---
title: 'Lead Systems Engineer at Helsing'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-systems-engineer-helsing-washington-c912n5at8mn0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Lead Systems Engineer at Helsing

- **Company:** Helsing
- **Location:** Washington, DC
- **Posted:** 2026-08-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://helsing.ai/jobs/4962247101?gh_jid=4962247101

## Job description

## Who we are

Helsing develops artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities to protect and defend democracies. We are growing our US operations, cultivating an ambitious and committed team of mission-driven professionals to apply their skills to solve challenging problems.

## The role

As Lead Systems Engineer, you will own the systems engineering life cycle for next-generation loitering munition systems being developed for the U.S. Army. This is a hands-on technical leadership role spanning requirements, architecture, verification, and hardware-software integration. You will be the technical authority for translating government requirements into verified, fielded capability spanning the all-up round, ground/fire control system, and their integration into the command-and-control force structure.

You will grow, lead, and mentor a team of systems engineers, while also serving as the program's individual technical authority within the Systems Engineering Integrated Product Team (IPT). You will shape the Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) and serve as the technical conscience of the program.

The day-to-day

- Lead the development and management of system and subsystem requirements, translating U.S. military operational needs into detailed engineering specifications.
- Own requirements traceability from the Government Requirements Matrix through to system verification and validation.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering teams, including software, safety, hardware and integration, to develop robust system architectures.
- Support the system's path to certification by ensuring compliance with technical and regulatory requirements.
- Partner directly with U.S. Government stakeholders, System Architects and internal engineering teams to deliver mission-critical capabilities.
- Act as the technical authority during design reviews, balancing high-level architecture decisions with hands-on technical problem solving.
- Troubleshoot complex system integration and interface issues throughout development and testing.
- Provide technical leadership throughout the full system development lifecycle, acting as the program's trusted engineering authority.
- Shape customer needs into system and subsystem requirements in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
- Develop systems engineering artifacts, including the system model, to trace every requirement from stakeholder input through a verified design in a single digital thread.
- Communicate and manage program risk together with the Chief Engineer and Program Management.
- Lead the System Engineering IPT and own the SRR, PDR, and CDR, and organize and execute Interim Progress Reviews and Test Readiness Reviews, ensuring every technical baseline is established, maintained, and configuration controlled.
- Ensure the system meets every technical and engineering requirement, including quality assurance, reliability, maintainability, system compatibility, and system safety engineering.
- Assess the progress of development test and evaluation, production, and sustainment, and recommend design or requirement changes as new technology or test results warrant.
- Work with Test and Evaluation and Field Engineering teams to plan and guide execution of the verification and validation campaign, including hardware-in-the-loop testing and analysis, to verify system performance against requirements before government developmental and safety testing.

You should apply if you

- Hold a university degree in systems engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related discipline.
- Have 10 or more years of systems engineering experience across the life cycle of complex defense, aerospace, or munition systems.
- Have outstanding communication skills, including presenting engineering artifacts to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Have experience developing subsystem and component requirements and interfaces, including mission systems.
- Have experience with systems engineering, requirements elicitation and management, integration, and test activities on complex DoD weapon systems.
- Have experience on mature aircraft or munition development programs, including operational testing and airworthiness certification.
- Are familiar with the following standards and handbooks: MIL-HDBK-516C (Airworthiness Certification Criteria), MIL-STD-882E (System Safety), SAE ARP-4754A and ARP-4761 (Development and Safety Assessment), DO-178C (Software Assurance), DO-254 (Complex Hardware Assurance), and MIL-STD-881 (Work Breakdown Structures).
- Have experience with Cameo MagicDraw or similar systems engineering software.
- Are a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
- Are willing to travel to government test facilities and vendor or partner sites as required.

Note: We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all the listed qualifications; ability and impact cannot be summarized 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 defense 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 practice 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

- A focus on outcomes, not time-tracking

- A generous compensation and benefits package (in addition to base salary) that includes, but may not be limited to, insurance coverage (medical and travel), flexible paid time off, paid holidays, and remote and/or hybrid work available depending on position. All compensation and benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of the underlying plans or programs, as applicable and as may be amended, terminated or superseded from time to time.

The base salary offered to the successful candidate will be determined by a variety of factors including relevant experience, qualifications, education, skill level, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Helsing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetics, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.  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](https://helsing.ai/candidate-privacy-and-confidentiality-regime/).

