Simulation Engineer - Space

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

You will build the simulation environments that support mission analysis for large satellite constellations, across hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop. These environments let us test constellation software and real hardware on the ground, at pace, before anything reaches orbit. Engineering and programme decisions rest on them, so they must run fast, state their limits honestly, and earn the trust of the people who depend on them.

You will also contribute to mission and system design, and work with partners and suppliers whose models, hardware, and interfaces sit inside the same simulation.

The day-to-day

• Build and maintain the simulation environments behind large constellation mission analysis.

• Build hardware-in-the-loop rigs with real hardware in the loop, for example a flight computer or payload controller, and software-in-the-loop environments wired into our automated test and release pipelines.

• Model the relevant physics, for example orbital and attitude dynamics, sensors, actuators, thermal behaviour, and RF links, at the fidelity each question demands. Validate those models against test and flight data.

• Turn simulation results into trade studies, requirements evidence, and design recommendations the programme can act on.

• Work with partners and suppliers to integrate their models and hardware, agree the expected fidelity, and resolve the discrepancies that surface once everything runs together.

You should apply if you

• Proven delivery of both software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop systems, including real hardware wired into a simulator.

• Strong physics and modelling judgement. You can defend a simplification and sense where a model stops being trustworthy.

• Several years of production-grade software work in a large, shared codebase, with code review, continuous integration, testing, and documentation. Python, plus at least one of Rust or modern C++.

• The ability to architect one environment that serves both fast batch runs and full-fidelity wall-clock validation, including the real-time and scheduling trade-offs involved.

• Confidence working across organisational boundaries, holding technical discussions with partners and suppliers, and explaining results, and their limits, to non-specialists.

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

• Optimisation background: design-space exploration, Monte Carlo and sensitivity analysis, trajectory or scheduling optimisation, or surrogate models.

• Space domain exposure: orbit propagation, six degrees of freedom attitude dynamics, closed-loop AOCS simulation, or ground station, inter-satellite link, and payload models.

• Distributed simulation standards, for example HLA, DIS, or FMI, or GPU and high-performance simulation.

• Adjacent dynamic, safety-relevant domains, for example automotive, robotics, or autonomous systems, or consortium programmes involving model exchange between suppliers.

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.