Senior Studio Design Engineer

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 Senior Studio Design Engineer, you will sketch, model, build and test Helsing's multi-domain defence systems, from aerospace and drones to land platforms and robotics. You will take concepts from sprint and kick-off through validation to serial production, staying close to the physical product as well as the CAD model. You will connect campaign teams, engineering teams, the design studio and the customer, so that each decision reflects real needs and manufacturing reality. You will also improve the team's processes. Your work will deliver intuitive, distinctive hardware and shorten the loop between idea and working product.

The day-to-day

• Sketch, model and build prototypes for aerospace, drone, land and robotics systems in Siemens NX, SolidWorks or CATIA V5, moving from idea to testable hardware within each concept sprint
• Validate designs against manufacturing, performance and cost constraints, and refine them for serial production with fewer design iterations
• Connect campaign teams, engineering teams, the design studio and customers, turning requirements into clear design decisions and documented trade-offs
• Manage design data and team workstreams, keeping CAD, release and change records accurate so that every team builds from a single source of truth
• Guide colleagues through concept, kick-off and production stages, improve team processes, and refine products after launch using feedback from build, test and use

You should apply if you

• Have designed, built and delivered hardware products from concept through to serial production, and can show the work
• Use Siemens NX, SolidWorks or CATIA V5 to produce production-ready models and drawings
• Apply hands-on manufacturing knowledge to shape designs for cost, quality and speed
• Build and test physical prototypes yourself, and care about creating products with an intuitive, complete user experience
• Manage projects from start to finish, and present design decisions clearly to engineers and customers

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

• Use simulation tools to test and improve designs, and plan validation tests that confirm a design meets its requirements
• Work fluently in Adobe Creative Cloud and AI-assisted design toolkits to speed up concept visualisation

Join Helsing and work with world-leading experts in their fields

• Helsing’s work is important. You’ll be directly contributing to the protection of democratic countries while balancing both ethical and geopolitical concerns

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• Competitive salary and VSOP options

• Relocation support: up to €2,500 and 4 weeks temporary accommodation

• Learning: €500/£450 yearly allowance

• Health & wellness: gym membership and mental health support (Nilo.health)

• Social: regular company events and monthly social allowances

• Enhanced parental leave: 22 weeks fully paid for primary caregivers & 6 weeks for secondary caregivers

• Family support: 5 days of paid family emergency leave, 100% remote work option during pregnancy and phased return to work

• A hands-on onboarding program (affectionately labelled “Infraduction”), in which you will be building tooling and applications to be used across the company. This is your opportunity to learn our tech stack, explore the company, and learn how we get things done - all whilst working with other engineering teams from day one

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.

Helsing's Candidate Privacy and Confidentiality Regime can be found here.