Robotics Software Engineer

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 be part of a team building production-grade software foundations that power autonomous robotics. Your work will focus on designing, implementing, and deploying high-performance ROS2-based architectures and control software for robots operating in complex, unstructured, and dynamic real-world environments. This includes ensuring low-latency, real-time communication, robust sensor integration, and reliable mechatronics performance. You will own the software lifecycle from architecture design to physical deployment on custom hardware, ensuring that systems are highly reliable, easily diagnosable, and ready for critical real-world operations.

The day-to-day

• Design, implement, and rigorously test ROS2 architecture and C++ modules that enable autonomous platforms to perceive, decide, and act reliably in complex, unstructured, and often adversarial environments
• Take architectural concepts from design to fielded system, working hands-on with custom mechatronics to integrate sensors and actuators so that the software layer performs exactly as required by the hardware layer
• Develop diagnostic tooling and failure-analysis pipelines to detect actuator and system anomalies before they become mission failures, treating reliability as a foundational requirement rather than an afterthought
• Validate control logic using simulation environments such as MuJoCo and Isaac Sim alongside Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing, ensuring that what works in simulation survives contact with the real world
• Package and ship production-grade software via containerised environments to edge compute hardware running on physical robots, enforcing quality through rigorous unit and integration testing within robust CI/CD pipelines

You should apply if you

• Have built and shipped production ROS2 systems in modern C++, with a track record of debugging and optimising complex, multi-node robotic architectures in real-world deployments
• Design software with modularity and long-term maintainability in mind, writing clean, well-structured code that can be clearly owned and understood across the team
• Have hands-on experience integrating and testing new, custom mechatronic systems for real-world deployment, bridging the gap between software and physical hardware
• Have developed diagnostic systems and tooling for detecting actuator or robot failures, with demonstrable improvement to the pace and depth of failure analysis
• Are proficient in Linux development environments, including build systems and system-level debugging, and have applied modern testing methodologies, including unit, integration, and HIL testing, within CI/CD pipelines

Nice to have

• Familiarity with low-level motor control interfaces, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and embedded systems constraints, alongside experience with sensor fusion techniques (IMU, proprioception, lidar, vision) for localization, perception, and control pipeline reliability
• Proficiency in Python for scripting, tooling, or rapid prototyping within a primarily C++ codebase

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

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.