System Engineer - System Architecture - Contra at Helsing

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 for C-UAS System-of-Systems, you own the high-level architecture of a distributed air defence capability.

You define the top-level architecture (L0 and L1), partitioning the capability into network, sensor, and effector subsystems and the interfaces between them. The architecture is open and hardware agnostic: any qualified node can join the network. It is controlled centrally but is designed to keep operating when nodes are lost or contested, so that no single point of failure breaks the chain. This is the layer that enables engage-on-remote and launch-on-remote, where the effector need not sit with the sensor that cued it.

This is a role for someone who thinks at the level of the whole system. Your decisions on architecture, networking, and interfaces determine whether a distributed capability performs as one coherent whole under real operational conditions.

The day-to-day

• Own the top-level (L0/L1) architecture of the C-UAS system-of-systems, partitioning the mission into network, sensor, and effector subsystems

• Specify the network capabilities that let distributed nodes share a common air picture and coordinate engagements, including decentralised operation when the central command node is degraded or absent

• Derive network, sensor, and effector requirements from the operational concept, and own the trade-offs between coverage, resilience, latency, and cost

• Translate operational concepts into a coherent system architecture and clear engagement concepts, then hold that architecture consistent as the design matures

• Keep the architecture open and hardware agnostic, establishing the interfaces that let any qualified node join the network

• Enable engage-on-remote and launch-on-remote by defining how cueing, track handover, and fire control flow across nodes

• Produce a structured architecture that can be exposed externally to partners and customers at the right level of abstraction, without disclosing sensitive detail

• Collaborate daily with the situational awareness and interceptor integration teams, and with AI, software, and hardware engineers, to keep the system-of-systems coherent

You should apply if you

• Have hands-on experience architecting distributed systems or systems-of-systems, ideally for defence, air defence, C-UAS, or comparable networked mission systems

• Can define top-level architectures and derive network, sensor, and effector requirements from an operational concept

• Understand distributed and decentralised system design: how nodes share state, degrade gracefully, and coordinate without a single point of failure

• Have a strong foundation in requirements management and interface definition

• Can communicate an architecture clearly to both internal engineering teams and external partners and customers

• Hold a university degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, Computer Science, or a related field

• Are business fluent in German and English

• Are willing to travel

• Your personal values match ours: ownership, initiative, dedication to mission, speed and inclusiveness

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

• Working knowledge of tactical networking, mesh communications, or resilient data links in contested environments

• Familiarity with air defence engagement concepts, kill-chain design, or NATO C-UAS framework

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.

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