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 builds AI that works in the field, under real conditions, against real constraints. The Camera Engineer owns the imaging stack that makes that possible. From photon to bit, you define the hardware architecture that feeds our AI with the highest-quality, precisely timed sensor data.

You will translate mission requirements into concrete specifications for lenses, sensors, and data pipelines. You will work inside a multidisciplinary team spanning optical physics, electrical engineering, and computer vision, and you will see your designs move from prototype to operational deployment.

This is not a research role. The systems you build have real-world consequence.

The day-to-day

• Define imaging architecture. Select lens and sensor combinations, align specifications with the AI team, and own the technical trade-offs between optical performance and algorithm requirements.

• Implement low-level logic. Write FPGA firmware to handle high-speed sensor interfaces and hardware-based synchronisation.

• Drive the manufacturing lifecycle. Work directly with external partners to take designs from prototype to production. Define validation tests and resolve integration challenges across complex opto-electronic assemblies.

• Lead hardware bring-up and debug. Spend hands-on time in the lab, test performance under varying conditions, and support integration into the software stack.

• Tune image quality. Analyse camera performance against application requirements and optimise designs and low-level algorithms to maximise sensor value for AI downstream.

You should apply if you

• A Ph.D. or M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Applied Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

• A track record of taking complex opto-electronic systems from prototype to production.

• Practical knowledge of opto-mechanical design challenges, including thermal management for high-power sensors and mechanical mounting for optical alignment.

• A strong understanding of imaging physics: lens selection, MTF characteristics, CMOS sensor architecture, quantum efficiency, and noise sources.

• System-level synchronisation experience, including PTP, PPS, and hardware triggers such as Hsync and Vsync, to align image capture with other sensors and compute modules.

• Proficiency in C/C++ or Rust for low-level firmware development or hardware-software interface debugging.

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

• FPGA development experience using Verilog, SystemVerilog, VHDL or equivalent, including high-bandwidth data streams, video processing pipelines, and sensor interfaces.

• Hands-on PCB design and debug experience for high-bandwidth image sensors, with knowledge of signal integrity for MIPI CSI-2, LVDS, SLVS-EC, or similar.

• Familiarity with optical design software such as Zemax or Code V, including ray tracing, lens curvature, or custom glass specification.

• Experience writing Linux kernel drivers or working with V4L2 or similar frameworks to interface with sensors.

• Exposure to computer vision or AI pipelines and an understanding of how captured images are consumed by downstream algorithms.

• Experience designing, calibrating, and programming LWIR cameras.

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 Framework

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