Senior Payroll Specialist

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

Payroll at Helsing is not a back-office function — it is a foundation of trust. As a Senior Payroll Specialist, you will own the preparation and delivery of accurate , compliant payroll data across our international entities, with a particular focus on the DACH region. At Helsing, payroll is processed in partnership with an external tax adviser ( Steuerberater ); your role is to ensure that everything upstream of that process is precise, complete, and delivered on time. Working closely with the Payroll Team Lead, HR, and Finance, you will ensure our payroll infrastructure scales with us as we grow. This is a role with genuine scope: you will lead on statutory compliance, act as the primary escalation point for complex payroll matters, drive process improvement through automation and HRIS integration, and support the development of junior colleagues. The work is detailed, consequential, and sits at the intersection of people, finance, and operations.

The day-to-day

• Prepare and consolidate payroll data across multiple entities and regions, ensuring all inputs delivered to our external tax adviser are accurate, complete, and submitted on time

• Serve as the primary escalation point for complex payroll queries, resolving issues with care, precision, and clear communication

• Partner with external payroll vendors, our Steuerberater, and BPO providers to safeguard data integrity and hold service-level agreements to account

• Maintain and enforce compliance with local statutory obligations — including wage tax, social security, and labour law — with particular depth across Germany and the wider DACH region

• Lead Helsing's contribution to month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close processes, collaborating with Finance and Accounting on reconciliations and audit readiness

• Identify and implement process improvements that reduce manual effort, increase accuracy, and strengthen the payroll infrastructure through automation and HRIS integration

• Mentor and guide junior payroll specialists, contributing to a team culture defined by rigour, transparency, and continuous improvement

You should apply if you

• Have built and managed preparatory payroll operations across multiple entities and jurisdictions, including within high-growth or scaling organisations, with experience working alongside external payroll processors or tax advisers

• Bring deep, working knowledge of payroll compliance, tax obligations, and statutory requirements — with particular expertise in German and DACH-region regulation

• Have a track record of managing relationships with external payroll providers and holding vendors accountable to agreed standards

• Communicate fluently in both German and English — written and spoken — and are comfortable engaging with local authorities, international stakeholders, and colleagues at all levels

• Approach payroll with a systems mindset: you spot inefficiencies, understand their downstream impact, and take initiative to fix them

• Bring the kind of precision and reliability that means colleagues and leadership trust payroll to simply work

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 DATEV Personal Online and/or HRIS platforms such as HiBob

• A background in Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, or a related discipline — whether through formal study or equivalent practical experience

• Payroll or tax certifications that demonstrate continued professional development in the field

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 .