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Key details
Why this role is notable
A company that was known for AI software is now building and fielding its own jet-powered interceptor hardware for air defence, signaling a move from selling defence software into producing weapons systems and competing directly in the military airframe and missile-defence market.
Job Description
Who we are
Helsing is a defence AI company. Our mission is to protect our democracies. We aim to achieve technological leadership, so that open societies can continue to make sovereign decisions and control their ethical standards.
As democracies, we believe we have a special responsibility to be thoughtful about the development and deployment of powerful technologies like AI. We take this responsibility seriously.
We are an ambitious and committed team of engineers, AI specialists and customer-facing programme managers. We are looking for mission-driven people to join our European teams – and apply their skills to solve the most complex and impactful problems. We embrace an open and transparent culture that welcomes healthy debates on the use of technology in defence, its benefits, and its ethical implications.
The role
As a Systems Engineer, Interceptors, you will shape the system architecture and requirements for AD-1 Inferno, Helsing’s jet-powered interceptor within the Contra air defence system. Designed to counter fast drone and cruise missile threats at scale, AD-1 operates at high subsonic speeds and can loiter, re-engage and operate in swarms. You will translate stakeholder needs and the threat environment into a coherent system concept, then develop the requirements, architecture and evidence needed to support testing, certification and production. You will also make sure that safety, security and through-life considerations are built into the system from the outset.
The day-to-day
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Elicit needs from internal and external stakeholders, assess the threat environment and maintain a coherent concept of operations for the weapon system
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Develop and maintain the configured JAMA requirements baseline across the weapon system, subsystems and equipment, ensuring requirements are unambiguous, verifiable, linked and justified
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Conduct trade studies and analysis to decompose requirements and allocate performance parameters, while developing logical and functional architectures using model-based systems engineering (MBSE)
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Own interface control documents and define the verification and validation strategy, including design verification plans that set out how compliance will be demonstrated
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Coordinate certification and safety activities, including compliance matrices, proving evidence, final compliance documentation and the weapon system safety case, while capturing maintainability, testability, training, software upgradeability and growth margins
You should apply if you
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Translate stakeholder needs, operational concepts and threat information into clear system requirements
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Develop and maintain requirements baselines and traceability across complex systems, using tools such as JAMA
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Apply systems engineering methods, including trade studies, requirements decomposition and MBSE architecture development
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Plan verification, validation and certification activities, and compile clear evidence of compliance
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Work effectively with engineering, safety, security, proving and production teams, and communicate fluently in English
Note: We operate in an industry where women, as well as other minority groups, are systematically under-represented. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all the listed qualifications; ability and impact cannot be summarised in a few bullet points.
Nice to Have
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Have contributed to a weapon system safety case or certification against defence and national standards
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Have developed or applied new systems engineering approaches to support the development and certification of complex, low-cost systems
Join Helsing and work with world-leading experts in their fields
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Helsing’s work is important. You’ll be directly contributing to the protection of democratic countries while balancing both ethical and geopolitical concerns
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The work is unique. We operate in a domain that has highly unusual technical requirements and constraints, and where robustness, safety, and ethical considerations are vital. You will face unique Engineering and AI challenges that make a meaningful impact in the world
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Our work frequently takes us right up to the state of the art in technical innovation, be it reinforcement learning, distributed systems, generative AI, or deployment infrastructure. The defence industry is entering the most exciting phase of the technological development curve. Advances in our field of world are not incremental: Helsing is part of, and often leading, historic leaps forward
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In our domain, success is a matter of order-of-magnitude improvements and novel capabilities. This means we take bets, aim high, and focus on big opportunities. Despite being a relatively young company, Helsing has already been selected for multiple significant government contracts
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We actively encourage healthy, proactive, and diverse debate internally about what we do and how we choose to do it. Teams and individual engineers are trusted (and encouraged) to practise responsible autonomy and critical thinking, and to focus on outcomes, not conformity. At Helsing you will have a say in how we (and you!) work, the opportunity to engage on what does and doesn’t work, and to take ownership of aspects of our culture that you care deeply about
What we offer
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Competitive salary and VSOP options
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Relocation support: up to €2,500 and 4 weeks temporary accommodation
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Learning: €500/£450 yearly allowance
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Health & wellness: gym membership and mental health support (Nilo.health)
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Social: regularly company events and monthly social allowances
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Enhanced parental leave: 22 weeks fully paid for primary caregivers & 6 weeks for secondary caregivers.
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Family support: 5 days of paid family emergency leave, 100% remote work option during pregnancy and phased return to work
These are the core benefits across all locations, there may be additional benefits in certain locations.
Helsing is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or gender identity. Please do not submit personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, data concerning your health, or data concerning your sexual orientation.
