOTIF for L4 AD shuttle
- Establishment of processes, guidelines, procedures and templates related to functional safety in accordance with ISO 26262 and SOTIF
- Item definition, safety goal definitions of L4 AD shuttle with regards to ADS ECU domain namely perception, trajectory planning and execution
- Carry out HARA and STPA for different domains of L4 AD shuttle
- Evaluate the nominal and degraded performance under edge-case conditions
- Define functional safety requirements and allocate them to system, hardware, and software levels
- Implementation and evaluation of safety concepts (FSC and TSC) with respect to fail operational, fail safe strategies and architectures as part of the overall system requirements
- Develop and maintain safety cases and associated work products, ensuring ASIL D compliance
- Independent review of safety analyses including advice for creation, cooperation in, and maintenance of FTAs, FMEA, FMEDA etc.
- Coordinate safety activities and measures with internal and external stakeholders, and other relevant parties with reference to DIA
- Support project teams in the creation of work products in accordance with the safety life cycle in relation to system, software and hardware development
- Implementation of an effective SMS in accordance with EU 2022/1426
Reza Mashoufi Louyeh
System and Functional Safety Engineer
Last position:
System and Functional Safety Engineer at SENEC
- Conducting safety assessments and hardware analyses (HARA) for microinverters
- Defining and implementing safety functions according to ISO 26262
- Validating and verifying hardware-software combinations in system tests
- Performing Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
- Managing requirements and creating safety plans and safety cases
- Using tools like MATLAB & Simulink, C, CAN & LIN, PTC Tool, CANoe, ODIS, DORIS, Doors, Para tool, JIRA
- Using databases, Eagle, Eplan, Proteus as well as Microsoft Office and LaTeX
Lutz Haase
Workshop participant
Last position:
Consultant for ASPICE, ISO 26262, ISO 2700X, APQP at Secop s.r.o.
- Support in the development and production of a refrigeration compressor
- Support in preparing the required documents according to ASPICE with cybersecurity, ISO 26262, ISO 2700X, APQP
Jana Janeva
Master’s Thesis Candidate, Department for Functional Safety in Power Supply
Last position:
Master’s Thesis Candidate, Department for Functional Safety in Power Supply at BMW Group
- Simulated electrical power steering (EPS) system in Dymola
- Developed a simulation-based, system-dependent methodology employing Cauer thermal network modeling to characterize transient short-circuit failure behavior in power electronic components
- Assessed failure criticality based on system state monitoring against ISO 26262 permissible operating limits
- Experimentally validated simulation results through controlled short-circuit fault injection tests on EPS hardware, reducing the estimated Failure-In-Time (FIT) rate of the EPS system by up to 80%
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Functional Safety Engineers statistics
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
20 years
Position duration
2.7 years
Positions per freelancer
12
Top business areas
Product Development, Quality Assurance, Project Management
Top industries
Automotive, Manufacturing, Aerospace and Defense
Certification focus areas
Quality Assurance, Product Development, Information Technology
Bachelor's degree or higher
100%
Master's degree or higher
75%
Doctorate
17%
Certifications per freelancer
2
Most common languages
German, English, French
Speak two or more languages
100%
Daily Rate Distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers in this role are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Average rates for Functional Safety Engineers & Seniority distribution
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Frequently Asked Questions
Want to know more? Check out our simple guide about FRATCH
A Functional Safety Engineer identifies hazards, defines safety requirements, and helps prove that a system behaves safely in the relevant fault scenarios. They work on the safety concept, traceability, verification, and the evidence needed for internal reviews or external assessment.
That depends on the industry, but ISO 26262 and IEC 61508 are the most common starting points. In some projects, the engineer also needs to work with sector-specific rules, supplier processes, and internal safety guidelines. The key is not just knowing the standard, but applying it to the real architecture and test setup.
A systems engineer may own the broader technical design, while a safety manager often coordinates the process and governance. A functional safety engineer focuses on the safety argument itself: hazards, safety mechanisms, requirements, verification, and evidence. In practice, the roles overlap, but the safety engineer is the specialist who keeps the compliance thread intact.
A freelancer is a strong choice when the need is tied to a project phase, an audit preparation, or a knowledge gap that must be closed quickly. That is common when a release is approaching, a team is missing safety expertise, or a review needs an independent voice. It gives you focused support without adding long-term headcount.
Many tasks can be done remotely, especially document work, requirement reviews, and test analysis. On-site time helps when the engineer needs to align with hardware benches, vehicle or machine integration, or close coordination with local teams in Germany. The best setup is often a mix of both.
The role is common in automotive, industrial automation, robotics, rail, and machinery development. In Germany, companies often look for support where safety-critical systems, supplier chains, and structured engineering processes meet. The exact title may vary, but the work stays centered on safe system behavior and proof.
Look for clear safety thinking, not just standard names on a CV. A good functional safety specialist can explain how they moved from hazard analysis to requirements, then to verification and evidence. They should also show clean documentation habits, solid cross-team communication, and experience with the kind of system you are building.
Yes. You may also see Functional Safety Engineer, Functional Safety Specialist, or safety engineer used for similar work, depending on the company and industry. Some candidates also mention FUSA or safety engineer in their profile, so it helps to review both the title and the actual project history.
The average hourly rate for Functional Safety Engineers in Germany is 114 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 908 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers working as Functional Safety Engineers in Germany, 100% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 75% hold at least a Master's degree, and 17% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers working as Functional Safety Engineers in Germany have 20 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 2.7 years.
The most common languages among freelancers working as Functional Safety Engineers in Germany are German (100%), English (93%), and French (33%).
The most common industries among freelancers working as Functional Safety Engineers in Germany are Automotive (100%), Manufacturing (67%), and Aerospace and Defense (33%).
The most common business areas among freelancers working as Functional Safety Engineers in Germany are Product Development (100%), Quality Assurance (100%), and Project Management (60%).
FRATCH Functional Safety Engineers main locations
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Berlin Hamburg Munich Cologne Frankfurt Stuttgart Dusseldorf Leipzig Dortmund Essen Bremen Dresden Hanover Nuremberg Request a Free Demo
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
