Product Safety Manager - electronic consumer goods

Global Home Decor client seeks a Product Safety Manager to lead the product safety strategy for their new line of licensed decorative lighting products.

• Fulltime, $131k-163k base salary
• Hybrid, Mon-Wed in Burlingame, 25% international travel

OVERVIEW

• Own end-to-end product safety across the entire product lifecycle, including product development, production, field return analysis, and escalation of consumer issues.
• Implement our client’s safety vision, ensuring compliance with global electrical safety standards (UL, CE, IEC) while partnering closely with cross-functional teams to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate safety risks.
• Drive a culture of safety by embedding best practices into product design, commercialization, and ongoing operations.
• Expertise in electrical engineering and a proven track record of building and managing safety programs within consumer electrical products.
• Balance a regulatory mindset with entrepreneurial agility, enabling the launch of compliant products in a consumer-focused environment.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering or a related field; Master’s preferred
• 8 years of experience in product safety management with a focus on electrical/consumer products
• Proven track record of leading safety or risk management programs across the product lifecycle, going beyond executing compliance tasks
• Technical skills:

o Expertise in electrical safety standards and testing methodologies
o Proficient in risk assessment tools (FMEA, Fault Tree Analysis)
o Familiar with compliance areas (EMC, Wireless, environmental compliance)

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills: able to balance risk, innovation, and consumer experience
• Exceptional communication and leadership skills, with the ability to influence and align cross-functional teams and external partners
• Willingness to travel internationally (up to 25%) to inspect factories, oversee testing, and build relationships with global partners
• Demonstrated AI literacy, enabling effective understanding, interaction, and critical evaluation of AI technologies and applications across diverse business functions
• Experience working in consumer electronics, preferred
• Knowledge of reliability engineering and statistical analysis for safety data, preferred
• Hands-on experience with lab testing equipment and product certification processes, preferred

RESPONSIBILITIES
Program Leadership

• Drive the product safety program for our client’s licensed lighting products with end-to-end safety ownership from product development through production, field return evaluations, and consumer escalations
• Implement our client’s safety vision and embed a safety-first mindset throughout the product lifecycle, collaborating with cross-functional teams
• Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate product safety risks, staying ahead of evolving regulatory trends
• Champion a culture of safety across all client brands

Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure products comply with applicable safety regulations and standards (e.g., UL, CE, IEC)
• Lead comprehensive safety risk assessments and hazard analyses (FMEA, Fault Tree Analysis), driving mitigation strategies
• Oversee testing protocols, including validation of safety features and stress-testing for foreseeable misuse scenarios

Incident Response & Continuous Improvement

• Lead root cause investigations and corrective action processes for safety incidents, collaborating with partner and factories to implement solutions
• Analyze safety data, field returns, and consumer feedback to drive continuous improvement and ensure learnings are integrated into future product development

Regulatory & Documentation

• Oversee and maintain safety documentation, including certifications, test results, and compliance reports
• Guide the development of safety labels, user manuals, and warnings compliant with applicable safety standards (e.g. UL 588, IEC 60598) to support successful commercialization

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Provide technical guidance to product development, engineering, sourcing, and legal teams, ensuring that safety and compliance are embedded in all stages of the product lifecycle
• Serve as a subject matter expert and work cross-functionally to train internal and external partners on safety protocols and emerging regulatory requirements

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $131,000.00 - $163,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Relocation assistance
• Vision insurance

Experience:

• electrical product safety: 5 years (Required)
• electrical products (sold at Lowe's, Target, etc).: 5 years (Required)
• managing product safety across the entire lifecycle: 5 years (Required)
• UL/CE/IEC safety standards: 4 years (Required)
• FMEA and/or Fault Tree Analysis: 4 years (Required)
• managing product certification processes: 5 years (Required)
• leading customer safety escalation investigations: 1 year (Required)
• using AI tools to support product safety: 3 years (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Burlingame, CA 94010 (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $131,000 - $163,000