Operational Buyer

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

As an Operational Buyer at Helsing you will execute daily purchasing activities and manage material flows across production and project workstreams, ensuring the seamless availability of goods before supply gaps become programme risks. Working across supplier, logistics , and production boundaries, you will process and track purchase orders, analyse MRP outputs, and coordinate vendor delivery schedules to protect Helsing's programme commitments. You will take genuine ownership of defined planning workstreams, supported by senior colleagues, while building the judgement to manage escalations and improve the processes that keep material flowing reliably.

The day-to-day

• Generate, track, and expedite purchase orders across assigned production and project workstreams, securing material availability before shortages create bottlenecks and directly influencing whether Helsing meets its programme commitments on time

• Analyse MRP reports, inventory levels, and demand forecasts continuously, surfacing deviations and coordinating supply escalations promptly to minimise disruption to production schedules

• Serve as the primary point of contact for suppliers within your scope, resolving order discrepancies, shipping delays, and quality issues while maintaining an accurate, real-time picture of material status

• Collaborate with planning, manufacturing, and logistics teams to align priorities, smooth demand, and make clear trade-off recommendations that protect the most time-sensitive commitments under constraint

• Maintain and improve planning and scheduling processes within your workstreams, tracking supplier delivery performance and contributing structured data to supplier reviews that reinforce procurement accountability

You should apply if you

• Have planned and managed material requirements in a production or project-driven environment, maintaining availability across concurrent workstreams through disciplined purchase order management and MRP analysis

• Have worked with ERP systems, ideally SAP S/4HANA, or advanced planning tools in a manufacturing or project-led organisation, and can apply them to monitor inventory, vendor performance, and delivery forecasts

• Have supported or managed supply escalations and shortages, keeping stakeholders informed and production protected through clear prioritisation and timely coordination

• Can interpret inventory data, demand forecasts, and supplier performance metrics to make sound planning decisions under time pressure, with a structured approach to scheduling when workloads are high and priorities shift

• Communicate fluently in both German and English

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

• Familiarity with defence, aerospace, or other regulated industries where traceability and compliance requirements shape supply planning practice, including experience with corrective action tracking and structured supplier review cycles

• Exposure to e-procurement platforms such as SAP Ariba, or equivalent tools used to manage vendor relationships and purchasing workflows at scale

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 .