## About Helsing

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Helsing builds artificial intelligence-driven autonomous systems and defense hardware to protect democratic nations, integrating airborne, maritime, and electronic warfare capabilities.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series D in progress, May 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Munich, Germany
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, Niklas Köhler

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Defense technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems
- Target customers: NATO-aligned governments, defense ministries, and allied militaries (B2G)
- Mission: "Protect our democracies" – using software and AI to enhance battlefield decision-making, precision engagement, and national security

## Products & Services
- **HX-2**: AI-enabled strike drone, mass-manufactured in “Resilience Factories” (1,000+ per month)
- **HF-1**: AI-powered electronic warfare system (autonomous combat aircraft for electronic attack)
- **SG-1 Fathom**: Underwater autonomous glider for maritime surveillance and infrastructure protection
- **Cirra**: AI for electronic warfare, already flight-tested (Feb 2026)
- **CA-1 Europa**: Joint project with HENSOLDT for advanced electronic attack capabilities
- **Altra**: Recce strike software for battlefield intelligence
- **Centaur**: AI system for autonomous air dominance
- **Lura**: Underwater autonomous mass system

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed (latest deal $1.2B in progress, May 2026)
- **Total Funding**: ~$1.5B (Series D $694M in July 2025; Series C $489M in July 2024; Series B $222M in Sept 2023; Series A $119M in Nov 2021; Seed in Jan 2021)
- **Key Investors**: Prima Materia (led Series A & D), General Catalyst (led Series B & C), plus 12 total investors
- **Key Partners**: HENSOLDT, EURENCO, Grob Aircraft (subsidiary), Airbus Defence and Space (talent source)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 78.4% YoY (515 employees per LinkedIn; PitchBook reports 900); second German Resilience Factory operational (Feb 2026); expanded to 17 countries; acquired HELSING LIMITED and Helsing Germany GmbH; 192 active job postings (June 2026)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Full-stack defense AI**: Combines software, hardware, and mass manufacturing in-house, unlike traditional primes or pure software firms.
- **Resilience Factories**: Proprietary high-volume production lines for drones (1,000 HX-2/month) with local supply chains, enabling rapid scaling.
- **Ethical commitment**: Publicly emphasizes responsible AI deployment and democratic governance, differentiating from less transparent competitors.
- **Pan-European footprint**: Offices in Munich, London, Paris, Berlin – drawing top talent from across Europe and the US, with strong ties to governments.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling autonomous systems across air, land, sea, and underwater domains.
- Deepening partnerships with European defense ministries and industrial primes (e.g., HENSOLDT, EURENCO).
- Expanding electronic warfare and AI-powered strike capabilities (e.g., CA-1 Europa, Cirra).
- Recruiting heavily for AI research (RL, CV, foundation models, robotics), hardware engineering, and program management.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven**: Explicitly focused on protecting democratic values – attracts talent who want meaningful impact in defense.
- **Culture**: Values include “move fast, act with conviction, do what’s right – even when it’s hard”; ground-up playbook, skeptical of conventional wisdom.
- **Growth**: 78% YoY headcount growth, 192 open roles, and rapid internal advancement.
- **Diverse team**: Combines software engineers, deep learning specialists, program managers from top companies (Palantir, Google, Amazon, BAE Systems, McKinsey).
- **Locations**: Hybrid-friendly offices in Munich, London, Paris, Berlin; also remote or flexible for some roles.
- **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but significant investment in R&D and manufacturing suggests strong resources for tools and equipment.

## Sources
1. [helsing.ai](https://helsing.ai/)
2. [helsing.ai/careers](https://helsing.ai/careers)
3. [linkedin.com/company/helsing](https://www.linkedin.com/company/helsing)
4. [pitchbook.com/profiles/company/481513-60](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/481513-60)

## Other roles at Helsing

- [Commercial Director](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-director-helsing-munich-nrx1v118r35d) — Munich, Germany
- [Senior Flight Test Engineer {PL}](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-flight-test-engineer-pl-helsing-munich-0brx5h30nh5r) — Munich, Germany
- [(Senior) Programme Manager Mission Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-programme-manager-mission-systems-helsing-munich-wpnm64kf9x6q) — Munich, Germany
- [Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/guidance-navigation-control-engineer-helsing-london-z8wnt6e8nwq8) — London, United Kingdom
- [Workplace Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/workplace-manager-helsing-barcelona-s7t2ht20k0yv) — Barcelona, Spain
- [Team Lead - Training and Mission Success - International](https://feeny.ai/job/team-lead-training-and-mission-success-international-helsing-london-yc7xf7v2fk4f) — London, United Kingdom
- [Warehouse Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/warehouse-manager-helsing-munich-d3jw3ww8mer3) — Munich, Germany
- [Warehouse Clerk](https://feeny.ai/job/warehouse-clerk-helsing-munich-hte766v8ej6c) — Munich, Germany
- [Warehouse Operator](https://feeny.ai/job/warehouse-operator-helsing-munich-rv1me3vxmz29) — Munich, Germany
- [Senior Commercial Finance Business Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-commercial-finance-business-partner-helsing-munich-wcm87snmyfbq) — Munich, Germany