Multimodal Sensing Test 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

You will sit in the Optics Cluster of the Test Department, with a scope that crosses cluster boundaries. Sensing subsystems are not purely optical problems. They sit at the intersection of optics, electronics, embedded software, and mechanical integration. An EO camera in perfect focus but misaligned with the LiDAR produces dangerous data. An LWIR sensor that passes standalone characterisation but fails next to a hot avionics bay tells a different story on the airframe.

You will act as a sensing system architect for test. You will translate sensing requirements into structured test cases, specify the optical, electrical, and mechanical ground support equipment (OGSE, EGSE, MGSE) needed to run them, and serve as the department's technical authority on sensor synchronisation, calibration, and multimodal data quality. Your work covers the full lifecycle: prototype characterisation, production acceptance, supplier evaluation, and in-service root cause analysis. The truth is in the field.

The day-to-day

• Characterise EO systems: MTF, SNR, dynamic range, distortion, vignetting, and spectral response, using collimators, integrating spheres, resolution targets, and calibrated light sources.

• Characterise LWIR systems: NETD, spatial resolution, uniformity, and dynamic range with calibrated blackbodies, including the impact of self-heating across the operational temperature range.

• Characterise LiDAR systems: range accuracy and precision, angular resolution, detection probability, and false-alarm rate under representative ambient light, target reflectivity, atmospheric, and vibration conditions.

• Specify, procure, commission, and maintain OGSE, EGSE, and MGSE. Own calibration traceability.

• Run temporal synchronisation campaigns across EO, LWIR, and LiDAR. Characterise trigger latency, PPS accuracy, and timestamp drift over mission duration.

• Execute intrinsic, extrinsic, and temporal calibration across modalities. Design multi-modal fiducial targets visible to EO, LWIR, and LiDAR at once. Assess calibration stability after thermal cycling, vibration, and simulated ageing, and set re-calibration intervals for production.

• Produce first-article characterisation reports for new sensor deliveries. Evaluate alternative sensor configurations to support design trade-offs.

• Develop and supervise acceptance test procedures for production units within required cycle time. Monitor yield for systematic trends and initiate non-conformance where needed.

• Assess new sensor suppliers. Review datasheets and qualification reports, characterise engineering samples, define qualification test campaigns, and produce supplier qualification reports. Act as the test department's technical contact for supplier engineering teams.

• Investigate sensing failures reported from fielded products. Reproduce failures in the lab, isolate root cause across sensor, calibration, software, or integration, and verify corrective actions.

• Feed validated sensor models, calibration parameters, and timing characterisations to the software team for the sensor fusion pipeline. Coordinate with the Environmental and Electrical clusters to sequence qualification correctly.

• Keep test firmware and scripts under Git with clear branching, tagging, and release management. Produce validation records for critical test tools used in certification. Write documentation any engineer in the department can use without you present.

You should apply if you

Must have skills:

• EO systems: quantitative grasp of MTF, SNR, dynamic range, spectral response, and radiometric calibration, with hands-on MTF measurement using slanted-edge or resolution target methods.

• LWIR systems: quantitative grasp of NETD, spatial resolution, non-uniformity correction, and radiometric calibration with blackbodies.

• LiDAR systems: understanding of ToF and FMCW principles, performance metrics, and characterisation methods. Experience with point cloud formats (ROS bag, PCD, or proprietary).

• Sensor synchronisation and calibration: hands-on time-synchronisation of heterogeneous arrays using hardware triggers, PPS, and software timestamping, with quantitative verification. Intrinsic camera calibration in OpenCV, Kalibr, or equivalent. Extrinsic and temporal calibration across modalities.

• OGSE, EGSE, MGSE specification, commissioning, and operation, including collimators, blackbodies, integrating spheres, precision optical mounts, and calibration targets.

• Ability to derive test concepts that cover system-level behaviour of the integrated multimodal suite, not only individual sensors.

• Requirements translation into traceable test cases with clear pass/fail criteria. Familiarity with Jama or DOORS is a plus.

• Python (numpy, scipy, matplotlib, OpenCV) or MATLAB for data analysis.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree (B.Sc. or B.Eng.) in a relevant engineering discipline such as optical engineering, photonics, electrical engineering (with a strong sensing or imaging component), applied or experimental physics, aerospace engineering (with a sensing or avionics component), mechatronics, or an equivalent technical field. M.Sc. in optical engineering, photonics, or a closely related field preferred.

• At least 3 years of hands-on test engineering experience covering environmental, mechanical, or structural test. Direct experience with environmental chambers, vibration testing, and physical instrumentation is required.

• Prior exposure to defence, dual-use, or regulated hardware is preferred. Experience under ITAR, EAR, or equivalent frameworks is an advantage.

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

• Working knowledge of sensor fusion (Kalman filtering, point cloud registration) sufficient to derive calibration accuracy requirements.

• ROS or ROS 2 for capture, timestamping, and replay in test.

• Radiometric calibration methodology for quantitative EO and LWIR measurements.

• GigE Vision, MIPI CSI-2, or USB3 Vision interface standards.

• Photogrammetry or Structure-from-Motion for extrinsic calibration validation.

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.