Programme Manager - Air

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

Helsing's Air team in France is expanding, and we are looking for a Programme Manager to be at the heart of it. This is a role with genuine scope: you will own the delivery of complex, high-stakes programmes that span engineering, operations and customer engagement — bridging Helsing's technology capabilities with the realities of French defence acquisition and the French Armed Forces. 

You will work directly with the DGA, the French Air Force, as well as with Tier 1 industrial partners, navigating an ecosystem that rewards deep relationships, institutional fluency and structured delivery. You will be the person our partners trust to keep commitments, and the person our internal teams rely on to translate strategic intent into executable plans. The role sits at the boundary between product, engineering and customer — which means you will need to hold all three perspectives simultaneously, push back when necessary and make things happen in an environment where ambiguity is the norm and the stakes are real. 

This is not a coordination role. It is a leadership role, accountable for programme outcomes that matter. 

The day-to-day 

• Lead end-to-end delivery of Air Domain programmes in France, maintaining accountability for scope, schedule, risk and customer commitments across the full programme lifecycle 

• Serve as the primary interface with the DGA, the French Air Force and industrial partners — building and sustaining trusted relationships at both working and senior levels 

• Translate complex contractual and operational requirements from French defence customers into structured programme plans that engineering and product teams can execute against 

• Identify, escalate and actively mitigate programme risks before they become programme failures — owning the risk register and maintaining a clear-eyed picture of delivery health at all times 

• Drive cross-functional alignment across engineering, product, legal and commercial teams, ensuring internal stakeholders understand customer commitments and external stakeholders understand what Helsing can deliver 

• Structure and own programme reporting, governance cadences and milestone reviews — both internally and with customers and partners 

• Contribute to business development by supporting proposals, shaping statements of work and bringing deep knowledge of the French defence acquisition process to pre-contract conversations 

• Represent Helsing at industry events, programme reviews and government forums as a credible and senior face of the company's Air Domain activity in France 

You should apply if you

• Have delivered complex, multi-stakeholder programmes in the French aerospace and defence sector — and can point to the outcomes you drove, not just the plans you wrote 

• Have operated at the interface of strategy and execution — comfortable building a programme plan from first principles and equally comfortable getting into the weeds when delivery is at risk 

• Bring a rigorous academic foundation in engineering, technology or business, combined with professional experience in a high-performance environment (strategy consulting, defence prime or equivalent) 

• Communicate with precision and credibility in both French and English — able to represent Helsing at senior customer and government levels in both languages 
  
  

• Are eligible to obtain French national defence security clearance (Habilitation à l'accès au secret de la défense nationale), a requirement for this role given its engagement with classified programmes and government counterparts 

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 

• Direct experience working within or alongside the DGA (e.g., as an ingénieur de l'armement, on secondment, or as a close industrial partner) 

• Understand how the DGA and the broader French MoD acquisition ecosystem works from the inside: its processes, its culture, its decision-making rhythms and its key institutional actors 

• Exposure to AI, software or dual-use technology programmes — particularly in the context of integration with legacy defence platforms or C2 systems 

• Experience supporting or leading bids and proposals in the French defence procurement environment 

• A network across France's aerospace and defence industrial base (primes, ETIs and key subcontractors) 

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.