Geared for Growth: Safran Federal Systems Rapidly Adding Jobs to Help Protect US Soldiers Around the World
Safran Federal Systems provides highly specific position, navigation, and timing information through their defense contracting work with the federal government. President Hironori Sasaki was featured on Geared for Growth on Wednesday, October 23rd as part of Greater Rochester Chamber’s ongoing partnership with 13WHAM/FOX Rochester. Sasaki shared more information about what the company does, how they source top tech talent in Greater Rochester, and what sets their business apart from other defense contractors.
The equipment that Safran manufactures right here in Rochester combines and protects data from all kinds of
sources to give precise positioning information on military equipment and military vehicles. Their equipment provides navigation and timing data that can work with GPS satellites to calculate ground locations. “We make equipment that fuses all the information from satellites and different systems together, but also protects the signal from bad interference or attacks, to provide very precise positioning,” Hiro explained. The Rochester location has existed for over fifteen years, but was recently acquired in Safran and has experienced rapid growth. Sasaki shared that the new investment in their work by Safran will enable them to double the size of their company again within the next few years. This growth will be fueled by new technology including machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Over the past five years, Safran Federal Systems has added over 100 new jobs in Greater Rochester. Their partnerships in Greater Rochester and across Upstate New York have helped them find the top technical talent they need to power their rapid growth. Sasaki shared that they work with Rochester Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to source the types of roles they need, including electrical engineers, firmware engineers, software engineers, and mechanical engineers. “There’s a lot of talent already here in Rochester,” Hiro noted, “We’ve been able to tap into that technology group and also attract new talent from out of state.”
While working in federal defense contracting has mission-critical components, Hironori shared that what sets their organization apart is the dynamic and engaging culture. They have been ranked in the top five of Top Workplaces in Rochester, presented by the Democrat & Chronicle, and ranked as #1 in the Small Business category in 2023. “When we talk about attracting talent, we have a very fun culture in our company,” Sasaki explained, “It is high-growth, it is exciting, it is very dynamic, and that’s what attracts talent to our business.” In addition to their fun culture, he noted that the bigger purpose of helping to protect our soldiers on the battlefield helps with their employee retention and attraction efforts.
To learn more about Safran Federal Systems, please visit SafranFederalSystems.com.
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