Head of Aerodynamics & Thermal

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 As Head of Aerodynamics & Thermal, you will lead a specialist team of aerodynamicists, thermal analysts and test engineers working on Helsing's military drone programmes, from small tactical systems to large-scale, high-altitude long-endurance platforms. You will own the full aerodynamic and thermal design lifecycle, from conceptual modelling through to physical validation, ensuring that mission-critical systems perform reliably across extreme operational environments. Sitting beneath the Head of Physical Products, you will work in close partnership with structural, electronics, firmware and payload teams to deliver optimised, multi-disciplinary drone architectures that directly shape Helsing's hardware capability.

The day-to-day

• Drive the aerodynamic design and performance analysis of drone airframes, control surfaces and propulsion integration, using high-fidelity CFD simulations and experimental wind tunnel campaigns to validate flight envelope predictions across military operational profiles
• Lead thermal design, modelling and validation across the full drone platform, applying conjugate heat transfer (CHT) analysis to protect mission-critical payloads, AI processors and propulsion systems under extreme environmental conditions, including temperature ranges of -54°C to +71°C
• Resolve complex SWaP-C trade-offs by deploying advanced thermal solutions, including phase-change materials, custom heat sinks, cold plates and active cooling loops, within strict size, weight, power and cost constraints
• Establish and champion best practices for CFD modelling, fluid-thermal simulation, validation methodology and physical testing, building a rigorous engineering culture that supports defence certification and airworthiness reviews
• Collaborate across structural, electronics and payload integration teams to deliver multi-disciplinary drone architectures, leading environmental and aerodynamic validation testing in accordance with MIL-STD-810 and equivalent defence standards

You should apply if you

• Have designed, modelled and validated aerodynamic or aerothermal systems on unmanned aerial, aerospace or defence platforms, with demonstrable experience taking systems from concept through to physical test
• Have led or coordinated engineering teams through complex, multi-programme technical environments, making sound design trade-off decisions under demanding development timelines
• Are proficient in industry-standard CFD and thermal analysis tools such as ANSYS Fluent, Star-CCM+, Siemens Simcenter or OpenFOAM, and can apply these to both steady-state and transient flow regimes
• Communicate complex fluid-thermal physics clearly and concisely to diverse audiences, including programme managers, executive stakeholders and defence customers
• Are eligible for national security clearance, as required by defence programmes, and hold relevant residency or citizenship status

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 CAD/CAE integration tools such as SolidWorks, CATIA or Siemens NX, enabling seamless geometry import and design feedback loops between analysis and mechanical design teams
• Familiarity with diagnostic instrumentation, including thermocouples, infrared cameras and pressure scanners, and experience correlating physical test data with simulation outputs

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 .