Principal Technical Safety Engineer

About the role

The Principal Technical Safety Engineer provides senior technical leadership and specialist expertise in technical and process safety across oil & gas engineering design projects. The role ensures safety requirements are embedded from concept through commissioning and hand‑over.

Key responsibilities

• Lead technical safety strategy, establish safety philosophies, design criteria and ensure early integration of safety into project designs.
• Oversee and review major safety studies such as HAZID, HAZOP, SIL assessments, LOPA, QRA, Bow‑Tie and fire‑gas analyses.
• Review engineering deliverables (P&IDs, layouts, calculations) to verify compliance with safety standards and design safety philosophy.
• Provide functional safety leadership, manage SIS requirements, SIL verification and ensure adherence to IEC/ISO functional safety standards.
• Coordinate hazardous area classification, fire protection design and emergency shutdown systems across multidisciplinary teams.
• Support construction, commissioning and start‑up phases, including MOC reviews, pre‑startup safety reviews and incident investigations.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Process, Mechanical or Petroleum Engineering; Master’s degree in Process Safety or Engineering Management is an advantage.
• Professional engineering registration or membership with a recognized body preferred.
• Relevant certifications in Process Safety or Functional Safety are desirable.

Required skills

• HAZID and HAZOP study execution and review.
• SIL assessment, classification and verification.
• LOPA and quantitative risk assessment (QRA) techniques.
• Fire, explosion and gas dispersion modelling.
• Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) design and functional safety standards (IEC 61511, ISO 26262).
• Hazardous area classification and related equipment selection.
• Emergency response and ALARP risk management.
• Fire protection system design, including fire‑water demand calculations and detector layout.