Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer

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. 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 involves delivering AI-powered capabilities that redefine machine perception and decision-making. Our technology powers a range of UAS platforms, accelerating critical mission functions. You will work in a dedicated Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) team and take full end-to-end responsibility for developing and validating state estimation, navigation and guidance algorithms. In close collaboration with field engineers, your goal is to elevate the performance of our UAS platforms to unprecedented levels and impact the future of defence technology.

The day-to-day responsibilities include:

• Owning the development of bespoke controllers for UAS end to end; through conception, design, simulation, physical integration and feature iteration.
• Designing, testing and implementing state estimator algorithms that work robustly in contested environments.
• Simulating the performance of navigation and guidance algorithms to inform the definition of sensor stacks, which could include IMUs, GPS/GNSS, barometers, magnetometers and advanced image-based positioning systems.
• Analysing real sensor and test data to calibrate sensors and validate performance, closing the simulation-to-real gap.
• Supporting the specification and execution of tests for navigation and guidance algorithm evaluation.
• Collaborating with interfacing disciplines such as Flight Mechanics, Aerodynamics, Embedded Hard- and Software, and Testing.
• Contributing to, following and analysing flight tests.

You should apply if you:

• Hold a M.Sc. or PhD in Aeronautical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics or an equivalent degree.
• Have at least 5 years of professional experience in navigation, guidance or state estimation development.
• Have very good skills in Matlab/Simulink.
• Have a solid background in state estimation theory, aerodynamics, stability and control, and systems modelling.
• Have excellent communication skills and the ability to report and present findings clearly and efficiently both internally and externally.
• Possess solid software engineering skills, writing clean and well-structured code in Matlab and/or languages like Python, Rust, Java, or modern C++.
• Are passionate about keeping up to date with current research and enjoy reimplementing / extending papers on state of the art navigation and guidance algorithms.

Nice to Have:

• Hands-on experience with fixed-wing aircraft / drones.
• Have worked with or even contributed to open-source autopilots like Ardupilot or PX4.

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.

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.