About the Position

Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer

London

About the Company

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.

Responsibilities

Own the development of bespoke controllers for UAS end to end; through conception, design, simulation, physical integration, and feature iteration.
Design, test, and implement state estimator algorithms that work robustly in contested environments.
Simulate the performance of navigation and guidance algorithms to inform the definition of sensor stacks, which could include IMUs, GPS/GNSS, barometers, magnetometers, and advanced image-based positioning systems.
Analyse real sensor and test data to calibrate sensors and validate performance, closing the simulation-to-real gap.
Support the specification and execution of tests for navigation and guidance algorithm evaluation.
Collaborate with interfacing disciplines such as Flight Mechanics, Aerodynamics, Embedded Hard- and Software, and Testing.
Contribute to, follow, and analyse flight tests.

Requirements

Hold a M.Sc. or PhD in Aeronautical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or an equivalent degree.
Have at least 5 years of professional experience in navigation, guidance, or state estimation development.
Have very good skills in Matlab/Simulink.
Have a solid background in state estimation theory, aerodynamics, stability and control, and systems modelling.
Have excellent communication skills and the ability to report and present findings clearly and efficiently both internally and externally.
Possess solid software engineering skills, writing clean and well-structured code in Matlab and/or languages like Python, Rust, Java, or modern C++.
Are passionate about keeping up to date with current research and enjoy reimplementing / extending papers on state-of-the-art navigation and guidance algorithms.

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

Hands-on experience with fixed-wing aircraft / drones.
Have worked with or even contributed to open-source autopilots like Ardupilot or PX4.

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.

Helsing's Candidate Privacy and Confidentiality Regime can be found here.

Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer

Job description