Head of Safety, Quality, and Mission Assurance

About Urban Sky: 

Urban Sky is a venture-backed aerospace startup that pioneers utilization of the stratosphere and reimagines the way humans view and analyze the earth. We design, build, operate, and sell stratospheric balloon systems, and the data we collect supports a wide range of applications, from real-time wildfire monitoring to urban mapping. Our technology is also employed by government customers including the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and others. Urban Sky sends flight vehicles to the stratosphere on a weekly basis. 

Our team consists of engineers, makers, developers, and doers who believe in the power of human potential when passion meets utility within a small, supportive team. At Urban Sky we strive to create a team culture grounded in candor, inclusion, respect and empowerment. 

We aim to build the next chapter of stratospheric history in Denver and are seeking self-starting, open-minded, and hard-working team members. 

About The Role: 

Urban Sky is currently seeking a leader in safety, quality, and mission assurance to join our team in Denver, CO. This position will be responsible for fostering a collaborative culture of safety and quality, aimed at enhancing the overall safety, quality, reliability, and mission success of Urban Sky’s stratospheric systems across the organization. The successful candidate will collaborate with various teams including product management, manufacturing, design, and operations to lead the development of processes, systems, and strategies that improve the safety and reliability of our balloons, payloads, avionics, firmware, and software. We believe that safety and quality are shared responsibilities, and the person who fills this role will have the vitally important job of ensuring our systems are safe, reliable and performant while empowering passionate engineers and technicians to own the safety and reliability of the systems they build while following your guidance. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Develop and Implement Quality Management Systems: Design, implement, and maintain quality management systems aligning with industry standards to ensure product quality and compliance. Ideally the candidate would have exposure to and an understanding of ISO 9001, AS9100, etc., though not a requirement. Utilizing and leading the implementation of tools such as DFMEAs, PFMEAs, and Control Plans to ensure system safety, quality, and reliability of Urban Sky’s products from ideation through manufacturing and mission execution. 

• Safety and Quality Metrics: Monitor safety compliance and quality performance and implement systems necessary to track these metrics.   

• Problem-Solving and Root Cause Analysis: Identify quality issues, investigate their technical and systemic root causes, and lead the implementation of corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to resolve them. 

• Management of Training Protocols: Develop training for staff on quality standards, best practices, and quality tools to ensure a culture of quality across all departments. 

• Supplier Quality Management: Collaborate with suppliers to ensure that raw materials, components, and services meet the required quality standards. 

• Continuous Improvement: Drive initiatives for continuous improvement in product quality, processes, and operational efficiencies, often using methodologies like Lean, Six Sigma, or Kaizen. 

• Compliance and Regulatory Requirements: Ensure that the organization complies with safety regulations, quality standards, and document compliance through reports and certifications. 

• Reporting and Documentation: Maintain records of safety critical decisions, risk management, quality inspections, audit results, corrective actions, and other documentation related to mission safety and quality control and report this information to upper management. 

• Safety & Mission Assurance: Lead safety reviews prior to stratospheric flights, lead the evaluation of mission successes and failures, and ensure lessons learned from ground and flight tests are incorporated into future missions. 

• Develop and Lead Mission Assurance Strategy: Define and implement a mission assurance program aligned with both internal performance requirements and external regulatory/contractual obligations (e.g., DoD, FAA, NASA). 

• Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs): Coordinate and lead mission readiness evaluations. 

• Safety Program Development: Develop and maintain a flight safety management system, including ground operations, airspace integration, and recovery procedures. 

• Hazard Analysis: Perform and maintain System Safety Hazard Analyses (SSHA), Preliminary Hazard Analyses (PHA), and Operating Hazard Analyses (OHA) specific to balloon launch and recovery operations. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality Management, or equivalent experience.  

• Industry experience: 5-10+ years of experience in safety, quality, quality control, or quality assurance roles, with increasing responsibilities including management. 

• Communication skills: Ability to lead communication regarding safety and quality cross-functionally, including coordination between company leadership, product management, engineering, flight operations, and manufacturing. Maintain the authority and confidence to push back diplomatically yet firmly when safety or quality standards are at risk, ensuring alignment with Urban Sky standards and customer requirements. 

• Project management: Ability to lead quality and safety-related projects, coordinate cross-functional resources, track progress, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.  

• Analytical skills: Ability to analyze data and generate reports on quality performance. 

Nice-to-Haves/Preferred Skills: 

• Experience leading Safety & Mission Assurance activities for high-consequence systems or missions (e.g., flight readiness reviews, test/mishap evaluation). 

• Demonstrated ability to apply lessons learned from flight tests and operational feedback into engineering and procedural improvements. 

• Statistical tools: Proficiency with tools such as Minitab for statistical analysis of quality data. 

• Industry Standard Familiarity: Experience with quality management systems following standards outlined in ISO 9001, AS9100, or similar. 

• Capable of maintaining meticulous documentation of inspections, test results, risk assessments, safety reviews, and quality system records. 

Requirements: 

• Must be US Citizen or Permanent Resident 

• Must be located near Denver, CO and must work at the company’s Denver office or willing to consider relocation.  

Benefits: 

• Salary $100,000 - $155,000 per year  

  • We are required to post this salary range per Colorado law. Your salary will be determined based on your abilities and experience. 
• Stock Options 
• Medical, Vision and Dental

• Unlimited Vacation Days 

• Cell Phone Bill Stipend 

• Maternity/Paternity Leave

NOTE: Research suggests that women and BIPOC individuals may self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who believes that they have the skills and the passion necessary to succeed here to apply for this role. 

This position may require the candidate to deal with commodities, software, technology, defense articles, and/or technical data which are subject to the Export Administration Regulations and/or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Additional information may be requested so as to determine whether export authorization is required from the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. If authorization is required, employment will be contingent upon the Company successfully obtaining such authorization from the relevant government agency. 

Urban Sky is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.