Senior Commercial Manager - 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 Senior Commercial Manager you will shape and own the commercial strategies that bring Helsing's AI and software products to market across strategic defence partners and military customers. Working closely with German Business Development and Customer Success teams, you will govern the full contract lifecycle, from bid development and pricing through to contract performance and change management. You will ensure that commercial activity is structured, compliant with German pricing law and directly aligned to Helsing's growth objectives, translating technical and strategic ambitions into commercially sound, deliverable outcomes

The day-to-day

• Develop and execute commercial strategies across the full contract lifecycle, from bid construction and pricing through to delivery, change management and claim resolution, ensuring each stage is aligned to Helsing's domain strategies and product roadmaps

• Lead the development of commercial bids at the intersection of legal, finance and procurement, building robust pricing models and compelling proposals that meet German defence customer requirements and support the company's revenue targets

• Provide authoritative expertise on German pricing law, ensuring full regulatory compliance across all commercial activity and advising internal stakeholders on risk, exposure and remediation options

• Build and present financial business cases for new opportunities, researching client needs and market developments to inform business development decisions and strengthen Helsing's competitive positioning

• Manage contract reporting and performance governance across programmes and partnerships, maintaining clear visibility of contractual commitments and surfacing risks before they affect delivery

You should apply if you

• Have a deep, practical understanding of defence and government contracting from both customer and supply chain perspectives, with a track record of delivering complex bids, negotiations and contract outcomes in a German defence context

• Have applied knowledge of German pricing law and have ensured compliance with those regulations across commercial programmes

• Have developed and managed software product contract and licensing models, with strong financial modelling skills and the ability to translate analysis into clear, decision-ready business cases

• Communicate with full fluency in both German and English, written and spoken, and are comfortable operating in standard defence and procurement terminology across both languages

• Have worked across the full breadth of commercial activity including strategy, bids, procurement and contract management, and are confident presenting findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders

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

• Familiarity with AI or software-as-a-service commercial models applied within defence or government procurement environments

• Experience working across multidisciplinary teams spanning legal, finance and programme management to coordinate and close complex commercial transactions

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

These are the core benefits across all locations, there may be additional benefits in certain locations.

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.