Software Programme Manager

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

As Programme Manager for Helsing's Land domain, you are the primary point of contact for customers and partners across a complex, high-stakes defence programme. You own stakeholder relationships and take a considered approach to commercial engagement within a defined value proposition. Drawing on a thorough understanding of Helsing's capabilities, you lead the iterative delivery of complex, software-intensive capabilities, acting as the bridge between Helsing engineers and customer leads. You guide cross-functional teams using agile principles, keeping technical sprints and commercial milestones aligned and on track. You translate programme performance into clear reporting for leadership, surface risks before they affect delivery, and drive durable improvements across teams.

The day-to-day

• Maintain and update programme roadmaps and steering dashboards, tracking KPIs across engineering milestones and contractual obligations to give leadership timely and accurate performance data 

• Facilitate sprint cadences, backlog refinement, standups, and retrospectives with software and AI engineering teams to maintain high delivery tempo 

• Translate contractual milestones into iterative product roadmaps and sprint backlogs, balancing agile software development cycles with fixed customer delivery expectations 

• Serve as the primary point of contact for customer and partner stakeholders, managing relationships across programme delivery and ensuring Helsing's commitments are met at every milestone  

• Manage commercial engagement within your programme, identifying opportunities, supporting proposals and keeping delivery progress aligned to agreed value propositions  

• Orchestrate Helsing's capabilities across engineering, commercial and operational workstreams, aligning contributors to the right challenges entirely independently over timelines spanning a month to a quarter  

• Monitor programme risks with a forward-looking approach, preparing structured course-correction recommendations for leadership before delivery timelines are affected  

You should apply if you

• Have managed the end-to-end delivery of software products in B2B or B2G environments using agile methodologies, taking compelx technical capabilities from development through to operational delivery 

• Bring hands-on Scrum Master experience facilitating agile ceremonies, managing backlogs, and unblocking engineering teams in practice rather than just holding theoretical course certifications 

• Have built and owned senior stakeholder relationships and can navigate complex, multi-party environments with clarity and commercial awareness  

• Have developed programme steering mechanisms, dashboards and risk frameworks, and can translate programme performance into clear, decision-ready reporting for senior leadership  

• Hold a PMP certification or equivalent, or are actively working towards one, and apply structured project management methodologies in high-accountability environments  

• Communicate with full fluency in English, written and spoken, are willing to travel regularly across sites (including up protracted periods working from Andover, UK), and can meet all requirements for national security clearance under applicable law  

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

• Prior delivery experience directly into UK defence of government  

• Experience contributing to bid writing, statement of work, or technical proposal submissions 

• Practical experience applying Agile or hybrid project management methodologies to physical hardware or integrated systems delivery. 

• Exposure to Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning technologies, edge computing, or embedded software integration. 

• PMP, APM (PMQ), PRINCE2, or equivalent formal project management accreditation 

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: regularly 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

These are the core benefits across all locations, there may be additional benefits in certain locations.

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.