(Senior) Systems Safety Engineer - Air

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 Systems Safety Engineer, you will own the application of a comprehensive safety approach within a specific programme, ensuring that safety practices are integrated rigorously across design, development and delivery lifecycles. Working closely with engineering and delivery teams, you will conduct safety assessments against ARP4761A and MIL-STD-882, govern safety requirements traceability and present structured safety cases to programme stakeholders. Your work directly determines whether Helsing's systems meet their safety objectives and comply with applicable standards, contributing to both programme-level compliance and the continuous maturation of safety processes across the organisation.

The day-to-day

• Conduct system safety assessments including AFHA/SFHA, PASA/PSSA, ASA/SSA and Particular Risk Analysis in accordance with ARP4761A, and perform hazard analyses and risk assessments at system, subsystem and component level in compliance with MIL-STD-882

• Develop, manage and maintain system safety requirements with full traceability, supporting engineering teams in integrating safety considerations into their design and development processes from the outset rather than retrospectively

• Contribute to the creation and maintenance of a System Safety Programme Plan that aligns with MIL-STD-882 and ARP4754B, ensuring documentation meets the rigour required for regulatory compliance and audit readiness

• Present safety cases clearly to programme stakeholders, translating complex safety data and risk assessments into structured, decision-ready arguments that directly influence design and programme milestone decisions

• Support and participate in safety audits to confirm that systems meet defined safety objectives, identifying gaps, driving corrective actions and feeding lessons learned back into Helsing's cross-programme safety processes

You should apply if you

• Have conducted system safety assessments, including FHA, PSSA, SSA and PRA, applying ARP4761A and MIL-STD-882 within aerospace, defence or similarly regulated engineering programmes

• Have developed and managed safety requirements with full traceability using tools such as Jama Software, IBM DOORS or equivalent, with a working knowledge of FMEA, FTA and related safety analysis techniques

• Have presented safety cases to technical and non-technical stakeholders, translating complex safety arguments into clear, structured documentation that supports audit and regulatory compliance

• Apply systems engineering best practices including requirements development, verification and validation to integrate safety rigorously across multidisciplinary programme teams

• Act decisively with minimal guidance, own outcomes end-to-end and initiate solutions without waiting for direction

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.

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: regularly 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

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.