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 seeking a People Business Partner to join our Paris team for a 6-month maternity cover. This is a builder-operator role focused on rigorous performance development and partnering directly with leaders as a trusted HRBP. This is a builder and operator role. You will design scalable processes from the ground up, run them end-to-end, and work closely with Helsing’s leadership to ensure our people are equipped to deliver on our mission of defending democratic values whilst partnering with the business regarding all things People.

The day-to-day

• Drive Performance Excellence: Lead and evolve Helsing’s performance frameworks - including probations, reviews, calibrations, and promotion cycles—to ensure alignment between talent density and mission outcomes.
• Strategic Partnering: Advise leadership on organisational design, talent planning, and effectiveness, providing data-driven guidance to navigate rapid scaling.
• Capability Building: Design and deploy scalable playbooks, tools, and training that equip managers and individual contributors with the capabilities required for a high-velocity environment.
• Culture & Resilience: Leverage employee insights to strengthen team cohesion and collaboration across our international hubs.
• Legal & Compliance Leadership: Manage sensitive individual cases in coordination with Legal, ensuring strict adherence to French labour laws.
• CSE Representation: Serve as the primary representative for the CSE (Comité Social et Économique) in France, fostering productive collaboration between management and employee representatives.

You should apply if you

• Have proven experience as a People Business Partner within high-stakes industries (defence, aerospace, or rapid-growth technology).
• Possess deep knowledge of French labour law, HR best practices, and CSE mechanics.
• Thrive in high-velocity environments where priorities shift and organisational structures must adapt quickly.
• Demonstrate an international mindset with fluency in both English and French.
• Are an entrepreneurial operator who can pivot instantly from strategic design to execution.
• Possess strong coaching and facilitation skills to support leaders under pressure.
• Are deeply motivated by the mission to protect democratic values.

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

• Experience navigating complex regulatory environments in the European defence sector.
• A background in scaling organisational processes from early-stage to maturity.
• Familiarity with data-driven performance management tools.

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 stock options (ESOP)
• Learning: €500/£450 yearly allowance
• Health & wellness: gym membership and mental health support (Nilo.health)
• Social: regular company events and monthly social allowances
• Family support: 5 days of paid family emergency leave, 100% remote work option during pregnancy and phased return to work

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.