Supporting Tech Lead - Maritime

Who We Are

Helsing is a defence AI company. Our mission is to protect our democracies. Our aim is 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

We’re looking to bring on a fast‑moving engineer with credible “whole‑system” UUV design experience to help break decision deadlocks, finish the design and manage the wider team day to day.

Day‑to‑Day Responsibilities

• Own Production Pathway: Ensure the design is production‑ready from the start: design for manufacturing, assembly and testing. Every design decision answers the question: “Can a technician build unit #37 the same way unit #1 was built?” Own design documentation, version control and assembly instructions. The design is complete only when someone who wasn’t present can build it from the documentation. Support supplier selection and qualification: know which components are available at volume, which need custom development and which are single‑source risks. Drive the transition from “engineer‑built prototype” to a documented, repeatable, production‑ready build across 40 units.
• Drive Integration & Testing: Work with the engineering team to integrate every subsystem (flight controller, edge compute, hydrophone array, satcom, network router, sensors). Coordinate with the Software Tech Lead on the on‑glider software stack. Set the test strategy from bench through tank to open‑water sea trials. Move fast: first prototype in weeks/months. Thrive under high pressure with tight timelines. Build, test, learn and iterate.
• Break Design Deadlocks: Bring UUV system experience to the decision table. When the team faces competing approaches, use your knowledge of what works underwater to define the most functional path forward based on existing information. Make decisions without waiting for perfect data and without deferring to more experienced voices. Explain reasoning and move on. Translate deep expertise across mechanical, electrical and embedded domains into decisions and forward momentum, not further analysis.
• Close the Design: Work with the technical team to transition Helsing’s maritime products from concept to something that can be built, supporting and building on existing architectural decisions while closing remaining design gaps across subsystems (hull, propulsion, variable buoyancy system, power, etc.). Own trade‑off calls across mechanical, electrical and software boundaries, explaining rationale clearly so the team moves forward. Determine when a design is “good enough” to build versus when it needs more iteration, preventing endless refinement loops. Think about scaled manufacturing from day one, even at prototyping level.

You Should Apply If You

• Have built, integrated, tested and deployed complex electromechanical systems (not academic or simulated).
• Have experience in systems‑level decision‑making across mechanical, electrical and embedded software.
• Show technical decisiveness: close trade‑offs, explain reasoning and move on.
• Operate at startup speed, learning fast in new domains.
• Communicate collaboratively: run design reviews, manage technical output and build buy‑in.

Nice to Have

• Prototype‑to‑production experience.
• Direct UUV, AUV or underwater glider experience.
• Experience with buoyancy‑driven platforms, underwater propulsion or VBS.
• Experience with subsea communications (Iridium SBD), underwater acoustics or edge compute (e.g., Jetson).
• Defence or defence‑adjacent programmes.
• Experience in LARS and vessel operations.

Join Helsing and Work with World‑Leading Experts

Contribute to the protection of democratic countries while balancing ethical and geopolitical concerns. Work in a domain with highly unusual technical requirements and constraints, where robustness, safety and ethics are essential. Engage with state‑of‑the‑art technology such as reinforcement learning, distributed systems, generative AI and deployment infrastructure. Make order‑of‑magnitude improvements and innovations in a rapidly evolving defence industry. Have a say in how the company works, influencing culture and outcomes, and practice responsible autonomy and critical thinking.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and VSOP options.
• Relocation support: up to €2,500 and 4 weeks temporary accommodation.
• Learning allowance: €500/£450 yearly.
• 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 and 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.
• Hands‑on onboarding program (“Infraduction”) to build tooling and applications used across the company.

Helsing is an equal‑opportunity employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or gender identity.