Senior Systems Engineer – EA Antenna & Payload Design

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 We are developing an advanced airborne platform with an integrated Electronic Attack capability. We are looking for an experienced engineer to lead the technical definition, design assessment, and integration of the jammer payload and its associated antenna system. You will work at the intersection of Electronic Warfare, RF engineering, antenna technology, aircraft integration, mission systems, and systems engineering. The day-to-day

Define system-level requirements for an airborne jammer payload and its antenna subsystem. Translate operational Electronic Attack needs into measurable technical requirements. Develop and assess payload and antenna integration architectures. Define requirements for: - Frequency coverage and instantaneous bandwidth - Transmit power, EIRP, and antenna gain - Antenna field of regard, beamwidth, and steering performance - Polarisation and radiation patterns - Simultaneous transmit and receive operation - Receiver protection, isolation, and co-site compatibility - Cooling, electrical power, mechanical interfaces, and data interfaces - Payload size, weight, and power consumption - Platform-level electromagnetic compatibility Analyse antenna placement and spatial coverage on the aircraft. Assess installation effects such as airframe shadowing, blockage, reflections, mutual coupling, and radiation-pattern distortion. Evaluate suitable antenna technologies, including phased-array, AESA, conformal, and distributed antenna concepts. Define and manage interfaces between the jammer, antennas, ESM/RWR sensors, mission computer, navigation system, and other aircraft subsystems. Perform technical assessments of jammer, RF, and antenna concepts. Review specifications, designs, simulations, test results, and compliance evidence. Identify technical risks, performance gaps, and integration constraints. Support technical design reviews and system architecture decisions. Develop link-budget , coverage, and J/S analyses for representative operational geometries. Support modelling and simulation of jammer performance at mission, system, and platform level. Define verification and validation strategies for the integrated system. Support ground testing, antenna measurements, electromagnetic compatibility testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and flight-test activities. Coordinate closely with aircraft , mission-system, Electronic Warfare, mechanical, electrical, thermal, and software engineering teams.

You should apply if you

Degree in electrical engineering, communications engineering, aerospace engineering, physics, or a related technical discipline. Several years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas: - Airborne RF systems - Antenna system design - Electronic Warfare or Electronic Attack systems - Radar or communications payloads - RF payload integration Strong understanding of antenna parameters, radiation patterns, phased arrays, beam steering, and platform installation effects. Experience defining and managing requirements for complex RF, mission, or defence systems. Familiarity with RF link budgets, EIRP, propagation, receiver sensitivity, dynamic range, and interference analysis. Understanding of jammer-effectiveness metrics such as J/S, burn-through range, effective radiated power, power-on-target, and spatial coverage. Ability to assess complete systems rather than focusing only on individual components. Experience with airborne-platform integration, environmental qualification, or flight-test activities is highly desirable. Familiarity with electromagnetic compatibility, electromagnetic interference, antenna coupling, and co-site analysis is desirable. Strong analytical, communication, and technical-documentation skills. Ability to work across multiple engineering disciplines and communicate effectively with both technical specialists and programme stakeholders.

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