Product Safety Manager

Job Description

The Product Safety Manager is responsible for leading the product safety strategy for our new line of licensed decorative lighting products. This role owns end-to-end product safety across the entire product lifecycle—including product development, production, field return analysis, and escalation of consumer issues. The Product Safety Manager implements our 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. This leader drives a culture of safety by embedding best practices into product design, commercialization, and ongoing operations.  

As a key subject matter expert, the ideal candidate possesses expertise in electrical engineering and a proven track record of building and managing safety programs within consumer electrical products. The role requires balancing a regulatory mindset with entrepreneurial agility, enabling the launch of compliant products in a consumer-focused environment.  

This full-time position reports to the Chief Operating Officer and head of licensed products 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: 
  • Drive the product safety program for our licensed lighting products with end-to-end safety ownership from product development through production, field return evaluations, and consumer escalations
  • Implement our company’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 Balsam 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 

What you bring to the table:  

• 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:   

  • 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  

• Demonstrated AI literacy, enabling effective understanding, interaction, and critical evaluation of AI technologies and applications across diverse business functions 

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  

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. 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.  

At the heart of everything we do is our people. We believe that our team members are our greatest asset, and our success is built on a culture that prioritizes respect, relationships, authenticity, and doing the right thing. We are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, empowered, and inspired to grow both personally and professionally.  

We strive for excellence in every aspect of our work, and our people-first approach drives our mission 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 communities in impactful ways.  

Our steadily growing teams in Boise, the Bay Area, Dublin, the Philippines, Canada, and Mexico reflect our commitment to diversity and inclusion, fostering a welcoming workplace for all.  

When you join Balsam Brands, you become part of a caring community dedicated to supporting each other, fostering meaningful connections, and making a positive impact — both within our company and in the wider world. 

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: $131,000 to $163,000. 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. 

#LI-Hybrid 

Additional Information

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

Client-provided location(s): San Mateo, CA

Job ID: e2de6c12-b250-40e5-9f90-33f32e2641e7

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2025-07-29T19:55:56