Safety Management System (SMS) Focal

Location: Terre Haute

Job Description Summary

The Safety Management System (SMS) Focal is responsible for partnering with site leadership to develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve the Safety Management System across two locations. This role will initially support the Terre Haute, IN site approximately 70% of the time and the GE-Indy site approximately 30% of the time, with responsibility for driving consistent SMS deployment, standardization, and maturity across both sites.

Working closely with the Plant Leader, Quality Leader, and cross-functional teams, the SMS Focal will promote a strong product safety culture, coordinate site-level product safety initiatives, and support compliance with enterprise SMS requirements and evolving regulatory expectations. The role will facilitate the identification, assessment, and mitigation of product safety risks while driving continuous improvement in safety performance.

This position is critical to demonstrating GE Aerospace’s commitment to product safety excellence and strengthening oversight in an evolving regulatory environment. The SMS Focal will help move the business from a reactive approach to one that is increasingly proactive and ultimately predictive in the management of product safety risk. This role also offers a unique opportunity to contribute early in the implementation of a business-wide SMS and help shape its long-term maturity and effectiveness.

Key Responsibilities

Safety Management System Implementation

• Lead the development, implementation, standardization, and maintenance of the site Safety Management System in alignment with enterprise SMS requirements and industry best practices.
• Partner with site leadership and the enterprise SMS team to ensure effective deployment and ongoing maturity of SMS processes.
• Ensure SMS documentation is accurate, current, accessible, and properly maintained.

Safety Risk Management

• Facilitate product safety risk identification, assessment, and mitigation activities across the site.
• Partner with site Safety Action Teams (SATs)/groups and Safety Review Boards (SRBs) to support effective safety risk management processes.
• Drive proactive identification of risks and support actions to reduce or eliminate product safety concerns.
• Incident Investigation and Reporting
• Support and coordinate product safety investigations as needed.
• Prepare and submit product safety performance reports to the Accountable SMS Delegate, Safety Review Board, and enterprise SMS team as required.
• Help ensure appropriate follow-up, closure, and communication of investigation outcomes and corrective actions.
• Compliance, Safety Assurance, and Auditing
• Monitor site-level compliance with applicable enterprise SMS policies, standards, and requirements.
• Conduct regular product safety audits, reviews, and inspections to verify adherence to SMS requirements.
• Support customer and regulatory audits related to product safety and SMS implementation.
• Facilitate independent review processes, including investigation reviews and just culture assessments, as applicable.
• Management of Change
• Support integration of product safety risk management within site change management initiatives.
• Ensure product safety considerations are appropriately assessed and addressed when operational, process, product, or organizational changes are introduced.
• Training and Product Safety Promotion
• Collaborate with the local training team or designated site focal to provide SMS and Human Factors training for employees at all levels of the organization.
• Promote product safety awareness and reinforce a culture of continuous improvement, learning, and accountability.
• Support site engagement activities that strengthen understanding of SMS principles, roles, and responsibilities.
• Collaboration and Communication
• Serve as the primary liaison between site operations and the enterprise SMS team on matters related to product safety.
• Facilitate the communication and distribution of relevant product safety information across the sites.
• Drive initiatives that improve product safety performance and reduce risk.
• Collaborate with other GE Aerospace sites to share lessons learned, address systemic concerns, and align on SMS objectives and best practices.
• Foster strong communication and collaboration across the broader GE Aerospace network, including MRO and Part 21 environments, as applicable.
• Performance Monitoring and Continuous Improvement
• Track, monitor, and analyze product safety performance metrics to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Use data and performance insights to support a more proactive approach to safety risk management.
• Drive continuous improvement in site product safety performance through structured problem-solving and follow-through.

FLIGHT DECK Integration

• Implement and model FLIGHT DECK standards in daily work, including daily management, standard work, and problem-solving tools such as APPS and PSRs.
• Drive standardization of processes, tools, and performance management methods across supported teams and sites.
• Support alignment to the business operating system to enable sustainable performance improvements.
• This role supports two sites, with an initial allocation of approximately 70% at Terre Haute, IN and 30% at GE-Indy, based on business needs.
• Travel between supported sites will be required.

Minimum Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university/college and 3 years of quality assurance experience in a manufacturing or aerospace environment or a high school diploma and at least 6 years of quality assurance experience in a manufacturing or aerospace environment.

Bachelor’s Degree accredited college or university (or a high school diploma / GED with a minimum of 4 years in quality assurance experience in a manufacturing or aerospace environment experience + a minimum of 5 years in quality assurance experience in a manufacturing or aerospace environment experience

Minimum of 5 years of quality assurance experience in a manufacturing or aerospace environment

Desired Characteristics

• Experienced organizer and analyst of product safety data and information
• Experience and training in product safety – Safety Management Systems
• Experience in aerospace/aviation sector – Quality systems and/or manufacturing processes
• The ability to exercise role flexibility
• The ability to work under own initiative whilst supporting the team structure
• A pragmatic approach to decision making, and the ability to understand and take account of the wider business picture
• The ability to assimilate information quickly and make fact-based decisions
• Computer literacy is essential to the position
• Experience in using problem-solving root cause analysis tools
• Audit experience
• Effective communication skills, both written and spoken and the ability to interact at all levels – including leadership, regulatory representatives, and customer / operator representatives
• Additional Locations: Indianapolis