Senior Systems Engineer - Combat Aircraft, Security

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 CA-1 programme is building the software-defined intelligence layer for one of Europe's most advanced combat aircraft. As a Senior Systems Engineer specialising in Product Security, Cryptography and Cyber, you will be responsible for defining and governing the security architecture of the entire platform — from the requirements that shape hardware and software design, through to the compliance artefacts that satisfy national and NATO authority expectations.

This is not a role confined to policy or paperwork. You will develop the aircraft security concept from first principles, own the design of intra- and inter-vehicle communication security, and lead Helsing's approach to platform-level cryptographic management, including functions such as erase and zeroise. You will work directly with customers — requirements workshops, technical reviews, solution showcases — and with German national security authorities, making professional fluency in German an operational necessity. The candidate who will thrive here brings a rare combination of systems engineering rigour, deep cryptographic and cyber knowledge, and the ability to translate complex security requirements into engineering reality on a programme that genuinely matters.

The day-to-day

• Guide hardware and software design teams through security requirements specification and architectural decisions, ensuring compliance with national and NATO-level security regulations across the CA-1 programme

• Develop and own the aircraft-level security concept, derived from applicable rules, regulations and standards, and maintain it as the authoritative reference across the programme

• Define and implement engineering design processes applicable to product security, establishing repeatable, auditable workflows that can scale with the programme

• Create and maintain the compliance artefacts required by national and NATO security authorities, ensuring Helsing's security posture is demonstrable and defensible at all stages of delivery

• Design the security architecture for intra- and inter-vehicle communications, covering both on-board and off-board interfaces across the platform

• Develop the design concept for aircraft-level security functions, including erase and zeroise, ensuring operational integrity under all mission conditions

• Conduct vulnerability analysis and adversarial testing on platform systems, translating findings into actionable engineering mitigations

• Define the platform cryptographic management concept, including crypto key management architecture and lifecycle processes

• Engage directly with defence customers — including the Bundeswehr and other national authorities — to capture requirements, present solutions, and represent Helsing's security engineering capability with authority

You should apply if you

• Have designed and delivered end-to-end security architectures for military or defence-grade systems, spanning requirements, system design and compliance evidence

• Understand and can apply NATO security standards and national-level regulations — including relevant STANAGs and German national security frameworks — to engineering programmes

• Have developed cryptographic management concepts for complex platforms, including crypto key management design and lifecycle governance

• Have conducted structured vulnerability analysis and adversarial threat assessments on safety- or mission-critical networked systems

• Have defined communication security designs for intra- and inter-platform data exchange in a defence or government context

• Are professionally fluent in German, with the ability to engage with national security authorities, regulators and customers in technical and formal settings

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

• Familiarity with IFF systems and their associated security and certification requirements

• Experience designing erase and zeroise functions at aircraft or platform level

• Background in airborne mission systems or avionics security, including familiarity with DO-326A / ED-202A

• Exposure to Common Criteria evaluation processes or equivalent assurance frameworks

• Experience supporting security authority interactions as a named security engineering lead

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 (Specifically for engineering and AI)

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.