Senior Product Safety Manager

The Senior Product Safety Manager will be responsible for driving the product safety program for our new line of licensed decorative lighting products. This role will implement our safety vision, define our organization’s risk tolerance, and ensure compliance with international standards. As an experienced and strategic leader, the Senior Product Safety Manager will lead other safety engineers and technicians, proactively identify and mitigate risks, and embed safety into our product development and commercialization processes. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in electrical engineering and proven expertise in leading and managing product safety programs, particularly in consumer goods with electrical components. This is a high impact opportunity for a proactive professional who excels at balancing regulatory rigor with entrepreneurial agility and who is passionate about delivering safe, high-quality products.

This full-time position reports to the Chief Safety Officer and is expected to work in a hybrid model, which currently includes Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in our Burlingame and Redwood City offices. Frequent international travel to manufacturing facilities in Asia is required. 

What you’ll do:

• Program Leadership 
  • Lead our end-to-end product safety program for our licensed product assortment
  • Define and articulate the organization’s safety risk tolerance by establishing clear frameworks for acceptable risk levels, balancing innovation, consumer experience, and regulatory requirements
  • Continuously evolve the safety program by proactively identifying emerging risks and anticipating regulatory trends
  • Champion a culture of safety across Balsam Brands
    
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• Compliance & Risk Management  
  • Ensure compliance with relevant safety regulations and standards (e.g., UL, CE, IEC, and other applicable international standards)
  • Lead comprehensive safety risk assessments and hazard analyses (FMEA, Fault Tree Analysis), driving actions based on findings to mitigate risk at both the components and finished product levels
  • Oversee and enhance product testing protocols, including validation of safety features and stress-testing for foreseeable misuse scenarios
    
     
• Incident Response & Continuous Improvement
  • Lead investigations into safety-related incidents, root cause analyses, and the implementation of robust corrective and preventive actions in partnership with factories
  • Establish feedback loops to drive continuous improvement in product safety, leveraging data, incident learnings, and industry benchmarks
    
     
• Regulatory & Documentation  
  • Oversee the creation and maintenance of all safety documentation, including certifications, test results, and compliance reports 
  • Guide the development of safety labels, user manuals, and warnings compliant with global safety standards (e.g. UL 588, IEC 60598) 
    
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• Cross- Functional Collaboration
  • ​​​​​​​Provide technical guidance to internal teams, including product development, compliance, and sourcing teams
  • Partner with R&D, engineering, and legal teams to integrate safety into product design
  • Lead training programs for factory staff, QA auditors, and cross-functional teams on safety protocols and emerging regulations

What you bring to the table:

• Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering or a related field; Master’s preferred
• 11+ years of experience in product safety management with a focus on electrical/consumer products
• Proven track record of leading safety or risk management programs, going beyond executing compliance tasks
• Technical skills: 
  • Expertise in electrical safety standards and testing methodologies
  • Proficiency in risk assessment tools (FMEA, Fault Tree Analysis) 
  • Familiarity with other compliance areas, such as EMC, Wireless and 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

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience working in consumer electronics
• Knowledge of reliability engineering and statistical analysis for safety data
• Hands-on experience with lab testing equipment and product certification processes
• Demonstrated leadership in managing QA auditors or safety teams, and in building high-performing safety cultures

About Us: Balsam Brands is a global, omnichannel retailer with roots in holiday and home décor. Our flagship brand, Balsam Hill, is recognized for its quality and craftsmanship, and beginning in 2026 as the new licensee for GE holiday lighting, we're excited to expand our portfolio through partnership with a strong, established brand. We strive for excellence in everything we do and present a unique opportunity for those seeking to have a meaningful impact in a people-first company that values relationship building, authenticity, and doing the right thing. We have steadily growing teams in Boise, the Bay Area, Dublin, the Philippines, Canada, and Mexico.   

The company's mission is to create joy together. We empower our team and partners to love what they do, provide products and experiences that inspire meaningful moments with family and friends, and give back to our families and communities in impactful ways. When you join Balsam Brands, you'll find a culture of caring people doing challenging work and building a welcoming workplace.

• Check out our flagship brand, Balsam Hill: www.balsamhill.com
• Balsam Brands in Forbes: https://bit.ly/balsambrandsforbes2023

• Balsam Brands on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/balsam-brands/
• Glassdoor: https://bit.ly/balsambrands-glassdoor

At Balsam Brands, we strive to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package. For permanent, full-time team members, our current package includes:

• Competitive compensation, including a cash-based incentive plan; salary is reviewed yearly and may be adjusted as part of the normal compensation review process
• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage, with 100% of monthly premiums covered for team members, and 85%+ employer-paid premiums for other coverage tiers that include dependents
• Up to $2,000 annual funding toward HSA accounts
• Medical, transit, dependent care FSA
• Infertility coverage offered on all medical plans
• Generous parental leave program and flexible return options
• Company-paid life and AD&D insurance
• Company-paid short and long-term disability insurance
• 401(k) with dollar-for-dollar company match up to $4,000 per calendar year
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and other mental health and wellness perks
• Paid holidays, annual shutdown week, PTO, and volunteer time-off (VTO) packages
• Paid 5-week sabbatical leave after 10 years of employment
• Annual continuous learning benefit up to $1,000 per person, per fiscal year
• Up to $300 flexible reimbursement to support setup of new team member's work-from-home environment
• Generous team member merchandise discount
• Valuable extras: identity theft protection, subsidized parking, monthly wellness, pet insurance, accident & critical illness insurance

The base pay range for this position is: $155,000 to $200,000. Please note that placement within the posted salary range is based on several factors, including geographic location, experience, skills, alignment with role requirements and other job-related factors. It is uncommon for offers to be made at the top of the range, as this typically reflects a candidate who exceeds all role requirements and brings significant, directly applicable experience. We benchmark our pay ranges against current external data sources and regularly review compensation for our team members. Balsam Brands is committed to providing our team members with an internally fair, externally competitive, and fiscally prudent total compensation package administered in a simple and consistent manner.

At Balsam Brands, we strive to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive team to fulfill our purpose to create joy together. Balsam Brands is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, citizenship, marital or family status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy or caregiver status, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application and interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

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All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.