Senior System Engineer – Product Security, Crypto and Cyber

Helsing · Munich

  • Senior
  • Full-time
  • Posted 2026-09-10
  • Confirmed live on 25 September 2026

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Job description

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

Helsing's CA-1 programme is building the software-defined intelligence layer for one of Europe's most advanced combat aircraft. As a Senior Systems Engineer specialising in Product Security, Cryptography and Cyber, you will be responsible for defining and governing the security architecture of the entire platform — from the requirements that shape hardware and software design, through to the compliance artefacts that satisfy national and NATO authority expectations.

This is not a role confined to policy or paperwork. You will develop the aircraft security concept from first principles, own the design of intra- and inter-vehicle communication security, and lead Helsing's approach to platform-level cryptographic management, including functions such as erase and zeroise. You will work directly with customers — requirements workshops, technical reviews, solution showcases — and with German national security authorities, making professional fluency in German an operational necessity. The candidate who will thrive here brings a rare combination of systems engineering rigour, deep cryptographic and cyber knowledge, and the ability to translate complex security requirements into engineering reality on a programme that genuinely matters.

The day-to-day

• Guide hardware and software design teams through security requirements specification and architectural decisions, ensuring compliance with national and NATO-level security regulations across the CA-1 programme

• Develop and own the aircraft-level security concept, derived from applicable rules, regulations and standards, and maintain it as the authoritative reference across the programme

• Define and implement engineering design processes applicable to product security, establishing repeatable, auditable workflows that can scale with the programme

• Create and maintain the compliance artefacts required by national and NATO security authorities, ensuring Helsing's security posture is demonstrable and defensible at all stages of delivery

• Design the security architecture for intra- and inter-vehicle communications, covering both on-board and off-board interfaces across the platform

• Develop the design concept for aircraft-level security functions, including erase and zeroise, ensuring operational integrity under all mission conditions

• Conduct vulnerability analysis and adversarial testing on platform systems, translating findings into actionable engineering mitigations

• Define the platform cryptographic management concept, including crypto key management architecture and lifecycle processes

• Engage directly with defence customers — including the Bundeswehr and other national authorities — to capture requirements, present solutions, and represent Helsing's security engineering capability with authority

You should apply if you

• Have designed and delivered end-to-end security architectures for military or defence-grade systems, spanning requirements, system design and compliance evidence

• Understand and can apply NATO security standards and national-level regulations — including relevant STANAGs and German national security frameworks — to engineering programmes

• Have developed cryptographic management concepts for complex platforms, including crypto key management design and lifecycle governance

• Have conducted structured vulnerability analysis and adversarial threat assessments on safety- or mission-critical networked systems

• Have defined communication security designs for intra- and inter-platform data exchange in a defence or government context

• Are professionally fluent in German, with the ability to engage with national security authorities, regulators and customers in technical and formal settings

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 IFF systems and their associated security and certification requirements

• Experience designing erase and zeroise function

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