Thermal 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

As Thermal Engineer, you will own the thermal and thermo-mechanical simulation of complex drone products and critical subassemblies within Helsing's physical products and hardware engineering organisation . Working across analysis, modelling and test, you will define thermal loads, optimise heat paths and validate simulation models against physical test data. Your assessments directly inform design decisions, reduce programme risk and ensure thermal integrity from early concept through to flight-ready hardware.

The day-to-day

• Own end-to-end thermal and thermo-mechanical simulation of drone products and major subassemblies, using FEM and CFD tools to deliver assessments that directly inform design and material selection decisions

• Define loads, boundary conditions and material properties, applying model order reduction methods to create accurate and computationally efficient thermal models

• Conduct static and transient thermal analyses, including model correlation and heat path optimisation, translating results into clear, actionable design recommendations

• Plan and execute thermal validation tests, using test data to correlate and refine simulation models, reducing programme risk at each development milestone

• Produce comprehensive design reports and sensitivity studies that identify optimal thermal solutions and meet company quality standards

You should apply if you

• Have built and validated FEM and CFD thermal models for aerospace or similarly demanding thermo-mechanical applications, using tools such as StarCCM+ or equivalent

• Can analytically assess thermal challenges, applying relevant material properties, fluid characteristics and test standards with confidence

• Are proficient in CAD-based model preparation and structural simplification for thermal and CFD simulation workflows

• Use calculation tools such as Matlab/Simulink fluently to support thermal assessments and sensitivity studies

• Communicate complex thermal findings clearly in written English, producing documentation that meets rigorous engineering quality standards

• Act decisively with minimal guidance, own outcomes end-to-end and initiate solutions without waiting for direction

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

• Experience within drone or UAV thermal programmes, including test campaign planning in a fast-paced, iterative development environment

• Familiarity with model order reduction techniques applied to complex thermo-mechanical or fluid dynamics problems

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.

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