System 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 Systems Engineer, you will drive the end-to-end technical delivery of advanced capabilities, with a primary weighting towards software-intensive systems. You will own systems engineering activities across the full V-cycle – spanning requirements definition, system architecture, detailed design, integration, verification, validation, and release. Serving as a key technical integrator across disciplines, you will collaborate daily with software architects, AI engineers, and hardware developers to ensure system-level alignment and technical consistency. Combining rigorous analytical depth with confident customer-facing communication, you will conduct system-level testing, drive rapid design iterations through root-cause failure analysis, and interface directly with customer stakeholders.

The day-to-day

Drive systems engineering execution across the entire V-cycle (requirements capture, architecture, design, integration, verification, validation, and release), with an emphasis on software systems.

Plan and execute system-level testing; analyse complex test data and lead root-cause analysis on failures and anomalies to steer rapid design iterations.

Collaborate daily across multi-disciplinary engineering tracks - partnering closely with software architects, hardware developers, and AI engineers to maintain interface management and architectural coherence.

Serve as a direct technical touchpoint for customer stakeholders, participating in technical exchange meetings, milestone reviews, and customer demonstrations.

Produce and maintain clear technical documentation, requirements traceability matrices, and verification evidence for system acceptance and operational release.

Champion modern engineering practices, data-driven diagnostic approaches, and collaborative development tools to accelerate delivery.

You should apply if you

Have delivered a software product to a UK MoD or other B2B/B2G customer, or at minimum delivered an integrated hardware and software product end-to-end.

Possess comprehensive experience across the full engineering V-cycle (requirements, architecture, design, integration, verification, validation, release), with your experience weighted towards software rather than hardware.

Have a proven ability to conduct system-level testing, analyse test data, and support complex root-cause failure analysis to drive rapid iteration cycles.

Are comfortable collaborating daily with software architects, hardware developers, and AI engineers to maintain system-level consistency and alignment across disciplines.

Have direct customer-facing experience and can engage comfortably with customer stakeholders and end users.

Hold an active UK Security Clearance (SC).

Communicate with full fluency in English, written and spoken

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

Experience working with Palantir or equivalent data integration and analytics toolsets.

Practical systems engineering or delivery experience in Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS).

Practical use of AI tools to accelerate engineering workflows (e.g., Copilot, ChatGPT/Claude, or specialist tools for requirements analysis, test data review, and documentation).

Python or general software development skills.

Experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and SysML.

Experience using Jira and Confluence for workflow tracking and documentation.

Willingness to work in London and travel to customer sites across UK.

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 : regularly 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

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.

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