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.

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.

• 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

• 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.

• Experience with in 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

• 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…