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
We are pushing the boundaries of what machines can do. Working on the absolute cutting edge of robotics, we build systems that are redefining the future. But groundbreaking hardware needs bulletproof reliability, and that’s where you come in. We are looking for an experienced and passionate Hardware Test Engineer to join our Barcelona office and lead our robotics validation department. In this high-impact role, you will be responsible for the quality of our mechanical and electrical systems, ensuring our robots perform flawlessly in the real world. You will own the entire design verification process from scratch: bringing up advanced test setups, architecting the automation pipeline, and leveraging data to hunt down root causes. If you love working with complex systems, finding out why they break, and helping design teams build them back stronger, this is the role for you.
The day-to-day * Pioneer Test Environments: Architect and bring up cutting-edge validation setups for complex electro-mechanical systems. * Automate to Accelerate: Build and scale automated testing frameworks so we can test faster and smarter. * Lead the Charge on Quality: Help with the investigation of test failures. You won't just report bugs; you’ll partner directly with design teams to engineer the best solutions. * Close the Gaps: Proactively identify vulnerabilities in our validation coverage to catch design errors before they ever see the light of day. * Execute & Standardize: Run rigorous test executions and create the foundational documentation for our growing validation processes.
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: regular 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
- A hands-on onboarding program (affectionately labelled “Infraduction”), in which you will be building tooling and applications to be used across the company. This is your opportunity to learn our tech stack, explore the company, and learn how we get things done - all whilst working with other engineering teams from day one
You should apply if you
- Have >= 3 years of experience working as a validation engineer.
- Hold a BSc in Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
- Have experience automating processes with Python or similar.
- Are perfectly comfortable navigating highly complex, multidisciplinary systems independently, troubleshooting them, and defining validation roadmaps.
- Are proficient in both English and Spanish.
Nice to Have
- Experience in robotics
- Have experience working in Linux systems
